First of all, before I continue with today's adventure, what a great week I am having, I must have done something nice to someone somewhere because I am certainly being rewarded what with a Buzzard on Monday and now a Fox today.

I went  back to my pit hide this morning and with a fresh rabbit carcass placed on the log,  I sat staking out the Buzzard again.  I really hoped for a visit and waited with lots of optimism.  I hadn't been there long when there  on the edge of the corn field was a fox!  I quickly managed to swing the 500 lens on to her (I think it's a vixen), but she was hidden amongst the grass at first. This is the 3rd or 4th time I have had a fox in front of me during the day but before they have all "got wind" of me and departed pronto.  She squessed under the fence now and made her way towards me, sniffing the air as she came nearer.  I expected her to hurry off as soon as she was aware of me but today was different.  She stopped dead in her tracks and started to feed on what I later discovered was the fetid and rotten rabbit carcas that I had burried the day before yesterday.  It seems that another fox had dug it up in the night and dragged it away, dropping bits as it went.  She was obviously attracted by the smell and had come for a mid-morning snack.  I watched her for 10 minutes or so and had some great views.  Obviously I have seen foxes very often but rarely have I been able to study one like this.  They are stunningly attractive with  striking red fur and bushy long  tail.  Being able to get a series of shots like this has made all of my sitting around and planning of the last month or so well worth it.  You could travel the world and photograph animals on the plains of the Serengetti for instance, once you were there it would be easy I think but it's a lot more difficult to get photos of our non-urban foxes here in the UK.  The first pictureis one that I will treasure, I love it! It shows what an attractive animal the Red Fox is. Look at the hairs inside the ears, I need to do some research in to this.  It is hard to seperate the sexes but males are said to have longer muzzles whereas females have softer more appealing faces, hence I think this is a female.

 

She appears under the fence and it certainly looks as though she is awatre of me?

Then she trots towards the scource of the smell.

She sniffs the air, I have read that they can recognise different people by their smell, perhaps she doesn't associate my smell with danger now?

….. and then finds the rotten meat, surely smellier than me?

She investigates it before starting to feed.  Dog foxes are well known for their bushy tails, perhaps she is a male after all?

She  licks her lips with anticipation.

Then she  gets stuck in to the awful smelly rabbit.  You you can see her canines, of course named after a dog and also called dog teeth by some. 

There was some movement from Dicks house 150 metres  accross the field and she checks that she is safe.

What a lovely animal a fox is.

Now back to the carcass and something gets stuck in her throat.

Everything is  gone and she marks her territory before moving off.  Do dog foxes "lift their leg"?  Perhaps she is a vixen for certain?   Foxes are known to mark like this frequently, or is she just urinating.  She is very relaxed and either not aware of me or not concerned about me.

I think she could smell my presence or more likely heard the camera's shutter and she was taking no chances.