FABlux's foxes

Post by **Connie Tindale** » Sun Dec 04, 2005 9:42 am

Has Tufty been proving his worth and is she - Hmmmm - 'in the family way'

Post by **FABlux** » Sun Dec 04, 2005 10:45 am

LL Not yet I don't think.

Last night was interesting though. Ridiculously early, about 6.30, she said she was hungry and could we feed her please? Like mugs we did but she didn't come down!
This morning she is VERY smug & contented, she asked us for food & we put it straight out, she asked Tufty for food & he went straight out & got it, she now knows she can have food on demand and therefore she can have cubs

I asked her last night why she asked so early when she wasn't hungry & answer was Tufty got her something very big

Took a while to figure out what as she hadn't had it before
F - What did it look like?
M - It had 4 long legs, straightish, not like a rabbit where back & front are different.
F - What ???
BB - What about feet?
M- Hard! (We could only think he must have found a dead deer.)
F - Showed her a deers head
M - Yes!
F - Why didn't you show me that 10 minutes before?
M - I was eating from between its legs!

Foxes

Post by **sue** » Sun Dec 04, 2005 4:33 pm

Great pics BB, oooh what a vision Fablux queasy thoughts about the poor deer but such is nature.

Post by **FABlux** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 12:03 am

Sue, At least he didn't kill it, waste not want not & all that! Just seen the tape & his shoulder is really marked where he had been carrying it back for her!

Post by **Phantom** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 1:22 pm

BBLUX wrote:I spnet about 5 hours reviewing the master tapes so I could compile a short DVD of the best bits to bring to the SW meeting. Had to do it on the computer setup as our TV video has a head clog which I must fix tomorrow. I was told I had had my turn for the day. Ha, now she is in the bath I can get back on the forum.

Great idea BB, looking forward to it.

Post by **PRchick** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 4:34 pm

FABlux wrote:Sue, At least he didn't kill it, waste not want not & all that! Just seen the tape & his shoulder is really marked where he had been carrying it back for her!

It must have been a very small deer for a fox to be able to carry it. Do you have wolves or mountain lions there?

Post by **FABlux** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 4:42 pm

Some of the roe deer we see in the field opposite aren't much bigger than a small dog & very slight. We often said Missie looked like one when she was younger.

Snippet from mammal society site: -
Small deer, reddish brown in summer, grey in winter.
Distinctive black moustache stripe, white chin. Appears tail-less with white/cream rump patch which is especially conspicuous when its hairs are puffed out when the deer is alarmed. Males have short antlers, erect with no more than three points.
Height: Average height at shoulder 60-70cm. Males larger than females.
Weight: Adults 18-29kg
No wonder he asked her to go to it after carrying it a short way!

No wolves or mountain lions although there are occassional storeis of the Big Cat of Bodmin!?

Post by **BBLUX** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 4:43 pm

It was probably a dead deer calf which did not survive the cold spell we just had. Adult fallow deer can reach 45 - 80Kgms...about the size of a goat. He certainly would have had a problem dragging one of those!!

Post by **sue** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 5:52 pm

We have really tiny little deer that come through our shrubbery they are not much bigger than dogs and are known as Muntjac deer they were introduced by the Duke of Bedford to Woburn Park (Abbey grounds) in the nineteenth century. I think they were brought in from India or South East Asia, some were released into the wild and are now known as a feral deer but no-one knows how many there are here in England.
They are mostly in the South. I live approximately 30 miles from the Woburn Estate. I think they have spread as far as Derbyshire but not sure if they have reached Devon or Cornwall yet. Anyone out there know if they have?????????

Post by **Connie Tindale** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 10:20 pm

I think that we now have Muntjac deer in Thetford Forest and in some of the big Norfolk estates.

Post by **FABlux** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 11:50 pm

I keep nipping through to watch the foxes in the garden!
Kinnie (Cat) has been under the weather the last few days, caught some of Barry's germs I think & Mum has been really sweet.
Sunday night she sniffed him, between his front legs, he jumped up eyes very wide! Seemed a funny place to check, but she said we should put a bowl of water down so that he didn't have to go outside. Normally he drinks from the ponds or water bowls outside, refuses water in a bowl, but we did as instructed & he stayed in for 24 hours drinking from it, apart from very quick essential trips!
Monday she decided to guide my hand round him & whilst I couldn't feel anything myself, when she was linked I could hear/feel the rasping in his chest. She said he was getting better. He ate that evening & spoke.
11.30 ish today she woke & asked "How's cat?" Don't know he's downstairs, I was in the office. "How's cat?!" went down & checked! Felt him again, getting better, can go out.
This evening she checked him again & then explored the lounge, feeling textures & sniffing. She used him to sniff some pot pourri in a bowl, and he did! Really quite strange in hindsight, but at the time it seemed natural. She let me stroke her coat & afterwards I washed my hands, as I would with any wild animal!!

