... on the cliffs tonight as Mr Cruisedog and I meandered ... A rare occurrence as a usually cautious coastal vixen approached and actually took food from my hand - well, nearly took my fingers as well with a very decisive snap of her powerful jaws. The cubs then pranced around and I counted five of them along with two attendant vixens. They all looked healthy and contented with life. Shining my head torch around as we walked down the hill to the cliffs, I picked out two pairs of eyes - one following us and another on top of a roof ... ! Closer inspection identified a cat on the (tin?) roof and the fox following us was an inquisitive fox watching our progress. High up in the woods above Cruisedog Towers, a lone fox sat observing us but it was an 'outsider' who would have been chased away if any of the local 'owners' of the patch had seen it. I threw it the last piece of chicken I had and it ran off in alarm, thinking I was aiming a missile at it. However, Mr Cruisedog and I waited in the darkness down our path and sure enough, after a few minutes, the fox returned and found the food and with it in his mouth, stared down at us before loping away. As I always say - every night a different adventure for me and Mr Cruisedog ...
Friday 25 June 2010
Sunday 20 June 2010
June 20th - A red-letter 'night'
Just after a week ago, the new batch of fox cubs presented themselves in the top meadow - being taught how to hunt by mothers and aunties.
At the conclusion of our nightly cliff walk patrol, Mr Cruisedog and I encountered our favourite, 'My Vixen' who had been afflicted with Sarcoptic Mange last winter but was slowly recovering. She rushed up and gobbled down 3 chicken thighs before dashing off with some food in her mouth. I had been wondering for a few weeks whether she was caching it or feeding cubs. Well, I got my answer tonight as suddenly, two small shadows approached and she let them take the food off her. Instead of retreating, both cubs bounded past us with small pieces of food in their mouths. Both were healthy and had no signs of mange. A very rewarding night indeed.
Wednesday 16 June 2010
Fascinating fifteen minutes ...
Saturday 12 June 2010
Friday 11 June 2010
Older post
A VERY rare moment ...
... a young vixen about to take food from my hand ... I do have film footage taken a few years back of another vixen taking food by hand, but that was very different. I had fed the cub for about 18 months before she would trust me. This particular vixen (wild dog foxes will hardly ever approach humans) I have known for about a month! I noticed her following us (Cruisedog and I on nightly cliff walk, early hours) and put some food down which she took a few minutes after we left (observed upwind a hundred yards away). Since then, she has become a 'regular' and has started bringing a companion (unknown sex) with her who stands some way off. The past few nights, she has become more and more confident and has even sniffed noses with a tethered Cruisedog! She snatched a piece of food from my hand the previous night, but I thought at the time she had made an error, thinking I had dropped it. Luckily, I had the camcorder turned on this time and the above photo is a still taken from a vid clip. Most of you will have heard of or read reports of urban foxes (Bristol foxes are well-documented) taking food by hand, but it is extraordinarily rare for a rural fox to do this - especially one that is not pregnant, injured or old.
A REMARKABLE VID CLIP - RURAL FOX TAKING FOOD ... VIDEO Thursday, 21 May 2009
See also:'Wild fox eating out of my hand' Youtube. The difference here is that this vixen is absolutely wild and practically takes my hand off ... and would not go near - let alone enter any human habitation to take food. However, watch both videos and make up your own minds which vixen is as wild as 'old Harry' ...
Wednesday, 27 May 2009
Tuesday, 26 May 2009
A taxing early hours ...
Foxes are easily spooked, as I found out tonight. The previous night I had committed the cardinal sin of returning after encountering 'Snatcher' - my newly acquired vixen of merely a month's acquaintance. Cruisedog and I had had to return to retrieve a bag with plastic wrappings which any animal could easily have swallowed and choked upon. To Snatcher, our sudden reappearance must have meant one thing - danger and she had fled along with her companion. Twenty four hours later, Cruisedog and I found emptiness where for a month Snatcher had waited as regular as clockwork. Eventually, after nearly an hour, she ventured cautiously forward, but would not come to take food from me. It's not back to square one, but it'll probably take a week or two before she regains confidence. However, after nearly forty years of animal 'watching', the one thing I have learnt is patience.
Monday, 25 May 2009
Just as I thought ...
... the tripod was a non-starter. Its presence made both foxes very nervous, so I ditched it in the hedge and tried to film holding the cam sideways (as above) ... with mixed results.
Sunday, 24 May 2009
Probably won't work but ...
