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The Frosty Fox

Friday, 16. November 2007, 15:33:11

,

Lessons in how not to hunt, from a meadow fox.

Patrolling the habitat of prey is a good start.



Selecting the right target is essential. When wolves hunt, the leader comes to a halt and signals his choice to the rest of the pack; a single fox just needs to make up its own mind.



Surely not! p:



:eyes:



:eyes::eyes:



:eyes::eyes::eyes:



Magpie 1, Fox 0.



On to choice two. Which is...a branch! :lol:



All good fun.


__

Really, any fox should know that the odds of catching a magpie are about the same as getting a reasonable picture of a badger out of the trail camera :whistle: I retrieved the camera today from its latest hideout. This is a badger's right hindfoot and tail, obviously :lol: Maybe next time I'll finally find a cooperative badger!



I've certainly got no such quibbles with the meadow foxes. The last two days have given me incredible sightings of them, and some new insights into fox play! Hopefully they will remain visible throughout the winter. It will take a while for me to learn to recognise them as individuals, as they are much more distant than the garden group. All of the fox pictures in this post, and the previous one, were taken at 500mm and cropped.

The Day of Four FoxesWhen the Day Starts Like This...

Comments

Claude 16. November 2007, 15:42

Waou :eyes: very good shots :up: Interesting! Where is it, Adele?

Andy Wilson 16. November 2007, 18:30

Great sequence.

Carol 16. November 2007, 19:50

:up: Great read, great photos. :smile:

Stardancer 16. November 2007, 21:33

Wonderful post, Adele, as usual!

:up:

Mark Jones 16. November 2007, 21:48

Theres something about Foxes and Frost that seems so cute :heart:

It looks like the Fox was telling the branch off or taking its frustration out on it after the magpie escaped lol:P

Words 16. November 2007, 21:59

Another stunning visual essay in behaviour. Just great :smile:

Marie 17. November 2007, 01:26

Wonderful viewing and wonderful entertainment. These last few posts have been outstanding. They are beautiful animals but I'm so glad the bird escaped and I know you wouldn't have posted nature in the raw if it hadn't. I find it very hard to accept, the nature of killing or the killing of nature - whatever.

ALLY G. 17. November 2007, 07:37

What a funny :lol: and interesting photo story and great shots too :up:

Adele 17. November 2007, 08:33

@Claude - thankyou!

Adele 17. November 2007, 08:46

@Andy - thankyou! I was very surprised to see this behaviour. The foxes are so lively right now.

Adele 17. November 2007, 08:47

@Carol - thankyou!

Adele 17. November 2007, 08:47

@Stardancer - thankyou!

Adele 17. November 2007, 08:49

@Mark - thankyou! I love seeing foxes in the frost (or snow...:D)

It was so strange. The fox did a pounce-leap onto the end of the twig, and I thought that first that it must have caught a mouse or something. It wasn't until I checked the pictures that I saw what was really going on! I think it was just in a wildly playful mood! :smile:

Adele 17. November 2007, 08:50

@Words - thankyou! I certainly wasn't expecting this yesterday morning!

I don't doubt that foxes deserve the "catlike canine" title when they do stalking sequences like this...

Adele 17. November 2007, 08:53

@Marie - thankyou!

I don't think that the fox ever thought that it was going to catch the magpie. They don't really hunt magpies, but they seem to charge them for fun sometimes. They're big, quick-moving birds and like all corvids cannot be hunted by very much (except cougars, it seems :whistle:)

Adele 17. November 2007, 08:53

@Elke - thankyou! Glad you enjoyed it! :smile:

José Torres 17. November 2007, 12:33

Great:up: very nice, Adele:up:

Carol 17. November 2007, 12:44

You are welcome Adele. :smile:

Claude 17. November 2007, 13:03

but where was it? In England or Canada?

Adele 17. November 2007, 13:13

It's England. Foxes aren't easy to see in western Canada.

Claude 17. November 2007, 13:34

Near were you live Adele? Seems to be very cold in your region! And I think you have to be very patient, to be wait for long time to be able to shoot those pictures :up: You're impressive Adele :smile:

Hiroyuki 17. November 2007, 17:11

Your comment that “any fox should know that the odds of catching a magpie are about the same as getting a reasonable picture of a badger out of the trail camera” seems rather questionable to me, as most foxes have little or no experience of using photographic equipment of any type.
Your observations do however raise an interesting question as to a fox's grasp of comparative probabilities.

Chris 17. November 2007, 17:40

Wow amazing photos!! One day when i have myself a good lens i'll definately have to come and crash the party!! :wink:

Adele 17. November 2007, 17:56

@Infinity - Well, these foxes trip trail cameras on frequent occasions so they do have some small amount of photographic knowledge :wink: although I grant that that fact probably had little bearing on the meadow fox's decision to charge the magpie :lol:

Adele 17. November 2007, 18:01

@Chris - thanks! This is usually the worst time of year to foxwatch but don't tell them :whistle:

Adele 17. November 2007, 18:02

@Ze - thanks for your comment too; sorry, I'm badly out of sync tonight :eyes:

José Torres 17. November 2007, 21:26

:smile::smile::smile::smile::smile:

Eliane a/k/a Elly 17. November 2007, 22:33

:up:

I never have seen a magpie before.

Poor fox! I hope it got something to eat.

Adele 18. November 2007, 07:35

I hope so too! :smile: But I doubt it would have been playing like that if it were really desperately hungry.

Magpies are quite common in the UK. They're closely related to crows and ravens.

Nicolas Borgsmidt 18. November 2007, 22:21

Lovely sequence :lol: Looked so funny with the foxes ears sticking up from the frosty grass:D

Adele 18. November 2007, 22:33

Thanks Nic! This fox should take lessons from coyotes - they remember to flatten their ears :lol:

Nicolas Borgsmidt 18. November 2007, 22:46

Awww it´s cute. I know wild life is serious business but I cant help it when animal do funny things:D

Like when to giant seagulls were fighting about half a loaf of bread on the garages in my backyard. A fine show in martial arts for big birds. It looked really funny:lol:

Adele 18. November 2007, 23:13

Foxes can be very light-hearted at times, especially when running off with shoes and the like :lol:

Nicolas Borgsmidt 19. November 2007, 03:58

AWWWW..like doggies...they´re really playfull like that..the grown ups too?!:lol:

Adele 19. November 2007, 08:12

All their lives...all their lives! :lol: Golf balls and tennis balls appear in the garden, stolen from goodness knows where. They walk off with dog toys, shoes, dog leads and that peanut feeder :wink: One even tried to steal Words' camera bag :eyes: I've found pillows shredded that must have been a fox having fun. They're incredibly playful, one of the most playful of all wild animals :smile:

Nicolas Borgsmidt 19. November 2007, 10:19

Awww:love:

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