I realised this evening, whilst feeling between his front legs that he was a lot cooler, the same as checking the temperature under a human armpit I suppose. I'm being taught by a fox

Post by **Phantom** » Wed Dec 07, 2005 10:08 am

Wow Fab, that is really amazing, a fox looking after a cat !

Post by **Connie Tindale** » Wed Dec 07, 2005 10:18 am

How does Tufty - the new boy on the block - react to Kinnie?

Post by **BBLUX** » Wed Dec 07, 2005 1:17 pm

On only the second or third time Tufty came down to feed, Kinnie cat was walking by the feeding station as Tufty came bouncing down the bank to get his food. Kinnie stopped and turned, hackles slightly raised more in surprise than aggression. Tufty completely ignored him and focused on the food. Kinnie relaxed, moved nearer to the house and contemplated sitting down to watch him.
Kinnie will sometimes sort of chase one of the foxes in an effort to engage them in play. However, as Mum says "foxes adults don't play like cubs" hows that for a verbal put down. I even received that comment myself when I was fooling around with Fran while Mum was linking!

I find it really amazing and a very great privilege that we are being allowed to discover the capabilities and personalities of this caring, thinking fox family. It seems to be a two way thing as Mum occasionally seems to indicate that she has learned a new concept from us.

Post by **FABlux** » Wed Dec 07, 2005 11:05 pm

Phantom wrote:Wow Fab, that is really amazing, a fox looking after a cat !

Cheaper than the vet!

I don't know though the amount we spend on fox food!

Tonight she got Barry to touch him, she seems to be getting stronger with her powers. I was just about to say Mum wants to check him when I saw Barry had put his hand on Kinnie's chest. She checked him out & says he's much better, just a slight rasp one side. He was still slightly startled but actually purred when he realised what she was doing.
Maybe she remembers the rabbit (well most of it) he left for her, when she was feeding the cubs?

Post by **FABlux** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 12:44 am

Amazing but Mum moved on from looking after Kinnie to looking after Barry through his 'flu. She checked him repeatedly, making me put my hand on his chest, (surprisingly the back of my hand not the front) & said he should stay indoors, use something smelly to ease his chest (they use what I think is wild garlic? or other aromatic leaves, depending on time of year) & after checking his back she said he should drink more water. He did as she said, if I'd said that I would have been ignored!
Kinnie repaid her concern last night, the nasty grey fluffy cat came into the garden, the one that attacked Missie before, & Kinnie chased it off, a really nasty fight, rolling over locked together!

Missie was in her nest & I went out to try to separate the cats & the grey just stood its ground!! I went over afterwards & 2 enormous eyes looked out, (the closest I've been to her). She came down for food 20 minutes later and we have footage of Kinnie standing guard whilst she ate. He is OK but a bit sore today.
Kinkie has had a nasty patch on his shoulder for about a week, it is slowly healing & Mum said it was a bit of something about the size of a horses hoof that either fell & hit him, I think, or he fell & hit it, I'm not quite sure, she wasn't there so can't show me. Mum says there is no soreness in the shoulder so it must have been a glancing blow. She has been keeping it clean, she says the herbs they normally use are no good as the frost has got to the leaves! The wound seems to be shrinking but we are keeping an eye on it, I think he has the best nurse possible in Mum though.

Post by **Quinonostante** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 8:50 am

I'm staaying away from Barry if he's been bathing in wild garlic....!

Interesting read that though Fabby...

Post by **FABlux** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 8:04 pm

But at least we wouldn't have any vampires with the garlic.

Mum's other suggestion was worse, she asked to check him I said she couldn't just then as he was having a Pee she said I should go & smell it as it would tell me a lot!!! [glow=violet]NO I DIDN'T!![/glow]

Post by **sue** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 10:34 pm

Fran my vixen is back. she is beautiful and has visited for the last three nights, she has just walked around and through the garden until tonight when she came and looked at us through the patio door before leaving. I never put any fat out today and it felt like she was saying well where is it then.

Post by **BBLUX** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 11:21 pm

Sue.
As food becomes more difficult to find I think they explore other sources. You are now being tested to see if you are prepared to put out something every night so that she knows that if things get tight she can be sure to find something in your garden.
If you put out something each night even small amounts you will probably be rewarded with a visit every night. Peanuts, dried dog food, some stale bread with fat on it are all welcomed.