Leaving the gate open

I can't see what is happening at the gate from the house in the dark so I have been using a trail camera to keep an eye on things.  I have been leaving the gate open for the deer who come in most nights.  Three nights ago the only two here were a buck and a doe but they came in at 2000 and left at 0500, so they were in the garden for nine hours.

In chronological order here is a taste of the action that night.  Two deer in and two deer out, eleven foxes in and four foxes out, but the foxes can leave in many other places.

Foxes will do anything for an easy life and I am sure they are delighted I have been leaving the gate open.  Usually they have to jump over or through the fence but now they can just stroll in.

The next video shows how things unfolded on one misty night earlier in the week.  A fox or a pair of foxes came and went through the gate 34 times in 11 hours between 2000 and 0700.  I can't tell how many individuals were involved but obviously several came in more than once.  The fox walking with a stiff tail is presumably a (or the) dominant male.  I haven't included all the clips here but this gives you an idea of what was going on.

Looking through videos from two nights ago there are clear differences (in size, extent of the black socks, tail colour, etc) between some of the foxes but I can't easily relate them to the individuals I recognise when watching through the window.

On the same night a new buck arrived, younger than the previous two and only just growing his first set of antlers.  He was very wary and stood for a long time looking towards the house before coming in.  He stayed for only 25 minutes, mostly feeding not far inside the gate.

Last night there were three deer.  The mature buck was here and it is notable how much his antlers have grown in a couple of weeks.  He was followed in by two does who both posed for a photo.

One thing I have been concerned about is the risk of rabbits getting in.  There is a rabbit fence all around so the garden is secure when the gate is closed.  Twenty years or more ago therewere hundreds of rabbits on the golf course but now there are very few.  I was dismayed to see this one come in but not leave.

But two nights later it sneaked out between foxes, having decided there was nothing to eat (and rather too many foxes around for comfort).