I'm just about to set off to film 'Snatcher' with a cam on a tripod as filming one-handed while feeding with the other hand is proving tricky. She may well take exception to the apparatus, but it's worth a try. We'll know either way in about two hours time ...
'Snatcher' is a real handful ...
... proper planning prevents poor performance ... got to Snatcher's location but was having trouble with the camcorder which needed adjusting. After only about 10 seconds waiting, Snatcher grew impatient and made a grab for Cruisedog's lead (while he was tethered by it!) ... then as soon as I commenced filming, the cam message came on-screen: 'Card full' ... Drat! So I had to laboriously delete a few clips to make room. This further delay was too much for 'Snatcher' who ran forward and snapped her teeth firmly on my right trainer! It's proving to be quite tricky filming with one hand and feeding with the other. Tomorrow I'll try and set up the camcorder on the tripod and film remotely as this is a most unusual animal ...
Friday, 22 May 2009
Razor-sharp teeth on my new friend ...
... a most remarkable animal ...
Friday, 3 July 2009
Foxes are very much creatures of habit ...
... I reflected on my nightly rounds. In good lighting conditions, (moon or lane lighting) individual foxes can be identified, but out on the cliffs and dark with no moon it's a different story. They still can be identified, however, by their position and behaviour. Any fox or badger which appears in a different spot and will not approach is likely to be a newcomer and it will observe closely the movements of 'my' animals and more likely than not, join my merry crew eventually. A special favourite of mine is a young vixen who is looking after her first litter and rather than get mixed up in the fighting and squabbling at a spot where several foxes converge, she waits for Cruisedog and I to complete our circular route (up to an hour) and emerges from the shadows for her treat. A few weeks ago, she would gather all I threw to her in her mouth and slink off to take it back to her cubs. Now the two surviving cubs are bigger, they now wait in the shadows a few feet away and dash forward to snatch the thrown food immediately from the mother, who for the time being, always gives it up. Another little country tale for all you city dwellers out there ...
Sunday, 28 June 2009
Badgers seldom look back ...
... when retreating, whereas foxes usually do. As Michael Caine said: 'Not many people know that' ... Advancing down the top meadow in the high grass, two distinct furrows of parting grass were observed going off in diagonal directions from me. With the LED's on my head torch, I observed a pair of greenish yellow eyes pause to look back while nothing was seen of the other departee. Stooping over to deposit some scraps, I became aware of a badger to my right and a vixen to my left. Both were intently staring past me at each other, ready to advance when I left. And yes, the pair of eyes I saw looking back were the vixen and the badger was the other, who didn't. Did you like that?
Saturday, 27 June 2009
No luck with fox filming ...
... the whole schedule thrown out with the no show of my vixen. At just after midnight, I started the round to find only her cub of about 3 months waiting in the lane. It was her first 'solo' appearance without her mother and she approached to within a few feet to feed. On my second pass a half hour later, the mother appeared and was very nervous, snatching food and running away each time. Something must have happened for her to miss her usual slot but she appeared unhurt. I didn't attempt to film the young female by herself and will wait until tomorrow when hopefully, all will be back to 'normal'. All other points on the 2 mile circuit are usually unsuitable for filming as to turn on any light will spook all in the vicinity ...
Friday, 26 June 2009
More fox footage to follow ...
... after the midnight hour ... these are rural foxes, NOT urban, streetwise, human-aware foxes ... they know only one human and one Cruisedog ...
Thursday, 25 June 2009
The grass is chest high ...
... in the top meadow and a chance encounter with a young badger boar making its way in the wide world, certainly enlivened proceedings on my nightly rounds with the Cruisedog. Wading through the grass safari (so good) style, I heard a noisy rustling in front of me which could only be a badger (they're big and mean enough not to care about noise) and sure enough, a black and white striped snout emerged sniffing furiously ... standing still, I waited for the inspection to finish - a sudden movement can make a badger charge straight at you - not pleasant ... Anyway, this particular badger knew of me (when you take the same route nightly, scores of eyes follow you) and backed slowly away - to await my offerings. Further along the cliffs, a vixen approached for her two chicken scraps which she collects up and takes away for her cub or cubs - now about 3 - 4 months old but still dependent on her for food. A magical moment as the cub, in its excitement, rushed from cover to drag the chicken from the mouth of the mother and then rushed away with its prize. Just two moments from the nightly walk - every night is different, every night rewarding and informative ...
