Kai Fagerström's Image

These cubs were born in a sett under the floorboards, and the fireplace was their entrance to the house.

The cubs loved exploring and quickly learnt to climb the stairs to the bedrooms. Taking the picture through the window, Kai wanted to give an impression of the badger family going about its daily business. Badgers are his favourite forest animal, but in Finland they are very wary of humans. They have reason to be - around 10,000 are killed each year by hunters, partly out of a misconception that they harm wild-bird populations (the bulk of their diet is, in fact, worms and other invertebrates; only occasionally do they eat chicks). 'Badgers hardly feature in Finnish folklore,' says Kai, 'and people don't realize what fascinating characters they really are.'