Cyn's Nature Notes: Autumn and Foxes

Monday, 1 September 2008

Autumn and Foxes

There is an autumnal feel to the air. Bird song is much less. In fact, the robin is often the only bird to be heard during the day. He sings a thin, lonely song far removed from the robust singing of spring.

Beautiful shiny brown conkers are waiting to be collected and admired indoors for a few weeks before being put outside for the squirrels to bury and feast upon. Delicious blackberries are waiting to be gathered from the hedgerows. More will be eaten instantly than ever get home. Stained fingers reach eagerly for the next one – why do the best ones always grow out of reach? I love the leaves of blackberry plants, at this time of year, with their beautiful colours. How often we find delicate flowers still blooming, and the cobwebs hung on the plants still bespeckled with dew. These are, for me, the real treasures of life, apart from family and friends, of course.

After our disappointment earlier this year, when we lost the broods of pheasant chicks, both due to natural phenomena, imagine our surprise a few days ago when one of the female pheasants turned up looking for food with yet another baby in tow. It’s only one chick, but we were still delighted. Was it the only one to hatch? Or had she already lost all the others? We don’t know, but we were pleased to welcome this tiny new chick to our garden and hope it will grow strong and live long.
The foxes have always been welcome and in past years we have often had two – always they have been comfortable in each other’s company, and have given us much pleasure. This year, however, for the past few weeks we have been entertained by three foxes. Two of them will feed together fairly easily with one being dominant and the other submissive; she crawls on her belly and moving quickly away if turned on. Now with a third fox involved the behavior has changed. There is a lot more aggression shown. Mostly they chase each other, or quickly turn and end up pinning another fox on the ground inflicting sharp nips. In spite of this, the foxes are high spirited and always return to feed. Just occasionally full fights will erupt. They start fighting on hind legs and then end up rolling around on the ground. From the squeals and screams it is clear they are hurting each other. These fights are clearly to establish dominance. The smaller, darker submissive fox never takes part in these conflicts and is very quick to run and hide in the bushes if turned upon – maybe this one is a female, but it appears that one of the aggressive dominant ones is also a female. Interestingly, while the foxes fight with each other, the hedgehog remains calmly eating his share of the food while all this takes place around him,

No comments:

Post a Comment

About this Blog

When we moved to our present home in December 1987, I was very ill and bedridden. My garden was a life-saver, although it was very different then. The first thing I did was to put up bird-feeders, and long hours were spent lying indoors in a recliner. This was when I discovered many things. Do you know the underside of every blue tit’s tail is differently marked? Gradually, over the years, the garden changed. We put in shrubs and plants that would not only enhance the garden, but would also be good for wildlife. The first rabbit we saw was so joyful for us. The deer eat the flowers, prune the apple trees, eat the marrow, and are wonderful to watch. Foxes have been a major part of our wildlife. We have fed them each night for more than 20 years. They are such a delight, especially in late summer and early autumn when there are youngsters. They behave like puppies and are great fun to watch.

I love all wildlife: the mason bees that nest in the brickwork of the bungalow, the hornets that last year made their home in the roof above our bedroom, the bees currently nesting in the roof above the bathroom. On a hot evening, if you stand quietly in the bathroom, you can hear this amazing sound: it is very rhythmic and reminds me of the waves at the seaside. It is made by the beating of the bees’ wings as they fan their nest to keep the temperature at the right level -- how many people have heard that sound? I feel so privileged.

Obviously, I feed the birds. When I open the window in the morning I call “Come on Bobby and Blackie”, and one followed swiftly by the other they fly immediately to the bird table. Each morning, on rising, I make my way to the kitchen and find the squirrels already sitting on the window ledge waiting to be fed. Winter brings the moorhens and spring time the mallards. Our pond is a poor effort from a human point of view, but wild creatures see it differently. On summer days, the grass snakes spend long hours in the pond: eating the fish, froglets, toadlings, newts, and any other living creature they can swallow. Although I hate to see the pond emptied this way, I do enjoy the snakes and feel they are an important part of the balance of nature in the garden. Watching a dragonfly nymph climbing out of the pond, up a plant stalk, and then over the next few hours gradually transforming into a beautiful dragonfly -- these are contented hours well spent.

It has been my pleasure to write and publish a nature column each month. I am always delighted to hear how much pleasure this brings to my readers. I have often been asked if I have written a book, so I am making more of my writings and photography available through this web site and blog.