Great excitement!

[Pol]

We've had nocturnal foxes visiting the garden for a long time but never managed to get any shots, nor have any of them ever visited during the daytime.

So there was get excitement here at home this morning when a fox suddenly appeared in the back garden and went to help himself to a few treats from one of the bird feeders (ground feeder).

I managed to grab the camera and was lucky enough to get a few shots through a window. Not particularly good shots but very thrilling for me after years of watching, waiting and hoping at least one of them might eventually decide to visit in the daylight. We're hoping he might keep visiting in daylight from now on.

(He went for the sultanas and a chunk of pear)

Having a look from behind some bracken. Such a cute face too.



Crossing the lawn after enjoying the sultanas and pear



Leaving and unexpectedly passing close to the window .. so I didn't quite manage to zoom back far enough - hence the cropped nose.



Pol

[Ian]

Re: Great excitement!

Bravo Pol - some good captures there. He/she looks like a healthy one.

I've never seen a fox where we are, but I have very occasionally heard their cries at night.

Ian

[Caz]

Re: Great excitement!

Oh you lucky bunny - I've seen quite a few round here (in the old days, one or two used to know my garden was a safe 'hunt-free' zone ) but haven't managed to catch them....

But I have finally managed to catch the hare I've been stalking for the past month, really must post it!

Caz

[coupekid]

Re: Great excitement!

Fantastic!
it would be great if he becomes a regular, might be worth starting to pop something down for them!

[paul.r.w]

Re: Great excitement!

Running alive with foxes around here, central London that is

[Pol]

Re: Great excitement!

Thanks for all the comments.

Ben - we've had the foxes coming for many years but always in the middle of the night. This is the first time any of them has ever come to visit in the daytime so we're hoping that means at least one of them, possibly a young one, is confident enough to keep coming in the daylight.

We have a ground feeder tray like this one HERE and that's where it went for the sultanas and pears. It was also amusing to watch the resident Blackbird stand back in dismay as it watched the fox woof down the sultanas, which the Blackbird loves to take several at a time.

The larger birdbath is too high for ground feeders so we have a ground level ceramic water bowl/bath nearby so that the hedgehogs can drink easily and safely and the foxes sometimes drink there too.

Pol

[Pol]

Re: Great excitement!

Looks like we might be seeing more of this young fox during the daytime.

It came back this morning, again at around 9-30am and confidently finished off most of the sultanas, then wandered around the garden finding and eating chunks of pear. It also passed very close to the windows when leaving so that we could get a much closer look at it. It's a very cute, very small little'un. So I guess it's very young.

Gorgeous little animal - not at all bothered about being wet. It had a good shake on the lawn, just like a wet dog would.

Two pictures taken from just inside a patio door. That feeder tray/table measures 41 x 33 x 12.5 cms with a ground clearance of 8 cm, which gives some idea of size and scale.

Pol




Note how the sultanas are rapidly going down in this second one.

[lumix]

Re: Great excitement!

That's definitely a very young fox. Hope it gets used to you and visits regularly. Who knows next year it's mate will move in them pit-er-pat-er tiny feet.

[Pol]

Re: Great excitement!

That's definitely a very young fox. Hope it gets used to you and visits regularly. Who knows next year it's mate will move in them pit-er-pat-er tiny feet.

That's exactly what we've been saying and hoping for too.

We think this young'un might be one of the cubs we spotted coming and going for a while during the night with the parents. It's certainly the most confident one we've ever had - so fingers crossed it'll keep up with the daylight visits.


Pol

[StuartR]

Re: Great excitement!

Lucky you Pol!

Before we put a 6' fence up all round the garden a few years back we used to see foxes close to the house quite regularly but only at night IIRC. Their body heat used to trigger the light over the patio which, after a week or two, didn't spook them and we could watch them at close quarters through the patio doors. My young daughter called the light "the fox light" and that's stuck to this day (she's 21 next month!).

Unfortunately this all happened when I was taking "time off" from Photography so no pictures

Perhaps I should put a dog flap in the top gate because I know there are plenty of foxes in the fields & woods behind the garden but that might also give access to some unwelcome visitors I suppose (thinking other people's dogs more than anything else).

[Pol]

Re: Great excitement!

Lucky you Pol!

Before we put a 6' fence up all round the garden a few years back we used to see foxes close to the house quite regularly but only at night IIRC. Their body heat used to trigger the light over the patio which, after a week or two, didn't spook them and we could watch them at close quarters through the patio doors. My young daughter called the light "the fox light" and that's stuck to this day (she's 21 next month!).

