Finally a Fox!

It has been a little while since I've photographed any foxes in the garden, but glancing outside mid-afternoon today I noticed a reddish shape at the rear of the garden. It edged forward while I watched through the window and headed down to the front, pausing briefly on the steps before disappearing through the side passage.

The fox is one that has appeared irregularly on the trail camera over the past couple of months. It appears to be suffering from mange (its brush is very thin indeed). Having checked the video footage it appears that the mange is receding (ie getting better), which suggests he's getting treatment in one of the surrounding gardens. The photos were taken through double glazed windows as I didn't want to risk scaring him away.

For comparison, this video was taken in late December. The brush is very thin and wispy and there are bare patches on the flanks where, in today's photos, the coat seems to have grown back. Without treatment I would have expected a noticeable deterioration over the intervening weeks rather than what looks like a reasonably good recovery.

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

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This Post Has 14 Comments

  1. derWandersmann

    24 Feb 2013

    He does look a little better, doesn't he? I wonder if he's infected any others?

  2. Wulpen

    24 Feb 2013

    Great Shots

  3. Words

    24 Feb 2013

    dW, hopefully the others will be ok. It doesn't always transmit between them, although it is a risk. If he's being drug treated the life cycle of the mite will be broken.

  4. Words

    24 Feb 2013

    Erwin, thanks!

  5. Flying Red Fox Blog

    25 Feb 2013

    Very cool photos Words 🙂 My Opera is back yay! 🙂

  6. Words

    25 Feb 2013

    Mark, thanks! Good to see you found your way back here :up:

  7. SittingFox

    26 Feb 2013

    He'll be a handsome fox when his coat is better. His head is very strong-looking.

  8. gdare

    26 Feb 2013

    So, this one does not belong to a "family" that used your garden during last year. What happened to them?

  9. Words

    27 Feb 2013

    Adele, he does look a fine fox. It will be interesting to see if he joins the regular crew.

  10. Words

    27 Feb 2013

    Darko, the main family is still around, but they seem to be less sociable over winter so I see less of them. There are four (maybe five) foxes that use the garden quite a lot, but usually late at night. I'm waiting for the weather to warm up a bit so I can spend more time outside watching them.

  11. serola

    28 Feb 2013

    Originally posted by Words:

    the mange is receding (ie getting better)

    It has been even worse :yikes: Looks bad, especially on video 🙁

  12. Words

    2 Mar 2013

    Sami, it's not too bad really. I've seen much worse cases which, if treated, recover really well.

  13. serola

    5 Mar 2013

    Originally posted by Words:

    I've seen much worse cases which, if treated, recover really

    I suppose it is "natural" 😀

  14. Words

    7 Mar 2013

    Sami, nature can be pretty cruel at times, but yes it's part of the wider cycle of life.

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