I don't often have to play the waiting game. My wildlife watching is rather opportunistic in nature; I travel to areas that I know are heavily used by wild animals, at times that fit their daily routines, and wander slowly through. But there are individuals out there who require different tactics.

The fox scene in the garden is changing. The Old Dogfox's death, the cubs born this spring, the SV's erratic movements: all are threads which will help pattern the developments of the future. But there is another factor, one I've had my eye on now for some weeks, and yet...he's not making my life easy. He's a tall, sandy-coloured fox with large ears and he comes every evening with the Chipped Vixen. I've seen young males come and go with such alarming frequency that I'm hesitant to name them, but he has stubbornly become a fixture of the garden, albeit one I've rarely mentioned.

Catching him on my still camera is going to take some doing. I was moderately well prepared tonight; not quite lying in wait but certainly more subtle than usual, taking care to get my camera on a tripod, remote trigger attached, before switching on the outside light. I still missed him but in case anyone is curious as to what he looks like, you can see (and hear!) him in this video here, which I first uploaded a couple of months ago.



If I missed my goal, I had slightly better luck with the Chipped Vixen. I note she is not looking particularly slim



That's one kind of showdown - the sandy-coloured dogfox and me, and I ruefully admit that I lost! But this week has not been short of unusual stand-offs. We've had that strange deer-fox incident, and it was followed by something rather reminscient on Thursday. It just happened to be in a heavily shaded part of the lane, so apologies for the picture quality, but so many people ask about foxes and cats that I still think this is worth posting.

This medium-sized fox was standing stock-still at a wildlife junction: the lane, obviously, and a well-travelled gap in the hedgerow. I saw it staring intently up the lane, and immediately wondered if there was another fox up there. But down came a black and white cat, trotting sharply straight towards the fox!



Foxes have a slightly larger frame than felines, but no razor-sharp claws, and are built for leaping gracefully onto small prey. Cats are muscle-bound heavyweights in comparison, and unfortunately do kill foxes from time to time. Actual violence is pretty rare though, but I could see that the fox was very uneasy. Bluffing enemies with a direct march towards them is a tried and tested technique throught the animal kingdom.

I was keeping my distance. I saw the fox turn about and take a few steps towards me, but it was hesitant. Clearly it was appraising its chances of running up the lane away from the cat, and Leila and I were somewhat in the way. Then it suddenly swivelled about and shot through the gap in the hedgerow, rapidly vanishing into the long grass...



So, there has been the edge of the dramatic lately. Here's a ring-necked parakeet looking fairly peaceful to offer some respite!