Screams of foxes fighting ... video
Clip taken early hours Sunday July 5th ... the screams are down to intruder foxes being 'deterred' by territory owners.
Thursday, 23 July 2009
Less than 5 months old ...
... this is 'Jackal' - probably a female (dog foxes rarely as confident as vixens with human contact) and she has appeared on my nightly rounds recently. She's very quickly got the hang of the 'game' and approaches fearlessly. Almost certainly, she would have been observing me from cover for three or four weeks as her mother collected food for her ... A truly magnificent animal with no sores on her back which are the trademark of lesser foxes which are pursued and bitten by the dominant foxes.
Saturday, 8 August 2009
A strange sighting ...
Walking back up the hill with the Cruisedog at dusk, a strange sighting took place. Usually I take a camcorder with me most excursions - but unfortunately not this time. As we rounded the bend, a cock pheasant darted out of the hedge and on seeing us approach, stopped transfixed. Nothing strange about a cock pheasant you might think - but this one was. It was jet black with a white neck and bright red and black tail feathers and a little smaller than the 'usual' pheasant. I stopped dead and Cruisedog immediately sat and we both stared at the apparition. After a few seconds, it turned and ran - road-runner style up the lane and disappeared through a hole in the hedge. What with the strange sighting of the little white bird recently (see above vid clip) and now this bizarre sighting, I'm beginning to think that there's been a mass escape from an aviary somewhere ...
Thursday, 6 August 2009
Just off on our nightly rounds ...
... of the cliffs and byways of Maidencombe ... then the Cruisedog and I'll be back for more of 'It's all done in the best possible taste' ...
Wednesday, 5 August 2009
My beloved Maidencombe (on sea) ...
Fifty years a resident - my green and (mainly) unspoilt kingdom ...
Saturday, 1 August 2009
Albino bullfinch?
For some time now, dear old mum has been telling me that there's an albino bullfinch visiting one of our birdtables. I wasn't convinced until this morning I got a glimpse of it and managed to get a very short vid clip before it saw me and flew off. I'll post the clip shortly. Fascinating eh?
Older posts
Monday, 7 September 2009
Friday, 4 September 2009
Thursday, 3 September 2009
A gratifying night's video shoot ...
I never go out each night on my 'rounds' with any expectations of getting good footage of animals - most times I don't take the cam at all. Tonight with virtually a full moon, I took the cam along and was rewarded with some great clips. Using a different light setting and reducing the lux to 2, the quality was somewhat reduced but the clip stayed in focus throughout. The above extrapolated still shows 'Jackal' approaching to take a piece of chicken from my hand. The vid clip is magical and I'll get it compressed to AVI and posted later today as it's now 02:50 and I'm about to retire for the night. Also got footage of My Vixen outside the bungalow and the coastal fox to process. A good night's work.
Monday, 31 August 2009
CLASSIC EX HEADER PICS: 'Snatcher' ...
... a very special fox - a rural fox which took food from my hand after only 5 days ... his eyes are focused on a piece of chicken held in my right hand while this still is extrapolated from the vid clip on my cam held in my left hand. Illumination is from an LED head torch. A fluke shot as I'm no photographer. The extraordinary vid clip will be posted again soon - there's nothing like it anywhere on the internet ...
Friday, 28 August 2009
A batty bat, return of the Jackal and an owl swoops ...
Fun and games at CRUISEDOG TOWERS tonight ... had to duck when a bat dive-bombed the light from my head torch as I was feeding My Vixen just outside the back door. Couldn't identify it but it was a pretty large one and scared the hell out of me. Very relieved to see 'Jackal' half way through our cliff rounds. He had been missing for two nights in a row and I was getting uneasy. He was very skittish at first - the gusting wind not helping - but eventually he approached to take food from my hand. Last chore of the night (usually about 01:30) is to put some grain and seed on the bird tables (2) - again lighting the way via my head torch. A sudden 'whooshing' noise and a flash of white swept by me - literally only a few inches from my face. It was our local Barn Owl, who had been looking for rodents who grub around for dropped seed from the table. By the time I reached the kitchen I had developed a rather nervous twitch ...
Saturday, 22 August 2009
Where the deer and the antelopes play ...
