Itchy and Scratchy

 I'm concious that this is the third post in as many weeks that have featured this fella but as the saying goes make hay while the sun shines. As he has been a daily visitor to the garden of late I've christened him Mulder.  His routine involves strolling up the garden to have a drink from the bird bath, before cutting across the garden and slipping into the farmer's field next to us.

We still think he is an older animal.  Mulder seems to have a weary almost arthritic gait when he moves.  What we are certain about is that he is covered in fleas.  His coat to us is starting to look a bit mangy on his hind quarters.  I took most of these shots from the bedroom window,  Mulder was aware I was photographing him but he was to to busy scratching himself to care.  He did this for almost ten minutes before taking his leave.

Foxtrot

It's not often that a fox decides to walk straight into your viewfinder.

Last Sunday, around six in the evening and we had just returned from a shopping expedition in Lincoln.  As I was cracking open a cold beer I spotted this fella calmly strolling up the garden towards the kitchen window.

He moved at a cautious pace and spotted me through the window but didn't seem particularly bothered by my proximity.  He headed straight for the bird bath and took a long drink.

We think he may be an older animal, due in part to the white hairs that are visible on his flanks.

 Thirst sated, he walked across the garden and into the field next to us.  By this time I was virtually hanging out of the bedroom window taking pictures.

Lazy Like A Fox

 Friday evening, I had just finished work for the week and was in the process of putting away the shopping when I spotted a flash of colour down the bottom of the garden.  From a distance, we thought that it might have been Billy, our semi-resident pheasant who has been known to lie down and have a dirt bath in the same spot.  It soon became apparent that it was too big to be a pheasant.

We've had a few fox sightings in recent weeks, often cutting through the garden on the way to somewhere else.  On these pictures, to the right is a farmer's field with a barn close to the boundary of the garden.  The area between the garden and the barn would make an excellent lair for a fox as it is an area of dense, overgrown thicket, filled with brambles and discarded tractor tyres.  We've often wondered if the fox has set up home there.

I crept slowly down the garden towards it,  The fox appeared to be relaxed and enjoying the early evening sunshine.

Peek-A-Boo

When it saw me coming it watched me cautiously but did not run off as I slowly approached.

It looked to be in good condition and as I got to within ten metres or so if it, the fox decided to err on the side of caution and trotted away into the thicket.

Sneak Thief

Over the years we've seen the odd fox or two passing through the garden.  This is normally when the nights are drawing in and they happen to trip the security lights but we always assumed they were infrequent visitors.

There is a part of the garden that we call the orchard as there are a handful of old apple and plum trees in it.  On a dark evening you really can't see more than a few yards from the kitchen window and we've always wondered about what goes on down there during the night.

A couple of years ago we splashed out on a trail cam to see what visitors we had in the garden during darkness.  We were hoping to see some badgers but so far no joy.  What we did discover was that foxes were nightly visitors, slipping through the orchard from the fields on their way to wherever.

 Last Saturday morning we had a rare sighting of a fox in the daylight. It kept sneaking  into the orchard, had a nibble at something and then exiting to an overgrown area in the field next to us.  At first we thought it was because it had killed some unfortunate creature and was returning to feast on the remains.  It soon became apparent that what it was actually eating were fallen plums from the tree in the garden.

Not content with the plums on the ground he opted to pick his own. Annoyingly the side shoots sprouting from the apple trees managed to obscure a lot of the fox's head and no amount of healing brush was ever going to make it look natural.  I've since chopped them off hoping for a repeat performance but so far the fox has been absent (at least during daylight).

It was an interesting thing to watch (especially as it was well aware I was standing at the top of the orchard with the camera) but we are also concious that we now have a fox and pheasants making themselves at home in the garden.  The fox has already made an attempt on Billy the pheasant, but fortunately he made it safely into the branches of the willow tree.  Hopefully the pheasants will learn to keep out of the fox's way and keep out of the orchard.  The pheasant chicks are far too young for a flying escape.