Land /Water Wildlife

I was wondering that only this morning, as I had a different fox appear in the garden yesterday. Clearly not my normal lactating vixen - so could be the dog fox or a "dry" vixen. But according to my googling there's no foolproof way to tell which from a distance, except for a vixen who is lactating.



The vixen showed up this morning, she was lucky and got here just after I put food out. So she was able to eat all the peanuts and calci worms. At one point she saw me watching her and fled, but she must have been hungry because she didn't go far and was back within minutes. I then stayed back from the window to give her time - she was here ages!

 

Opossums are not all that attractive, but they are very well groomed. In spite of them having more teeth than any other animal, they are not dangerous at all.

 

On my morning wander today, I came around a corner on the trail, and there about ten feet away, was a yearling white-tailed deer. The deer and I continued on the same trail, and I tried everything I could think of to make it turn and look at the camera. I whistled, clapped my hands, called, hey, nothing would make it look at the camera. Then, like there was nothing at all on the side of the trail, it simply walked into the thicket without a care in the world.

 

This little critter seems to be peeking out to see if spring has arrived yet.

 

Perhaps the deer was deaf Hydrogardener.

 

Look closely at the photo of it walking ahead of me, it has one ear pointed directly at me like a radar @Sheal. The deer are so used to seeing people now, they don't frighten easily.

 

Yes, you're quite right. I hadn't noticed that.

 

Well, @Sheal, deer, like most prey animals, have panoramic vision. This means they have a very wide field of vision, allowing them to see a large portion of their surroundings without turning their heads. This wide field of vision is crucial for detecting predators and other threats from all directions. So I am sure it was enjoying watching me make a fool of myself the entire time.

 

I just went out in the back garden as I usually do at twilight, to bring some seedlings indoors and put food out for the foxes, and I surprised a badger! First one I've seen for two or three years.

 

Vixen this morning. Odd how wet her fur is, it must be dew from the long grass.

 

Our next door neighbor has put a chicken coop in his yard near the property line. Reggie, our resident chicken lover, is licking his chops. He seems to have
concepts of a plan.

 

Has Reggie got the start of mange @hydrogardener?

 

I hope not @Sheal, he looks wet as we have been rained on daily for a long period of time. The weather guru had to go back to the 1800s to a May that had received an almost equal amount of rain. The same with the wind, every day we have had strong winds blowing, and he had to go back to the 1800s to find a similar period. There is not a chance I would risk planting anything outdoors. There is a flash flood warning for tomorrow as several inches of rain are forecast, rivers and streams are expected to overflow. Reggie has only been around for a few weeks, but I have not noticed signs of mange yet. Two have had mange just this year, so far. I hope he stays healthy, as it is very sad to see them suffer with mange.

 

Can you send some rain my way please @hydrogardener. We've had drought here in the Highlands of Scotland since the end of January - very unusual.

Reggie looks as if he has a bare patch on his rear end.

 

I can only say @Sheal, that after we had such a miserable bitter winter to have such a dismal spring it is truly depressing. I noticed the patch of lighter fur early on, it is not bare skin, simply a patch of fur that is lighter. It has been my experience that the tail usually shows signs of mange first. I enlarged and cropped the image so you can see it is not mange. They do shed some of the winter coat in the spring, and I am hoping that is just what is going on.
OMG, by enlarging the image I noticed I will have to change the name to Regina, it is a nursing female, no wonder it is out during the day!