Kitchen Garden Forum

Thanks Admin for sorting that out – have put my bits of “Fox News” together in a new post with smaller picture, hope that is all OK and that he stays around for more excitement!
John N

Mon 25/4- Foxes are not uncommon in our garden, but they are usually passing through and don't hang about. But last evening a big dog fox, which I've named 'Rupert" (Rupert Murdoch - Fox News ) made himself thoroughly at home.
He wandered across the lawn and curled up on a seedbed in the salad patch, and went to sleep. After about 20 minutes I went out and he let me get within some 10ft before he raised his head, leisurely got to his feet, ambled onto the lawn and sat down. I sat on a garden seat nearby and for some 10 minutes we looked at each other, Rupert behaving like a dog, rolling over, scratching himself and finally laying flat on his tummy and going to sleep. He was there for an hour before proceeding on his way.

26/4 - Yesterday afternoon I was fiddling around in the greenhouse and saw him sitting on the lawn. I wondered whether he was thirsty, what with all the dry weather, so I filled a small plastic pot with water and placed it outside the GH. I went back to the house and watched. For several minutes he stared at the pot, then got up, walked over to it, picked it up by the rim, tipped all the water out, carried the pot a few yards away, placed it down - and peed in it!

29/4 - Rupert sitting on lawn when neighbour's black cat appears and starts searching round the bottom of nearby quince tree, obviously looking for a rodent. Fox watches patiently until suddenly a small rat (or maybe large mouse) appears, running away from the opposite side of the tree.
Fox moves like lightning, grabs the rodent and returns to previous spot. Cat carries on searching, apparently oblivious to the fox sitting with the rodent laid out like a trophy in front of him just a few yards away! Unfortunately didn’t have camera available.

Mon 9/5 - Visits each afternoon, but on best behaviour - until last night. When he departed from his usual centre-lawn observation point he left behind a strange brown object, which we thought was a dead bird. When we ventured forth out it turned out to be one of my old leather gardening shoes, nicked surreptitiously from our side passage. It was a bit damp, so he'd either slobbered over it or peed on it, so I gave it a good wash!

Evening John, i would keep well away from any male dogs if you are wearing the said shoe. I think you might get used as a watering post.

oldherbaceous wrote:Evening John, i would keep well away from any male dogs if you are wearing the said shoe. I think you might get used as a watering post.

...or chased across country

Perhaps you can train him as a watch dog. If he's that quick at catching rats, any burglars would soon find themselves i difficulty. And if he's visiting that regularly you could find him waiting outside your kitchen door for his sausage and bacon breakfast!
I know some people loathe foxes but I think it's lovely to enjoy such a close-up of a wild animal. The foxes around our way are very timid and even if you feed them, they scamper off at the slighest sound or nearby movement.

19/5 - Rupert comes every day and yesterday I saw him sitting looking intently at the hedge, as though he could hear something in it. Suddenly next door's black cat sprang out of hedge, fox shot backwards a yard and they sat staring at each other about 6 feet apart. Finally cat stalked off and fox looked highly relieved. Today he has just left after 40 winks in the shade of the hedge - pictured.

I looked out of my open window the other day, and I was eyeball to eyeball with a young fox who was dining on our cats breakfast !

Hi John,

Love the Fox News Keep it up!


KGAdmin

JohnN. Been feeding tow very mangy looking foxes, both have mange on their tails, been online to a charity who are going to send some jollop.

A few years ago we had a very poorly mangy fox visit us regularly and I think it was the Vuline Society who sent us some anti mange treatment to be included in its food. The problem was that at the time we were feeding several foxes and cubs and it was almost impossible to ensure that the sick fox was actually the one who got the medicated food. If both your two foxes are the only ones you feed you have a better chance but I understand that it can take quite a long time for the treatment to take effect.

Nature's Babe wrote:I looked out of my open window the other day, and I was eyeball to eyeball with a young fox who was dining on our cats breakfast !

...and checking out your chucks and ducks

No the ducks are in the back garden which is pretty well fenced.

Came back from Oxford this morning (Grand-daughter's 21st, God it makes you feel old ) to find Rupert had repeated his act with my leather shoe. Only this time it had rained hard all night so shoe was well and truly soaked!

Hope its not the homeopathic mange cure at least one fluffy-fox group was dishing out Tangoman, if it is I fear it will be less than efficacious.

peter wrote:Hope its not the homeopathic mange cure at least one fluffy-fox group was dishing out Tangoman, if it is I fear it will be less than efficacious.

Peter - explain?