Psilos Mammal Gallery |
The Formby Fox (Vulpes vulpes) |
The beauty of being out and about in our
beautiful countryside is that you never quite know what is going to
happen next. Being out of doors regularly vastly increases your chances
of seeing something special and the 19th December 2005 was just such
a day. The place, Freshfield at Formby in Lancashire. My objective was
to photograph the red squirrels which are a speciality there but there
was another creature with an equal interest in the reds. |
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Walking boldly out of the forest the fox
came to stalk the squirrels. He knew we were there but without hesitation
he continued to come. Then he stopped, silent and still, watching, his
eyes intensely resting on a feeding squirrel. The squirrel busily scratching
at the ground hadnt seen him. The fox with his hungry stare fastened
on his prey and moved closer. |
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By feeding the squirrels we had attracted
the fox who was cunning enough to know that where people where red squirrels
were never far away. By making the squirrel vulnerable should I alert
it to impending danger or should I let nature take its course? Nearer
and nearer the fox came on. He licked his lips and when I could stand
it no longer, the squirrel leapt effortlessly for the nearest tree and
was safetly up in its branches, scolding the fox with its rapid chatter
as it went. |
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Im not sure who was more naive, me or the
fox for Im pretty certain the squirrel knew he was there all along and
as was proved by many more squirrels that day they seemed to love parading
under his nose secure in the knowledge that they were just too fast
for him. |
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After his failed attempt the Fox seemed
to shrug his shoulders and show complete disinterest in the squirrels.
However, he is not called the wiley old fox for nothing. At no time
did his senses drop and he knew exactly where those squirrels were.
HIs cover blown he now decided upon a different tactic and started
to use trees as a way of blending in with his surroundings. He would
then sit and wait....and watch.... |
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