Sett

Article summary

A sett or set is a badger's den. It usually consists of a network of tunnels and numerous entrances. The largest setts are spacious enough to accommodate 15 or more animals with up to of tunnels and as many as 40 openings. Such elaborate setts with extensive tunneling take many years for badgers to complete. One sett in Southern England spreads over an estimated area in excess of 2,000 square metres – precise measurement has not been attempted. Another sett, in north-eastern Germany, has been shown to have been in use for over ten thousand years. 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. Sett tunnels are usually between beneath the ground, and they incorporate larger chambers used for sleeping or rearing young. These chambers are lined with dry bedding material such as grass, straw, dead leaves or bracken. Tunnels are wider than they are high, typically around wide by high, which matches a badger's wide and stocky build. The material excavated by the badgers forms large heaps on the slope below the sett. Among this material may be found old bedding material, stones with characteristic heavy scratch-marks, and sometimes even the bones of long-dead badgers cleared out by later generations.…

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