The vixen's 'good side'.

Disappointed today when Mrs Fox came out for her sandwich. She looked a little better at first glance and some of her fur is beginning to grow back.They recommend you stop the treatment when fur grows back, but I am going to go the four weeks as planned. The bite on her leg has become infected again and she has another further up. She also has a couple of ticks under her 'good eye'(She is blind in the other) . I had not noticed the ticks before as she had streaming eyes, which now look a lot better. I am hoping that these wounds, all on one side, will heal on their own. I have seen photos of foxes with mange and these wounds are common, although I have only seen 'cleaner' healing ones belonging to foxes who are being treated. I photographed her wounds today, as well as her good side.

Vixen returns....

The vixen came on to the sett today to get her peanut butter sandwich....She already ate the other one. After some research found out that she won't overdose on homeopathic medication, neither will it affect birds, badgers or any of the other animals around(including cats and dogs).

 Her leg is looking a little better and it looks as if the fur is already growing back.

She does still look rather frail to me and was happy for her to eat the mash and porridge which I offer at the moment, as well as the dog biscuits. I feel as if she needs these as she will be fairly exhausted from having little sleep in the day, due to the itching.

A look back at last year.....

My favourite fox, the vixen. First and only fox to come to the sett whilst I am there and to watch me from the bushes. She waits until I put the food down before coming out. She looks so young and healthy here . It wasn't until I started trawling through the photos that I realised there were three foxes. There was a male, older fox, with a darker, mottled coat that came in the early days. I think that the male fox that comes now is her cub. All grown up now!

Latest head count.

Last summer  there was a total of seven badgers rambling over the sett, a whole family. I enjoyed several hours each night watching them until it was too dark to see. I had first seen them in the spring, when we suspected they were occupying the sett.I crept out one night and never having seen a badger was both excited and quite alarmed at their size! I had thought of them as being fairly small, but having seen them first hand was surprised at how big they were!
Tonight I went up on the sett with my little infrared torch , my jeans over the top of my pyjamas and a thick fleece on. Immediately I heard them on the sett crunching on the dog biscuits I leave for them. As I sat down and got into position, I shone the torch out. A familiar pair of red eyes glowed at me from the back of the field and I quickly realised it was a fox, as the eyes were  too high from the ground to be a badger!  I am imagining it was the dog fox,  as the vixen is fairly brave and would have stayed.  Then out of the little badger hole came a rather small badger, probably one of last years cubs. Two tiny red eyes staring straight at me. Badgers are extremely short sighted and are a little jumpy at first, as I try not to make sudden movements. Easier in the dark, as the infrared torch doesn't bother them. A much larger badger came from the back and began to eat the biscuits, turning it's eyes towards me every now and then. Soon another smaller badger was coming out of the sett and as I had done my head count for tonight, three at the moment, I made my quiet escape.
I cannot wait to watch them   in the coming months. As  more  cubs are  hopefully expected, I wonder exactly how many we will see......

Badger activity

No fox sightings yesterday. With Mother's day visits and the clocks going forward I was late putting out the food. The foxes will pace up and down until I get there, around half three. If I am really late they will go away and come back later. I did an early check before the badgers come out (around 8.30 ) and the peanut butter sandwich had gone. Hopefully that was the vixen that ate it.
When I checked the sett this morning there had been some new activity there. Badgers will often drag old bedding out, leave it to dry and/or bring new bedding in. Yesterday was really sunny so last night they had clearly changed the bedding! A bit like us hanging clean sheets ot to dry on a sunny day!

Taking her medication

Yesterday did not work out quite so well! The vixen, Mrs Fox, came out from the side of the badger sett and ate both peanut butter sandwiches . I am going to look up arsnicum sulphate overdose.....She was not scratching or shaking her head quite as much, but clearly looked exhausted. A fox with mange will be completely warn out, due to lack of sleep from the constant itching. She never stopped watching me, as always and I felt so sorry for her, although her leg wound seems to be healing on it's own,

A sad turn around......

For two weeks I had not seen any sign of the vixen. She always came first, around three in the afternoon and will wait for me to put out the food , hiding in the bushes. I was beginning to worry as the more I studied the photos , the more I thought she had mange as could not see fur underneath the shedding coat. I had contacted the National Welfare for Foxes and they sent me some arsnicum sulphate, four drops on a piece of bread for about four weeks . This was the recommended dose and would make her skin healthy and stop the itching although it does not directly kill the mites, simply makes the skin less desirable for them to burrow, since they do this in 'moulting pockets' in the coat.
When she finally showed up one afternoon, starving, emaciated and extremely thirsty ,I was totally shocked. This mange had really got a hold. Her head was shaking , her eyes streaming (conjunctivitis is inevitable) and her coat was about thirty percent affected. I immediately got in touch with fox welfare again, who after checking I had enough treatment (This is free from them if you send a photo of the fox you think has it) I explained that she had also been limping and had a huge open sore on her leg. Apparently they will literally bite out the female mite, and this is what she had done. It was recommended that I gave her drontal, a dog wormer, which I managed to do for both foxes, as the vixen feeds mostly on the sett and the dog at the back. Luckily this worked well the first time. My partner suggested putting the tablet in a veggie sausage! This worked perfectly! The dog fox ate his at the back, and she gulped hers down at the front of the sett. They both ate a small peanut butter sandwich with the drops of arsnicum on. First job done!

Vixen with mange

At the time of writing ,the vixen who comes to the sett has contracted mange. This was difficult to spot at first since this was all new to me. As her fur began to matt and look 'tatty' we first thought it was merely her shedding her winter coat. She seemed fine, had a healthy appetite, was not scratching and did not look as if she was in discomfort.

 

Blog on wildwatch

I decided that I would do a blog for those who are interested in watching wildlife. I currently watch foxes and badgers  near my home, and for the last year have done so. The photos date back from last year and include , to date, a dog fox, a vixen and a total(Last count!) of seven badgers. I hope you will follow me on my watches, and enjoy them as much as I do.