Expert advice for observing wild creatures is to hide under adequate cover and stay silent, but for gaining the trust of any animal I profoundly disagree with that. Why?  Because quite simply, that's what predators do, and no animal trusts a predator.  I'll recount an incident to show how fast and effective my method can be.  Mid afternoon and walking quietly through a woodland near a sett with badgers unknown to me, I turned a path corner and came face to face with a  badger  drinking  water  from a coppiced tree bole.   It dashed away several yards to a hole entrance and looked round,  but at  the same time I had moved beyond the tree  that  was partly obscuring me and  was standing  in  the  open  facing  more  than  45 degrees away.   With eyes turned away,  looking down,  I was speaking reassuringly to the badger in continuous quiet low tones.   Think about it.   There I was,  standing in clear view, further making my presence known  by making continuous sounds,  obviously I couldn't be harbouring ill intentions. Thus reassured, the badger started nosing around the ground in a natural manner, gradually moving back towards the water and ending up drinking again just three feet to the rear of me.    When  it  finished  drinking  it  wandered  slowly  back  to  it's entrance,  stopped for one last look towards me,  then went back down.   Remember, that was a first meeting for both of us,  but  the  trust  was instantly gained,  a great experience.

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