Fuzzy Foxes

Back in the Summer (as I reported here) I was out walking my dog on the Chiltern Hills when I spotted two fox cubs play fighting. At sight of me they bolted into a break in the blackthorn and bramble tangle of the hedgerow. 

There's definitely a fox earth somewhere in there because I later saw an older fox creeping into the same hole. Then, last week I spotted a young adult fox in the same spot. The next day I spotted two - which I presume are the cubs now grown. On the third day, they were having a playful rough and tumble. 

Six days later and I'd seen one or both of the foxes every single day in the same spot. So yesterday I took my old DSLR out with me and put on a decent 18-135mm zoom lens.

The frost was still thick on the ground in the shaded areas but the sun was bright and warm, even though the temperature rarely got above 0 degrees Celsius. It took me a while to reacquaint myself with the camera as I haven't really used it for around four years. Camera phones are so good now. And so convenient. My old Canon EOS550D is a bit of an old dinosaur, heavy and bulky. But I soon remembered the controls and tried to get a few shots of red kites and squirrels as there were plenty about. 

I then headed for where the foxes hang out and was rewarded by the the sight of two of them enjoying the sunshine. I didn't dare get any closer as they are quite skittish so I zoomed in with the camera ... and the sodding autofocus kept locking onto the twigs and branches of the skeletal trees between me and them.

So I quickly reset the camera to manual focus but, by then, the more nervous of the pair had slunk off. I just had time to get a single shot of the remaining fox before it too sauntered back into its den.

I'll try again later today.

I do realise that I could get better photos of foxes in my back garden or even on my doorbell camera - they're not exactly an uncommon sight. But there is something special about seeing them in their natural wild environment. I was reminded of a paragraph in Kevin Parr's recent book The Quiet Moon:

'Daylight glimpses are less usual and give the impression of an animal far scarcer than he actually is. But there is a fascination to be found in observing a truly rural fox. An unexpected encounter still delivers a shot of adrenaline. He is, after all, a hunter and natural competitor. And although he will run, we will always watch him out of sight, as if he is likely to creep back behind us and play a nasty trick when we are not looking.'

So much more rewarding than seeing them foraging for left-over KFC in a bin.