Badger Bother

Jim Caldwell's croft at Portuairk runs down to the sea at Port Maggie.  This picture, showing an unusually high tide, hides one of Jim's problems.  The burn which runs down to the sea here is eroding its banks and destroying the sandy machair soil.  Now, things at Port Maggie have become even worse.

Jim has the following heartfelt appeal for readers.  "For the first time that I'm aware of, badgers have made an appearance in Portuairk. They are attacking and destroying what is already a fragile environment of grass growing over sand above the shoreline. The turf is very carefully peeled back and killed in their nightly search for earthworms.

"I would be very grateful if I could borrow a wildlife camera to record their nocturnal visits, and I would be even more grateful if someone could suggest a way of deterring them from destroying this delicate and vulnerable area."

Many thanks to Jim for the pictures.