Our Foxes

We now have two foxes that visit us on a regular basis.  The first one is called Sam and she is a vixen.  Early in 2000, we watched her getting larger as she was carrying her cubs.  She disappeared for several weeks and eventually came back again.  Before this time, I had gained her trust and she would come to eat from my hand.  Once she had given birth, she was reluctant to approach.  I think she was aware of her responsibilities.  Some time later, another fox arrived.  It was a very young fox and we assume it is one of Sam's cubs and is now known as Little Sam!  She very quickly learned to come to my hand to get the pieces of sausage that I offered.  It is a great thrill for all our visitors to take a turn at feeding the fox.

During the year we were visited by several different foxes. In February, 2001, a brand new one arrived.  He was a big dog fox.  He was a most handsome chap and so acquired the name 'Chap'.  We only saw him twice but, each time, he was so tame that he would stand on the patio and take food from me.  He even wanted to make sure that there was nothing left and would lick my fingers.

Recently, it has become apparent that there are five foxes.  There is the original Sam, Little Sam, Chap and two other vixens.  We only know this now because they are so similar that we always thought that they were the same fox.  It is now very clear that one has cubs as she is lactating.

This is my view of Little Sam, the young fox.  She is taking a piece of Tesco Value Sausage from my hand.  She is very gentle and has never snatched.  I took the pictures with my video camera which I held in my right hand.  I then grabbed some stills We had the hunt around our way on the Saturday, so we were very pleased that Little Sam turned up again on Sunday night.   Why would anyone want to destroy this lovely creature?

The Hedgebank with fox	Detail of fox lying on the hedgebank
Just sitting in the sunshine	Feeding from the food bowl