Born to be Wild
A
glorious celebration of the unique bond between parent and child throughout the natural world from award-winning illustrator Hannah Dale.
Badger
Red Fox Vulpes vulpes The beautiful red fox with its distinctive russet colouring is thought to be the most successful and widespread wild carnivore in the world, occurring across the entire northern hemisphere. Foxes produce a single litter each year, usually with four to six cubs, although the largest litters can contain up to 13 young. To raise a new family of fox cubs successfully it takes two, so both mum and dad are involved in the early days. Blind and dependent on their parents, the cubs spend the first two weeks of their lives in their den with the vixen, while the male or ‘dog’ brings them food. At five weeks they have taken their first exploratory steps out into the world, and by ten weeks they are fully weaned. The growing cubs will remain with their mother until they are around ten months old, when they are fully mature, and will begin looking for territories and mates of their own.
Meles meles Badgers live in complex social groups, usually consisting of around five adults. They can be found throughout Europe and some parts of western Asia. However, it is not always ‘happy families’ among the sett-mates, and squabbling to assert superiority is common throughout the year. This is an important part of their social behaviour, as only the dominant females will be allowed to successfully raise a litter of cubs. In spring and summer, badgers are hard at work excavating and expanding their setts, creating new nesting chambers. A sett can be used by many generations of badgers, and it is not entirely clear why they continue to add extensions. The cubs are born blind with a covering of silky grey fur, but the distinctive stripes are already visible. They first emerge from their nursery at around four to five weeks, but won’t be fully weaned until up to the age of five months. Badger cubs are very playful, and can often be spotted around their sett at dusk, learning the skills they will need as adults.
Tawny Owl Strix aluco The original ‘wise owl’, tawny owls are also famous for their loyalty, with breeding pairs mating for life. A woodland bird occurring in much of Europe and western Asia and parts of North Africa, tawny owls are extremely territorial. When it comes to breeding, the female selects her nesting site – usually a natural hole, or a nesting box in a tree. She lays a clutch of almost perfectly round, pure white eggs and begins the task of incubating them. While she keeps her eggs warm, the male assumes the role of provider, bringing her food while she is unable to hunt. This continues after the eggs have hatched, until the chicks are around six or seven days old when she will occasionally leave them to hunt. The young are finally ready to fledge at just over a month old, but they will still be dependent on their parents for food until they are at least three months old. At this point, they must leave and find a territory of their own – it can be a perilous time for young tawny owls and some will starve before they manage to find their own hunting ground.
Hedgehog
Born to be Wild
Erinaceus europaeus The hedgehog as we know it has been around for 15 million years, but its numbers are now in steep decline, as we reduce its habitat and make life more hazardous for these prickly little hogs. Between May and July, throughout western and some parts of northern Europe, hedgehogs give birth to between four and seven babies in a hidden den. The hoglets are raised by their mother after being
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born blind and with their first set of spines covered by a membrane. They will remain in the den for around six weeks as their spines develop, being fed by mum during the day as she goes out to hunt at night. When they emerge into the outside world, they remain with their mother for a short while, learning to hunt for tasty insects and worms, before quickly becoming fully independent.
