Category Archives: Foxes

A collection of foxes

Pretty and Friend (trailcam foxes)

January 27, 2014 by Words | 2 Comments

The trail camera has been quietly clicking away for the past few days. I’ve not looked at it for the best part of a week and there were about 900 images on it when I finally brought it in this evening. Mainly foxes, mainly at night. This is a short sequence from Friday of Pretty with a much larger male fox (he featured briefly in photos last year as Nicked Ear).

two foxes

two foxes

two foxes

I’m not sure how accurate the temperature gauge is on the camera, but it looks as though it’s been dropping below 0°C at night.

This one is from nearly 3 days later, one of a handful of badger sightings that the camera has picked up over the past week.

badger

Pretty was around earlier this evening. Her foot is definitely much improved and she was using it almost all the time. In this photo the hind leg that’s nearest the camera is the one that was causing her problems. As you can see, it’s firmly planted on the ground.

Close-up of injured fox leg (near), now healed.

And a last shot of Pretty getting a small reward for her patience.

Close-up of fox

Camera note: colour stills taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100mm f/2.8L macro IS USM lens. trail camera images from the Bushnell Trophy Cam HD.

Also posted in Badger Tagged , |

Pretty the Fox in the Garden

January 25, 2014 by Words | 2 Comments

After yesterday’s update it was nice to see Pretty out during daylight today. Despite popular belief, foxes aren’t nocturnal. They do however adapt to their environment, and in urban (or semi-urban) settings, the night is safer and no doubt better for finding food. If it’s quiet and they feel relaxed, foxes are more than happy to wander out in daylight.

She’s still limping on and off, but it’s neither as obvious nor persistent a limp as a week ago. She is limping in this photo.

Fox in garden during daylight

But here she has the foot firmly on the ground.

Fox in garden during daylight

And again here…

Fox in garden during daylight

No sign of her this evening, but the night is still (relatively) young.

Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.

Pretty Fox Injury Update

January 25, 2014 by Words | Comments Off

As regular readers will know, Pretty has been carrying an injured foot for the past little while. It’s a typical fox injury (cut and swelling around the hind paw) and she’s been steadfastly refusing to put any weight on the foot for at least the past week. Foxes manage extremely well with these injuries,and most of the time their movement is seemingly unimpaired (though I must assume it does restrict climbing and jumping to an extent). Here she is about 24 hours ago, holding the hind leg up.

Fox holding hind leg

We’ve just seen her again in the garden (it’s raining so we weren’t out there for long), and it seems that things are improving. This could be a false dawn (or if she’s reckless she may cause more damage), but she is now definitely putting some weight on that leg. She carries it when moving quickly, but it’s good sign of progress that she’ll use the leg when standing or walking slowly.

Fox in garden after rain

Fox in garden after rain

We’ll continue to keep an eye on her (of course).

Just a couple of other photos tonight. The first is the rare sight of a Muscovy duck up a tree. It’s the female of the local pair and I was some way off when I spotted her precariously balancing on the trunk.

Muscovy duck (female) in tree

To close, a final shot of Pretty, living up to her name. Like the first shot, it’s from 24 hours ago.

Fox in garden

Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D. First and last shots with the EF 100mm f/2.8L macro IS USM lens. Shots 2 and 3 were with the EF 24-105 F4L IS USM lens. The Muscovy was taken with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS.

Also posted in Behaviour, water birds Tagged , |