londonbard

Once again, I was asleep and was woken by ... sounds. This time it was a scraping, bumping sound that was clearly just outside my window. It sounded very much like a peeping Tom.

That used to bother me, especially when I could never get to the window fast enough to catch the culprit - but one night the sounds went on, and I looked down to see the big dog-fox scrabbling behind the flower-pot directly below. After that the sound was vaguely reassuring; rats and mice that are on the fox-menu aren't trying to get into my home.

I found the sound doubly reassuring for the first few seconds because I connect it with the old fox; (the nicely mannered, silent, appropriately behaved beast who was wary of humans.) Then the brute started to whimper and ululate as it roamed ... From the sounds it then bounced off the railings and then probably tried for a cat about 10 minutes later.

From the sound-track it's now wandering about just outside. I haven't seen it but it might help if I had a telephoto lens. If this is distemper there should be signs by now.
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Update; when I wrote the above I actually wrote that I wished I could get a photo of the noise-maker; then I remembered that my camera wouldn't do it unless I was close enough to the beast to be only a fox-leap or two away from it. Or closer.

So I thought, "be careful what you wish for" and edited the entry.

(However, I had wished.)

So I didn't take my little camera into the bedroom.

So when the bumps, yips and other sounds seemed to be right outside I didn't go and get the camera before looking out of the window.

So I missed getting some lovely pictures of three healthy, well-grown fox-cubs playing right outside my bedroom window - yipping and warbling and making cat-like sounds, especially when carooming off the railings!

By the time I thought of the camera again they'd gone racing away down to the other end of the road.