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  • Writer's picturekathbeasley4

Lock Down Wildlife - The Fox Family

Updated: Sep 5, 2020


During lock down, we have all had to find new ways to entertain ourselves. As the world ground to a halt, I was granted with a rare opportunity to escape the day to day distractions of university studies, part-time job and volunteering, to enjoy the wildlife around me. As a keen ecologist I have always marvelled over nature's wonders and have been thankful to have grown up in rural south Wales. Being forced to stay home provided me with a new level of appreciation for my local environment and its inhabitants.


After spending the last 3 years in the city of Sheffield studying, I loved being able to watch the wide variety of birds in my garden at home. The sparrows constantly bickered in the hedgerows while a pair of blue tits raised two successful clutches in our bird box. A family of greater spotted woodpeckers were regular visitors to the peanuts whilst a charm of gold finches frequently perched in the hawthorn outside my bedroom window (which frequently distracted me from my online lectures).


However, it wasn’t only the birds that were busy raising families this spring. Our house backs onto a large field, fringed with woodland and scrub. It was here a vixen decided to make her den and have three playful fox cubs. I spent many evenings sat in my garden watching out for the foxy family. I was lucky enough to witness hunts as a mother tried to provide for her three fast growing cubs.


We would often put dog meat and water out to help our new neighbours, and the small fluffy cubs were soon the same size as their mother and off practising hunting themselves. Having heard the news of our daily fox viewings, a friend kindly lent me their camera trap. Now the real fun could begin. I hid the camera at the top of the field where we observed the foxes passing frequently. After days of trawling through thousands of images of rabbits, crows and buttercups moving in the wind, I finally hit the jackpot.

First, a blurry image of a fox like shape in the darkness of the night running away from the camera.


Then to my complete delight there it was, standing in broad daylight staring right at the camera, one of our foxes! I was over the moon with the quality of the photos and very excited to show everyone at home.



Subsequently, the foxes have evaded me and my camera trap. They have even manage to sneak in and out of our garden, perhaps to pinch some fallen apples without being caught, leaving their scat and out-foxing me and my camera!


Being able to spend time observing the wildlife around me has been a ray of light from the chaos that unfolded around us this year. I am confident that I will be one of many who will endeavour to take time out of our busy lives to ensure there is always a place for nature among our communities.


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