Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Vulpine Adventures

It must be time for an update on our foxy neighbours! I have been keeping an eye out, and most days I have at least one fox sighting, usually of a fox sleeping on the upper floors or internal scaffolding of the derelict building beside our apartment, and quite often I see a fox heading out at dusk to look for food.

Enjoying some sun.
One sunny Sunday morning...
This looks like some lovely woodland, not a building site!
The Ginge catches me taking pictures...
A building site is a good playground.
Off to look for food.
The gritty life of an urban fox.
Can you spot the fox?
There it is!
A nice spot on the roof!
Perhaps the slate was warm?
We arrived home from our Spain/France holiday to find some new developments had taken place. 

One night I was up at 4am with a headache and out the window I counted at least four foxes cavorting around in the half-light. Since then, we have worked out that there are two adult foxes, two middle-sized ones, and at least three cubs. Though possibly down to two cubs now, as I haven't seen three together for two weeks or so. 

At dusk each day, when the building site workers go home, an adult fox and a middle-size fox are straight out to search for food. The little cubs don't come out until it is dark, though the other day the more adventurous Fuzzball appeared out on the building site at 8am!! The first construction worker suddenly came into the picture and Fuzzball froze. The man kept walking to his machine, passing within 5 metres of the small cub, who waited 'til the man was out of view, then bolted back for the derelict building in which the foxes live. I haven't seen him out in the mornings since! Such an inquisitive little fox!
Can you see the new development....????!!!!!
Fox cub!!
This one is called Fuzzball; he's very adventurous.
They are around 4-6 weeks old at this stage.
His brother, Keith.
Cute! They had a sister, Thelma, but I haven't seen her for a while,
 so perhaps she has died. Fox cubs have a 60% mortality rate in the first year of life.
That looks like some exciting plastic to play with!
Fuzzball ventures out. This picture was taken about 3 weeks later than the one above.
He's getting bigger and looking more like a fox and less like a Labrador pup...
Summer is coming! Lovely new greenery, though a bit harder to see the foxes...






So there you have it - some pictures and an update on our vulpine neighbours. Lovely, aren't they...