All the recent bird activity has meant I've had little time to report on the foxes. And yes there is more than one, though the male fox is extremely reluctant to show himself. Generally he appears late at night on the trail cam. I've no recent photos of him. This video clip is the pair of them in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The Bold Vixen, in contrast to the male, has taken to spending long periods sitting in various corners of the garden during the evening, no doubt to gain some respite from hungry young cubs. I'm yet to see them, and may not for a while unless they are very close by; but the vixen's behaviour suggests they are now increasingly being brought food (rather than suckled). A few nights back she passed through the garden carrying what looked like a pigeon; and any food scraps left out tend to be gathered up and carried away, or sometimes cached. 
On other fronts, the threat of a return to fox hunting is becoming something of an election issue here, and is gaining some heavyweight celebrity support with Brian May (yes, of Queen fame) launching the Save Me campaign. There's also a Facebook group (please join).
There's also a new book of research papers called 'Urban Carnivores' (Eds: Gehrt, Riley, Cipher, published by John Hopkins University Press). The chapters cover everything from raccoons to badgers and mountain lions, and of course the urban red fox (with a few of my photos to illustrate that chapter).
I'll close with a few more of the recent photos of Bold.
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 40D and EF 24-105 F4L IS USM lens, except the shot of Bold making a cache which was taken with the EF70-300mm 4.5-5.6 DO IS lens.
11 Comments
Oliver, thanks. I've known this fox since she was a cub so she lets me get close to her.
How nice that there is the possibility of seeing the cubs, hopefully soon if they are eating solid food.
Do you think she was checking if the hedgehog could be a prey? :insane:
Another nice behaviour clip! Foxes are so noisy, but sometimes they say so much without making a sound.
That's a cute shot of her with the hedgehog 😀 And congratulations on getting your photos on that book! :hat:
Lois, I live in perpetual hope, but I don't hear them nearby (yet).
Erwin, thanks!
Darko, see today's video. You may be right 🙁
Adele, thanks…. I feel so sorry for the hedgehog now though 🙁
Very nice video and pics, i will join the Facebook campaign, have you got Facebook too Words? i have one, iam under Portsmouth Network. 🙂
Mark, thanks. Yes, I'm on Facebook (have sent a message)/
Amazing- great shots