Late last night (well actually, the early hours of this morning) the foxes were active. Just after midnight we looked outside and the old faithful of the pack was sitting in one of his usual spots near the back door. Nothing unusual in that, except that he was hyper alert and kept an ear cocked for sounds that seemed to be coming from the side of the house. Scuffling sounds. Fox sounds.
He didn't stay long, but as we watched we could see a second fox to the front of the building. After a brief pause, both shot off across the road at speed. Nice to see them run like that. It's not something that happens too often in the garden. Their distinctive calls followed a moment later. Watching from the front window we finally caught sight of him disappearing into one of the gardens opposite. We were then treated by the sight of two more foxes criss-crossing the gardens along the street, pausing every now and then for a quick scratch on the grass verges, and nipping quickly across the road. They did this for several minutes. Fortunately this is a fairly quiet area, and generally traffic isn't a problem. Moments like that tempt me to get a night-vision video camera, but I'll probably resist the temptation. I have enough trouble keeping up with the photos 😉
We eventually lost sight of them behind the parked cars and garden walls. Not for long though. They both reappeared in a rather more familiar location (for me at least).
The fox in the front is the bold young vixen. The nicked-ear vixen, who again showed that she is the submissive member of the group, is sitting behind. Throughout the visit 'nicked-ear' was by far the more cautious, tending to hand back or retreat further up the garden.
Still no sign of cubs. If there are any, they are some distance away and we're unlikely to see them until they start roaming (if at all).
Camera note: all photos taken with the EF70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM lens.
Vulpes vulpes
16 May 2008Lovely! Aww, shame…no cubs. 🙁 Still, the adults are super to look at.
gdare
16 May 2008Very active night indeed. Or morning 😀 When is their usual time for sleep, during the day? I suppose they are night hunters.
SittingFox
16 May 2008Wow, sounds like you had quite a lot of action! I don't see foxes running full pelt too often either, but they certainly can move if they want to :right:
cakkleberrylane
16 May 2008You couldn't buy late night entertainment like that at any price!
Words
17 May 2008Vlpes, yes the adults are providing some great moments. It's nice to have several of them visit. Most years it's just been one adult most of the time.
Words
17 May 2008Adele. They're great when they run, but if they do it in the garden they are out the other side I a flash! I've just been watching the old dog fox climbing the hedge (after a way into the tree). he gave but I got some good shots of him. Will upload tomorrow.
Words
17 May 2008Lois, I know! We're very lucky 😀
Words
17 May 2008Darko, they are more active at night, but sometimes come out in the day. But yes, they spend a lot of the day sleeping.
Flying Red Fox Blog
18 May 2008Its very nice to see the two of them playing, thats almost as nice as seeing a few cubs playing, maybe they will have cubs next year perhaps hopefully 😀
Words
18 May 2008Mark, they may well have some cubs, but somewhere a bit further away this time. It's the property market. They've obviously moved to a better part of town 😉 I haven't quite given up hope that they'll bring a youngster along at some point during the year. We'll have to see. But yes it's good to see so many adults!