Varmints on WeaselCam

My two camera boxes are in the garden to look for weasels and stoats but I occasionally put in a few seeds to attract smaller animals and the cameras then record voles, mice and shrews.  I recently added larger outer entrance pipes, hoping to entice in a passing stoat but instead less welcome visitors have taken advantage.

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).

What do foxes like to eat?

If you are vegetarian look away now.  The answer is pretty much anything (except Maltesers).  This fox couldn't believe its luck and managed to carry off both rabbits in one go.  I think several foxes visit my garden each night but there is an obvious advantage to being first in.

This one was pleased to have a squirrel.

Most nights it is just peanuts.

BunnyCam

First the bad news:

Then the worse news:

This is the first time I have caught these varmints in the garden on the trail camera.  They got in last winter when the fence blew down in a gale and I have been stuck with them since.

Then some good news:

When the fox first turned up it seemed much more interested in something in the rocks and logs behind than in the peanuts.  I suppose it could smell the rabbits but if so it didn't catch one.

Eventually it settled down to eating the peanuts.

After the fox disappeared the rabbits returned.

Later a fox came back but there probably wasn't much left to eat.  I'm not sure if it is the same one but there are definitely two that visit regularly.

Watership Down