Well it seems that the dog fox is becoming a fixture. Tonight was the third evening in a row that he's shown up, and he's beginning to feel at home again. The cubs were absent for most of the evening (the light drizzle probably kept them away), so the old fella was able to relax a bit. He looked like he needed a rest, and was happy to curl up under the rose bush (and out of the rain).
One of the cubs did eventually put in an appearance, and once again we were given a display of hissing and growling. And once again it was the adult who gave way. It's fascinating trying to figure out what is going on. The cubs are obviously on 'home' territory, but the dog fox is persistent about coming back (he's been visiting for well over a year and spent most of last summer here on a daily basis). I'm not sure whether he's trying to reclaim the garden, or whether this is part of a process where the adult deliberately challenges the young to move on. We saw some of that last year, but then it was a single cub, the dynamic was less sharp and the adult won easily. The next photo is from tonight's confrontation.
Adult on right
After the adult disappeared, the cub took up residence for about an hour in the same spot. We've also noticed one of the cubs sleeping out on the lawn for the past couple of nights, plus heard some fairly loud screeching in the early hours. It's unusual to see them sleeping in the open like that and I suspect that this is all part of the territorial game-playing.
It will be interesting to see how the situation works out, but for the moment I'll close with another picture of the dog fox.. After all, he inspired this blog.
Tervicz
1 Aug 2006He looks battered. Is he still asking for eggs? Does he remember?
Also, wouldn't it be a good idea to construct somekind of roofed shelter so they can stay dry during wet nights?
Words
1 Aug 2006Yes he still likes eggs! I don't think we'll go as far as building a shelter… there's plenty of cover round here and they seem to be doing ok. Nice idea though 😉
sanshan
3 Aug 2006He's had a tough life by the looks of it. Awww. I have only ever seen a fox once in the wild, and he looked a lot like that one, very scruffy.