Unfortunately this all happened when I was taking "time off" from Photography so no pictures

Perhaps I should put a dog flap in the top gate because I know there are plenty of foxes in the fields & woods behind the garden but that might also give access to some unwelcome visitors I suppose (thinking other people's dogs more than anything else).

Yer probably not gonna believe this but we also refer to the security lights as "the fox lights". They're never spooked by our lights either, only spooked by any slight movement or noise from the house.

We also have 6ft fences all around at the back with hedges either side - but the foxes and other wildlife seem to manage to find their way through even very small spaces underneath.

They really like that ground feeder you see in the picture so we keep it supplied with sultanas and pieces of pear that the Blackbirds also enjoy. Perhaps you could try scattering sultanas around the base of the fences then watching and waiting to see what happens.

Good luck - fingers crossed your lights will soon be getting triggered and wakening you at 2-3 am when the first load of sultanas get discovered.

Pol

[StuartR]

Re: Great excitement!

Might be worth a go although we're all fenced in (i.e. no hedges) and there's only one gate where a determined fox might be able to get under it. Not sure how good foxes are at jumping & climbing? I know in town they're often seen on the roof of sheds and single story buildings sleeping during the day. Could they handle a 6' fence I wonder?

I'd do anything to stop the pesky blackbirds eating my raspberries perhaps they'll prefer the sultanas / sliced pear instead! Something is also eating the strawberries (in a large tall planter) but only the bottom ones, which is odd. They're off the ground by a few inches so I don't think it's slugs or snails but I could be wrong. Need to get a net that touches the ground I think.

Loads of the cherries are being eaten by birds even thought they're not quite ready and I guess it won't be long before the wasps start on the apples and greengages and the pigeons on the pears! Hopefully the tomatoes will be safe .

We hardly ever see squirrels but now that we've got some Kentish Cob nuts I'm thinking it probably won't be long!

Makes me wonder just who I'm growing all this fruit for

Finally we've also got a fairly large and aggressive cat and I know the foxes won't like him! He's busy decimating our pond's frog population at the moment. He also killed a newt the other day which annoyed me but that's nature I guess..

[Pol]

Re: Great excitement!

We hardly ever see squirrels but now that we've got some Kentish Cob nuts I'm thinking it probably won't be long!

Makes me wonder just who I'm growing all this fruit for

I know the feeling so well.

We have a cob nuts in one of the hedges and the squirrels take a few but they don't bother with them so much if we make sure they have plenty peanuts in the nuttery. So we do get a few for ourselves most years.

Cherries mostly go to the blackbirds but we've had a few for ourselves this year - not many but enough to remind ourselves how good they taste.

Greenages are usually lost to the insects. We get a few apples and strawberries for ourselves and also manage to get plums for ourselves too. However - we don't mind letting the wildlife take a huge amount as we enjpy watching them tuck in.

As for your fence dilemma ...... we only have the high fences at the back. We have high hedges around the front and we asked the fencers to build matching gates for both sides of the house. One side has a solid closeboard gate but we asked for a half trellis gate and trellis panels for the other side. The trellis is strong custom-built fencing panels and built with square openings (not like that collapsible stuff from garden centres). We needed it strong and secure as we wanted the front of the house more open but nevertheless secured from anyone getting around the back.

Those custom built gates are raised about 6" off the ground and matching the back fences ... so it all matches up, but the gates are slightly higher along the top (for security).

The foxes seem to be mainly coming in under the front hedges then going through the trellis panel or under the close-board gate. Sometimes leaving under the fence at the bottom of the garden or mostly via the 'trellis' gate on one side of the house.

So it might be worth getting some estimates for a customised fence panel or gate with some inbuilt strong/matching trellis at the bottom. I think ours has holes (square) of about 4" x 4" ........... big enough for the foxes to get through - no dogs getting in through it though.

Here's one more picci from this morning. I'm hoping for better shots and colours when the sun shines and I don't have to be shooting through mucky and rain spattered double glazing.

Pol

[Caz]

Re: Great excitement!

If that's taken through your double glazing then it's a lot cleaner than mine!

Beautiful shot again Pol. Don't seem to get them in the garden any more, but there again I'm not about much in the day.

What we are getting lots (too many!) of are young jackdaws who've learnt how to 'hover' by the hanging bird feeders. The older ones seem to sit on the rose arch and try and reach in for the seed. Either way, I've disturbed a dozen before now by opening the door to try and get a photo!

Caz

[Tinka]

Re: Great excitement!

Hi Pol,
You Lucky lucky Girl, a wonderful and rare oportunity, to see them in daylight, I know we have them here but I have yet to see them, perhaps one day.