1. When a stranger is in sight, sit down.
My original blog was called ‘The Sitting Fox’ – for a good reason. They spend a remarkable amount of time on their haunches, sometimes with an ear bent round to monitor the world behind.
It is a quirky vulpine habit that can be mistaken for boldness or even called ‘brazen’, but it is merely pragmatic. When faced with a human, a fox draws an invisible boundary around itself called a flight distance. Encroachment within will send the fox fleeing for the nearest gap in the hedge. But if the threat stays outside, the fox sits and watches.
This habit has a history. For most of the last 20,000 years, foxes have had European lions, sabre-toothed cats and cave hyenas as neighbours – if they had fled immediately from every sighting of such creatures, they would soon have burned up their calories. Sitting conserves energy for when it is truly required.
2. Anything that can be picked up must be picked up.
Especially if it is a shoe. I found this hiking boot in a local amentity park last week. Somewhere, a happy fox is dozing.
I may also need to tie down my garden trailcam, which had a narrow escape yesterday.
3. Some rules are made for rewriting.
Describing the fox’s social life comes with caveats. On paper, a fox group consists of a mated pair, their cubs of the year, and perhaps adult females from previous summers. In gardens and woods, it is not that simple.
Dominant vixens can and do suppress the breeding success of lower ranking females. But not always. Because these are foxes, and they often put a little twist on the rules.
This is one of two heavily lactating vixens who are sharing a den in a local garden this spring. Perhaps they nurse each other’s cubs, like lionesses – it is impossible to say at present. But I am looking forward to seeing the whole of this extended family venturing into the spring sunshine.
A Walk with Wildlife 
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