The Badger is one of the UKs largest native mammals, and it is also an animal that people have early seen because of its nocturnal habit. The most common sighting is a twisted corpse alongside a road. bark ham has never set eyes on a live one and the book starts by him visiting a couple of setts at night with the hope of glimpsing one of these enigmatic creatures. He fails. He meet with people who are badger feeders, and finally gets his sighting of a real badger in a back garden. These people care deeply for these animals, though opinion is divided as to whether they are helping the population or not. Whilst he is please he has seen these unique creatures, he still hasn't seen them in their natural habitat. He visits a rescue centre too, and sees people carrying on the work of campaigning and care for badgers. His grandmother, Jane Ratcliffe, had done this back in the seventies, and even wrote several books published too, including, Through the Badger Gate. The badger is a political animal these days as is is blamed by the farming community for spreading bovine TB. Barkham meets people on both sides of the farm gate, and considers the evidence for and against. It is a complex subject, and the recent cull in the West Country has not proven one way or the other if it is working or not. There is a chapter on the baiting of badgers, a 'sport' if you can uses that word for such horrible event, of setting dogs onto them. It has always been a working class thing, and sadly still takes place today, though much less frequently. He considers the badger in literature; i thought that this was the weakest part of the book. With his new twins he moves from London out to Norfolk, a place not normally associated with badgers as it is too damp and low lying, but when wandering around he notices the signs of a sett and one evening sees a family of badgers. A book well worth reading for those that want to understand more about these animals. Barkham writes in an accessible, engaging style and it makes for an enjoyable read.