It may not be much to look at but this pile of rubbish and rubble has got me quite excited. The photo was taken this evening at the rear of the garden, and although it's not obvious here, the shrub backs on to our fence. And the fence has a nice gap in it which for a long time has been a regular entry point for foxes. What's got me interested in it tonight is that a pile of rubbish and rubble has appeared just to our side of the gap. This is a clear sign that a fox has been working in the earth just the other side, clearing out rubbish and expanding or modifying the old site. As well as a couple of bricks, there seems to be some paper (do they use it as nesting material?) and a fair amount of soil and gravel. The only reasons I can think of for this activity is that the foxes want to expand their territory, or perhaps that the existing earth is becoming too small or has been disturbed. So we sit and wait!
On a loosely related theme (fox pictures without a fox), I stumbled across some foxgloves growing along a wooded path at work. There are more photos in the Flora album, but here's one for now.
Tervicz
19 May 2007Well, a few years ago there was a report on a Canadian fox who would go around and collect newspapers from people's doorstep and use the paper to insulate his den. So yes, paper can be nesting material.
Words
19 May 2007Thanks for the confirmation!