Sett
A badger set is a badger's den, usually consisting of a network of tunnels. The largest setts are spacious enough to accommodate 15 or more animals, with up to 300 metres (980 ft) of tunnels and as many as 40 openings. It takes many years for the animals to dig these large setts.[1] Setts are typically excavated in soil that is well drained and easy to dig, such as sand, and situated on sloping ground where there is some cover.[2]
Setts may not be excavated entirely in soil – sometimes they are made under the shelter of a shed, or in a heap of timber or rocks. They may also be excavated using a man-made structure as a roof, such as a concrete path, the foundations of a building, or the surface of a road – the excavations may sometimes cause subsidence of such a structure.
Badger colonies often use several setts – a large main sett, usually in the central part of their territory, used by most of the animals, and one, two or more smaller outlier setts. Outlier setts may have only two or three entrances, and may be used by small numbers of animals when nearby food sources are in season, or in autumn when the main sett is crowded with the year's young.
Badgers typically retreat to their setts at daybreak, and come out at dusk. In cold regions, setts are dug below the level at which the ground freezes, and all members of the clan sleep in the same chamber, possibly to share body heat.[3]
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