Taexalia

wild.life

Oh Shit Sherlock

Having a plan is always a good idea, setting goals is often a great motivator and laying a good foundation is generally clever. Embracing life as it comes, accepting failure and letting go of expectations is wisdom. I had a long list of Things To Do On Holiday and they did not come to pass in the ways I had hoped and planned for, but the surprises and the unplanned moments more than made up for the not-quite-there-yets. Like my nephew learning to stand then gradually having the confidence ... read more

Foxes Full Of Beans

This morning brought another snowstorm and with it the best ever garden fox watching extravaganza. Our vixen was full of high jinx tiddling about in the snow, burying scavenged bread under the snow and flinging something into the air and playing with it. She was disturbed a few times by an inconsiderate human who kept opening the window to see better... pfffft! Our vixen also involved herself in a game of tag with a crow and two magpies which she lost gracefully. A little while later her ... read more

Arctic Vixen

Last night the snow was still falling and the blanket of white was almost intact, blurring the boundaries and creating an erie light. This morning the world of humans has taken over and where the road and pavement were one there is clear tarmac and orange stripes of salty sand. The cars, you see, must go on. The gardens tell more interesting tales as the criss-cross of animal tracks bely the journeys of the night. In the dim morning light under clouds laden with more snowfall to come ... read more

Watching Over Predators

The kind I have some respect for that is... I noticed Mr Fox skulking past the Sparrow Bush as I was making my toast and felt blessed because I could have missed the split second sighting so easily. A moment later I gasped as I realised that Mrs Fox was curled up in the long grass of the untamed (thankfully) garden cleaning herself and enjoying the sunshine. Mr Fox skulked back and curled himself up a few feet away to do the same. They have been relaxing and sleeping this way for over ... read more

Welcome Distraction

Packing orders this afternoon and I was distracted by a flash of red outside... our resident pair of foxes were slinking around marking territory and chasing each other. Such is their hearing that they reacted to the click of my camera one floor up behind double glazing... but they did not see me ;-)

More foxes in my garden

Dig Our Fox

[kaltura-widget wid="vohid1a5gg" width="410" height="364" addpermission="3" editpermission="3" /] Mister Fox was very intent on digging around under Skeleton Tree and I'm not sure what he was doing - finding food? making a den? or just exploring...? They seemed to be having fun ... read more

My camera doesn’t have night fox vision…

...but here is some blurry evidence of the foxies in the garden tonight ~There were three different ones scurrying about and one of them even sat down and looked up at me. It was much darker and these images are brought to you by the wonders of photo editing software... I want a fancier camera with more bells and whistles!

More foxes in my garden

Frisky Fox Day

[caption id="attachment_532" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) mating"][/caption] Life has been somewhat less colourful since the foxes raised their cubs and moved on last year. Although I know the foxes remain in the neighbourhood, they just haven't been using the gardens viewed from my window very often. The last few nights, however, have been punctuated with eerie barking and calls and I have been hoping what I was hearing was the sounds of a fox calling for ... read more

Fox Haiku

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Red Fox Vulpes Vulpes"][/caption]

Standing on the fence Sniffing possibilities Blink and fox is ... read more

Red Fox Rearing

At the risk of having to re-name this blog The Fox Saga, I can tell you that the little darlings were around today. I've been hearing them tonight after dark too, it's great when you know for definite the sound you are hearing is fox. They were not as active as yesterday, but given the piddling rain who can blame them, and so here is another of my favourites from yesterday. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Red Fox Vulpes Vulpes Rearing"][/caption] She has no idea I ... read more

My Foxy Home Video

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Blurry Red Fox Kit Vulpes Vulpes"][/caption] This is the best example of any of the frustrating photography of the evening. The truth is that I have no idea what I am doing with a camera and so, when faced with challenging conditions (like fast fox kits as the sun goes out), I tend to fail (and wail) miserably. I mean just after this episode there was a gorgeous scene right in the middle of the grass (the choicest of places for a fox to ... read more

Garden Drama

I haven't been successful in getting a pic of any of the fox kits so far. They are only appearing right at dusk and they are very quick on their tiny toes! I suspect they were less visible last night because a neighbour left his wee doggie in the garden ~ I don't understand folk who pay more than I earn in a month on a posh pooch and then abandon it outside until long after dark... Anyway, the posh pooch (who is actually quite a fine wee being) was doing her thing lying on the path watching ... read more

Grandma By Default

I announced this elsewhere as "I think I'm a Mum again" and it was suggested that I'm actually a Grandma since the parental units are present... OK! Just before 10pm tonight, as the night was creeping in, my eye was caught by movement out in the back gardens... A fox! But not just any of our three regular foxes - this one was small! Over the next half hour or so, we watched more fox activity than I have ever seen. I think there are definitely two youngsters, at least, but they are all ... read more