This is one of the many special encounters with the local foxes that I have experienced in recent years, and this special reunion was one of several highlights of 2022…
Vixens Patch and Vicky are not related, but were both cubs in 2020 when I first got to know them, during the covid lockdown exercise periods. There were two pairs of cubs in total, and spending time with them meant getting up very early on bright or sunny days and trudging about, which was a wonderful antidote to the emotional and psychological pressures that we all faced during the early days of the pandemic. Many people became more aware of how theraputic it is to reconnect with the natural world and the wildlife around us, especially in urban areas, and it really helped me keep a positive mental attitude during those challenging times.
I feel very privileged that as they have grown up, these two vixens have allowed me to watch their cubs grow up over the last couple of years, and they have given me hours of pleasure observing and photographing their behaviour and social interactions. I may not see either of them for days or weeks, but they do seem to look out for each other on the rare occasions that I do see them together. The dog foxes often move on, and many cubs do not survive, unfortunately, but I do see some of them too sometimes.
These photos were taken early one August morning, when they were both happy to share some time with me, showing me complete trust as usual while I laid next to them trying to keep as low as possible, struggling to keep the hand-held camera steady. I was enjoying just being with them for a while, and as they were so close I didn’t want to spoil the vibe, but of course before long I couldn’t resist the risk of taking a few photo’s, despite the messy background and tatty cardboard, because they looked so lovely together!
The following video probably gives a better idea of what it was like to spend several minutes just hanging out together, before Patch got bored and wandered off, saying goodbye to Vicky on the way, a wonderful intimate moment!
Foxes are intelligent and have complicated family interactions and very different personalities. I always give them space and let them come to me if they want to, and I don’t feed them by hand. However, they know I regularly put food and fruit out for the birds, and nuts for the squirrels, and they are partial to a peanut or two, and of course, very inquisitive. They are also partial to umpteen gardening gloves, several gardening bag handles, my camera strap… oh and one of them bit a neat hole in an iphone screen, which surprisingly kept on going for several days before finally refusing to work!