It was early evening when I saw my first Christmas day fox. We were driving home, and as we turned into our road a young fox was trotting primly across the pavement into a local garden… with a large breast of roast turkey in its mouth 😀 I've no idea where it got that, but I doubt it had to do too much hunting.
Back in our garden the shy fox (I'm 99% certain she's a vixen) has been making a number of fleeting appearances. Mostly she's too quick to photograph but I did tempt her out on Christmas night with some scraps of chicken left over from the weekend. She was extremely cautious, and any sudden movement would send her ducking back into the shadows. Unlike the dog fox who will come to within a couple of feet of me, the closest I dared venture was about 20 feet away.
Slowly… slowly…
And a quick grab
She was around this morning (briefly), and again this evening when we watched through a window as she scent-marked the lawn before disappearing through the fence. I did pop outside on the off-chance she'd return. While I was listening to her moving around on the far side of the fence, the dog fox emerged from the top of the garden.
He stayed around for a few minutes sniffing in the borders and listening to the sounds coming from over the fence. Then he headed off in the direction of the noises :love:
Vulpes vulpes
27 Dec 2007…um, isn't the shy vixen (?) his granddaughter? :yikes:
My local foxes also got their turkey dinner last night..and tonight too! :up:
Flying Red Fox Blog
27 Dec 2007Lovelly pics:D Hope you had a very nice christmas Words, i ate a WHOLE leg of Turkey in one sitting lol:P
SittingFox
27 Dec 2007I've been learning more about fox scent marks – it seems they often urinate on a place as a signal to themselves that there's nothing there now, which acts as a reminder next time they pass through. For example, if they eat a cache, they'll mark the empty spot, and then presumably won't spend time worrying about a stolen cache later on. Urban foxes' territories are quite small of course but a wilderness fox would certainly find this useful in the context of dozens of acres of boreal undergrowth!
Incidentally, I've noticed that a lot of dogfoxes here have a narrow black band across their chest which vixens lack, but perhaps it's just a local thing :confused:
anonymous
27 Dec 2007Nikki writes:
Looks like she's starting to become much less shy. The image of the fox with Christmas dinner made me smile 😀
Words
27 Dec 2007Adele, thanks for the info about scent marking. The old dog fox used to be the most persistent (and certainly marked areas where he'd consumed food). Younger foxes don't seem to bother much at all. It was interesting to see the vixen laying claim (it was in the centre of the lawn so possibly territorial and not a cache).
As for the dark markings… I've not noticed those on the foxes round here, but it could be a local trait from a dominant fox.
Words
27 Dec 2007Vulpes – as far as I know the answer is 'yes'. It would be interesting to know more about the family relationships between foxes. According to research done in Bristol, females have been known to produce litters with offspring from more than one male.
Words
27 Dec 2007Mark, I had a great Christmas thanks! Sounds as though you had a good one too :chef:
Words
27 Dec 2007That's a very impressive and distinctive marking he's got. :up:
SittingFox
27 Dec 2007Interestingly enough I saw my Old Dogfox cache something right in the middle of the lawn on Christmas Day! Not where I expected it to be at all. But of course they do scent mark for other reasons too.
You can see the marking I mean on the old U-Band male but several others have shown it too. I really would like to do some genetic analysis and work out who is related to whom.