Skinny skips her medicine

I sort of expected this. Skinny didn't show up today for her medicine. She hasn't been around for the past few nights (not since the 1st), and I'm beginning to wonder whether we'll see her again. It's not necessarily anything to worry about. Foxes are prone to come and go at what seems to us like a whim, and this time of year is precisely when they'll be moving away from the home territory (or being driven out). She's had two doses of ivermectin which may be adequate to deal with the mange, but it would have been good to have given her at least one more dose. I've been watching for her most of the day (she was a frequent daylight visitor), and much of the evening but so far without any joy.

Two of the other cubs did show though. One of them during the day and again in the evening, and one just tonight.

Daytime visit

Same cub (you'll have to take my word on that) tonight

The other cub tonight

But the star this evening (apart from the spider having a good feast), was this old fellow who is looking fitter by the day, laying on plenty of weight for the cold months ahead.

The old fox posed for plenty of photos. The one difficulty photographing him is that his eyes light up like beacons with the flash if I get the angle wrong, so I try all sorts of angles with camera to avoid that, and getting up close and slightly below him seems to work best. That second shot is full frame, taken from about 2 feet away.

I'll sign off tonight with another shot of the daytime cub. He's looking particularly happy with himself in this one. 🙂

UPDATE: Skinny finally showed at about 11.30pm, looking good. Photos to follow, but I'm not re-writing the whole entry!