{"id":1032,"date":"2007-12-27T23:12:09","date_gmt":"2007-12-27T23:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.permuted.org.uk\/photography\/archives\/1032"},"modified":"2013-11-23T11:36:25","modified_gmt":"2013-11-23T11:36:25","slug":"gekkering-fox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.permuted.org.uk\/photography\/gekkering-fox\/","title":{"rendered":"Gekkering fox"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

In the early hours of Thursday morning our sleep was disturbed by noises from outside. It wasn't the usual fox calls, more a rapid 'tapping' sound as though someone was gently hammering a stone. Flashlight at the ready, I peered through the window. It took me a moment to realize that a fox was staring back at me (the shy vixen?) from a dozen feet the other side of the window. It was about eye-level, on a raised flower bed. Further scrutiny of the scene revealed a second fox lurking deep in the shrubs by the edge of some chain link fencing. It looked like a young fox, though my view was not good (plus I was half asleep) We stared at each other for a couple of moments. The shy fox then moved further up the garden and out of sight, and her companion retreated into the undergrowth.<\/p>\n

Given the time of year it's possible that I'd been disturbed by some aspect of their mating rituals. I haven't been able to locate a recording of the particular sound, but I found an information sheet on the Irish Peat Conservation Council<\/a> site which includes a short reference to 'gekkering', described as follows: "The other noises are made when the foxes are in contact. One is called gekkering, or clikketing, a mechanical staccato noise which sounds similar to the clicking noise made by a football supporters rattle." I'm not sure the football rattle compariosn is quite how I would describe it (it was more like very rapid footsteps or tapping), but apparently it's an aggressive sound commonly heard during the courtship season (according to Wikipedia<\/a>). So I think I've now heard a 'gekkering' fox.<\/p>\n

Tonight's photo is the shy fox from a couple of nights ago. The eyeshine and blurriness approximates what I saw last night \ud83d\ude09
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