FoxCam in the garden

I don't see much of the foxes these days because they often don't arrive until after I have gone to bed, although yesterday evening the vixen, the dog and a cub were here at various times.  I rarely put a trail camera out because they are very wary of anything new or strange but I decided to have a look recently to see who has been turning up.

I used a "no-glow" camera with a 940nm wavelength which is invisible to human eyes but, as you'll see below, the foxes can see it.  And they were very wary, trotting backwards and forwards in the background before eventually one plucked up the courage to come to the biscuits.  It was the long-tailed (ie normal-tailed) cub, and it turned up while the security light was still on so the image quality was improved.  (There is a little bit of artefact from the camera or the close-focus lens.  The twinkly lights at the edge are car headlights from the road.)

Next up was the short-tailed cub.

Usually the foxes face the back door while they are eating, probably to keep an eye on the house rather than to assist the photography.  It was interesting how on this night both foxes faced the trail camera, 90° from their normal stance.

Later in the night it was very windy and the short-tailed cub returned after the security light had gone out.  It was trying to sneak a few more biscuits without getting too close to the camera.  You can see the reflections in the eyes of two other foxes waiting in the background.  The round artefact has disappeared so it must have been from the security light on the +0.5 dioptre lens.

One of the foxes in the background was the long-tailed cub which moved in next.  Again you can see the eyes of two foxes in the background.

When this cub had gone the other foxes walked off without coming close enough for me to see which they were.

Usually the foxes eat all the food during the course of the night but on this occasion some of the biscuits closest to the camera were left.  Nothing goes to waste, however, and the crows and magpies carried off the leftovers.

I may try again with the camera before the end of the year if I haven't seen much out of the window.  It will be good to know if the two cubs are still around.