Fireworks and foxes

November 5th called early again this year, and the night sky was ablaze with fireworks. I'm not a fan, and inevitably the noise and mayhem can cause untold distress to wildlife. What made it more of a problem than usual was that I was hoping to tempt the dog fox to an initial treatment for mange.

I'd noticed some thinning of his coat a week or so ago. Confirming mange visually isn't a precise process, but his coat had noticeably worsened over the past week, and a very clear bald patch has now appeared on his rump. So rather than wait any longer I paid a visit to our wildlife centre for the first of a series of ivermectin doses. The question was, would he show up with all the racket going on.

I spent some time outside early evening to see if he would show up,and photographing the fireworks while I waited. I wasn't too confident that I'd see any fox life. But I was wrong.

In the midst of the aerial display, with flashes and bangs all around, one of the cubs decided to put in an appearance. Nice surprise, but wrong fox!

Generally the cub ignored the noises, though it would dart to the safety of the bushes when a particuarly loud screeching firework exploded. And that was that for most of the evening. The cub disappeared, and the fireworks continued. It was an hour or so later that things calmed down outside, and who should be hanging around but old faithful himself. He happily took his medicine.

The ivermectin is added to standard dog food

While we were out there, the cub showed up again. What was strange about tonight was that the two foxes each adopted a submissive pose, curling their tails tightly to the side. In this next picture you can see the distinctive tail position and the bald patch that has been worrying us.

The cub mewled a lot but the pair of them settled down next to each other (tails still curled and the younger fox still mewling). I didn't want to get too close (so please excuse the quality of the photos) as I was interested to see what would happen next. Which was not a lot for several minutes, until the dog fox got bored and started to explore the garden. The cub remained where it was for a while, but then followed step by step to each of the areas the adult had visited, but always waiting for him to move on first. Here's a small selection of pictures.

The cub is nearer the camera

Eventually the dog fox tires of the game.

Cub begins to explore