We had all three foxes in the garden this evening. The first visitor was the nicked-ear vixen who appeared on her own and spent a lively couple of minutes exploring the borders.
She was followed a little while later by the bold vixen and the old dog fox. These two tend to get on quite well, with the dog fox clearly the dominant party. On previous encounters they have been quite relaxed and friendly on meeting. What made tonight's encounter different was that on seeing each other they both froze. These three shots cover a period of about 6 seconds as they each considered the next move.
The spell was eventually broken after about 8 seconds. Note how the dog fox is holding his brush straight out. In contrast, the vixen kept hers in a tight curl.
Following this initial encounter they separated out, the vixen staying near the front of the garden while the dog fox explored the pond area and borders. She eventually departed by skipping over a low fence. He was more sedate, simply walking down the steps and out via the main path.
Camera note: all shots taken with the EF 24-105 F4L IS USM lens.
Flying Red Fox Blog
3 May 2008Its amazing how curious they are. 🙂 I wonder if they are discussing whether to let the cubs play here when they are older?
gdare
3 May 2008I don`t think they believe each other and maybe they just agreed to be tolerant toward each other.
Words
3 May 2008Mark, yes we're still wondering about the cubs. I'm really not at all sure what's going on this year, but if there are any we may not get to see them until they are at least a couple of months old.
Words
3 May 2008Darko, these two seem to get on ok. The nicked-ear vixen ws much more submissive when she asw the dog fox a few nights ago. It's fascinating to watch the different behaviours and combinations.
Vulpes vulpes
3 May 2008Super sequence!
SittingFox
3 May 2008Great pictures of them eyeballing each other! The tension is unspoken but so clear. I like the fox frozen in mid-leap too 🙂
cakkleberrylane
3 May 2008Great story in pictures! You can almost read their thoughts!
Vulpes vulpes
6 May 2008Has the Old Dog Fox lost a canine? (looking at daily pic for 5 May)
Words
6 May 2008Vulpes, I'd noticed that in a couple of pictures including this one from last night. I think it's just the way he holds his mouth. I need some better shots of the left side of his face (or straight on) to be sure, but I think it's still there.
Words
6 May 2008Lois, now that would be a very interesting thing to be able to do :alien:
Words
6 May 2008Adele, it was fascinating to watch. It seemed to go on for ages. I don't think the vixen would have moved at all.
Vulpes vulpes
6 May 2008…I hope so! He's got lovely teeth!