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Monday 10 December 2012

Uninvited Guest

 I just went to throw out more food for the birds, as it is about 3.00 pm and getting noticeably colder, I heard a bit  of uproar from the starlings and was just in time to grab two, poor, snatched photos through the glass of the back door.

Not quite sure why the one of the 'creature' eating bread and bird-seed is so misty but he is just about the biggest dog fox I've ever seen.

It is a number of years since there was a fox intrepid enough to come this close to the house, the last really bitterly cold winter, in fact, but this one was quite unfazed by my pointing the camera at him and only leapt up and over the fence when I opened the door.  
When we first came here 32 years ago, we had muntjac deer, badgers, foxes and squirrels and hedgehogs.  Now I thought we had only squirrels!

Not too sure how happy I am to see this chap, there are after all, a lot of cats around, but he seems to be relatively tame so I would guess someone is probably feeding him.

I do not intend to join his fan club, but he is welcome  to what he has already had!

No-one can say life is ever dull in this urban space.

Tiny though it is, we get some unusual visitors.

7 comments:

  1. Snatched your photos may be, Ray, but they capture him rather well. Foxes are such adaptable creatures and are now flourishing in our towns and cities. I gather it's often easier to see them there than in the countryside.

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  2. Glad you like the 'look' of him. The reality this close is not what I would wish, but hopefully this visit was a one off.

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  3. Those are amazing photos, Ray.

    Like you I'd be a wee bit concerned about the safety of the local moggies.

    I once spotted a fox in our town's main street very early one morning, before most people were stirring, but not nearly as close as your visitor.

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  4. Yes I know what you mean Greenpatches, they are lovely to see now and then, but not too close at hand.

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  5. Wow, Ray! It is a beautiful creature, but I can understand concern. Let's hope it is getting enough food so it won't be tempted to cat-nap.

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  6. "cat nap", what a fantastic phrase. No, I suspect it is being fed by someone who lives at the back of my house.
    He has fed most creatures for 20 years or so, and I'm guessing this is one of his.
    He really is a beauty isn't he, but I'd prefer him to be beautiful elsewhere.

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  7. we used to get several foxes when I lived on Fairford Leys (we lived right at the end of Raybans lane near the fields) I loved watching them, they had very specific routes they would take.
    In all the snow we had the other year we were fascinated to see the tracks they made. They walk inside their own footprints so made a line in the snow. At first we thought that someone had been on bicycle across the green but then we saw our foxy visitor making the same track the next night after a fresh fall of snow.
    They are such opportunists so I always worried about our chickens but always knew they were tucked up safe.
    I love seeing wildlife up close in the garden. I have seen a raccoon in our garden here. Bosun & I watched him for quite a while as he climbed a tree & then sat & watched us. I have taken my phone with the camera out with me every time since but no other glimpse of him so far!

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