Fox encounters
I make a point of getting out of the office at lunchtime for a walk around the top end of the lake. It gets me out in the fresh air, enjoying a little leisurely exercise. And it's where I go to feed robins. And I keep my eyes out for other wildlife too.
In the last few months there's occasionally been a little fox; not much bigger than a large cat, so I think it's most likely a vixen. (Acually, on further reflection, at that size it's almost certainly a cub.) She's remarkably comfortable round humans, walking along the path and even crossing the footbridge in between groups of people. Twice now I've gotten close enough to her to take some pictures, but only had my phone on me. And while I was glad to have those pics, I wished I'd had my proper camera on me. Optical zoom is just so much better than digital. So today I did bring the camera and hoped I'd get lucky.
That was where I first saw her; she was hunting and I saw her pounce on something. But eventually she emerged from the bushes and walked right past me along the path. She examined the undergrowth for prey, largely ignoring passers by. Eventually she wandered off the path and I followed while she found somewhere to stretch out and sun herself. As long as I made no sudden moves and wasn't obviously trying to avoid her line of sight she seemed content to let me get amazingly close. This pic was taken from no more than 4 ft.
See more in the gallery
I was probably following her and taking pics for 20 mins. So yeah, a pretty memorable lunchbreak.
In the last few months there's occasionally been a little fox; not much bigger than a large cat, so I think it's most likely a vixen. (Acually, on further reflection, at that size it's almost certainly a cub.) She's remarkably comfortable round humans, walking along the path and even crossing the footbridge in between groups of people. Twice now I've gotten close enough to her to take some pictures, but only had my phone on me. And while I was glad to have those pics, I wished I'd had my proper camera on me. Optical zoom is just so much better than digital. So today I did bring the camera and hoped I'd get lucky.
That was where I first saw her; she was hunting and I saw her pounce on something. But eventually she emerged from the bushes and walked right past me along the path. She examined the undergrowth for prey, largely ignoring passers by. Eventually she wandered off the path and I followed while she found somewhere to stretch out and sun herself. As long as I made no sudden moves and wasn't obviously trying to avoid her line of sight she seemed content to let me get amazingly close. This pic was taken from no more than 4 ft.
See more in the gallery
I was probably following her and taking pics for 20 mins. So yeah, a pretty memorable lunchbreak.