Fox and the fruity scat

We see lots of foxes in the autumn, scoffing on the ripe damsons and raspberries in the garden. Here’s a film of the fox, stealing our fruit and leaving a fruity fresh scat.

Without wolves the foxes have no foes apart from Dewi and the other farmers; every now and again there is a hunt and the other weekend I think they got two. There are also some people who go ‘lamping’, shining a high powered torch at night and then firing at the eyes. Sheep eyes are very different to fox eyes but I’m not sure how different Molly’s (our dog) would be, so she stays indoors at night time.

Despite the best efforts of the hunters there are still plenty of foxes but, now that we have no chickens and ducks to protect, we’re not too bothered. The worst that can happen is Molly rolling in a fresh scat; the stink is terrible but a bit of soap and a scrubbing brush in the stream soon puts that right. She won’t tell me why does she loves fox poo so much.

Fox on barbecue

No sunny August bank holiday would be complete without a barbecue. Not very new potatoes from the garden, onions, courgettes with sausages and chicken wings cooked not on charcoal but thin logs of oak; a lot cheaper than buying charcoal, just as good for cooking and might even taste better.

My turn to do the dishes and all those bits and pieces that go with a barbecue but I forgot the grill. At dusk two young fox cubs did the job for me.  

Foxes - beautiful but lethal

I’m sorry to report the death of Mo, our large white chicken, who fell victim to a fox in broad daylight. Nature can be very cruel.

During the past few months we also lost two male ducks, one female and another of our chickens. Putting them safely to bed before dusk is no guarantee of survival, the foxes seem to be getting bolder.  

Here’s a clip of a couple of foxes from earlier in the week, just a few hundred metres from the house. Beautiful - but I wish they’d leave our birds alone.