Well, badgers and foxes together, actually. Although the Cruisedog and I follow more or less the same routine every night - whatever the weather - the wildlife we encounter regularly change theirs. However, for the past few nights there is one location - our last port of call - where both badgers and foxes await, separated by a few feet. Originally a badger point, a roaming and inquisitive fox watched the feed from some way off and then 'gatecrashed' the party the next night, much to the annoyance of the badger regulars. He liked the arrangement so much, he brought his buddies with him a few nights later and now we have a similar plot to that of West Side Story (1961) and the two rival NY gangs - the Sharks and the Jets. Nerve-wracking at times as the badger boar sometimes charges and scatters the foxes when he thinks they're after his banana (badgers love bananas, by the way) ... as I keep saying, every night a different adventure for us ...
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
Just off on our coast walk ...
... in case you didn't know by now, the Cruisedog and I have a nightly round where we walk a circuit observing all manner of wildlife - badgers, foxes, owls and anything else abroad in the early hours when most folk have retired for the night and on occasions we get some camcorder footage (see side panel or type in fox or badger in the search box on the left) .... Every night is different, every night an adventure for both of us. We'll get some more pics posted when we return in an hour or so ... seldom get any shuteye until 4 am ... a dedicated nightbird ...
Monday, 7 September 2009
A magical night on the cliffs ...
... after last night's sparse turnout. The folks across the way had a party until 2:30 am with loud rock music which echoed across the valley and scared off most of our usual 'customers'. Jackal did dash out to grab some food before scuttling away but at most of our rendezvous points there was nothing to be seen. However, it was business as usual with a vengeance 24 hours later with four foxes rushing down the lane to greet us, spearheaded by the 'Leader of the Pack' - Jackal. Most unusually, Jackal approached and took food from my hand in the lane before trotting behind Cruisedog and I to the top of the hill - the usual feeding point. It was a similar story out on the cliffs where another group of foxes stood off some way observing, before closing fast on our departure. At the last rendezvous, a minor fracas broke out when a pair of badgers took grave exception to Barnie (always appears from behind a barn) going too close to their banana and peanuts. Finally, on walking up to the back door, My Vixen's cub put in a belated appearance and waited while I got some of our chicken from the fridge. Over twenty animals observed on the rounds - just think, if you were walking around the exact route we took, you would have been very fortunate to have seen one or two ...
Friday, 11 September 2009
Autumn looms in Maidencombe ...
A gusty night had brought the hazelnuts down and I spent a good ten minutes stuffing my pockets as Cruisedog looked on. We had earlier been delayed for a similar interval by a white van man loitering by the roadside at our first 'rendezvous' point - a pair of foxes watching suspiciously in the hedgerow. Obviously spooked by this, the foxes decided it was a safer bet to follow us to the next spot out on the cliffs. This was not appreciated by the usual 'customers' there and much squabbling and screaming ensued. The wind had increased by the time we belatedly made our last stopoff and there appeared to be no takers - all that could be heard was the corrugated iron on the old barn rattling eerily. However, after calling a few times, a badger and two foxes appeared. All animals are healthy and well-prepared for the coming winter, here in Maidencombe-on-Sea ...
Older posts
Sunday, 20 September 2009
Badgers arrive mob-handed
Thursday, 24 September 2009
I had to be very still, kneeling down with the badger so close to me - they can be very unpredictable if disturbed by a sudden movement and are liable to charge straight at you ... a very unnerving experience which has happened to me twice in the past.
Older posts
Saturday, 26 September 2009
A mother's devotion ...
was seen on the cliffs tonight. The February batch of cubs are now fully grown at around seven months now and are all in fine condition for the coming winter. However, the vixen will not give up tending for her offspring and if they are slow at learning hunting or foraging skills, she will still take food to them. For a few nights now, I have had a vixen appear in the same place where no other animals are evident and wait for me to throw food. She then sits by it and waits and about twenty yards away, the Cruisedog and I also wait. She constantly looks around until her 'cub' dashes out - usually with a scream to give it courage - to snatch the food and back away, fearsome that another fox will appear. The cub is very small and extremely thin and it is with great satisfaction we return home knowing that it has at least had a good feed for one night. It is widely believed that once the cubs are weaned, the parents will take them hunting for a few weeks to learn skills and then leave them ... this is far from the case and the vixen is a particularly caring parent ...
Wednesday 9 June 2010
From early hours Monday June 7th ... setting up the infrared cam on the tripod is a little tricky as badgers and foxes are running around at the same time. My Vixen actually bites the cam at one point ... note the badger chasing My Vixen to snatch her food. The red laser dot seen briefly, is the only means of positioning as there's no viewfinder on this cam ...
