Having wildlife in your garden is a delight beyond compare even if some only come out at night, when nobody is around.
A couple of years ago we guessed we had something other than local cats using our garden as a highway. Naturally, our first thought was hedgehog and a dusting of flour soon proved us right when we checked it for paw prints the next day.
This led to us putting out a dish of water and another with suitable hedgehog bought from an accredited supplier.
Each morning most of the food was gone but very soon we discovered all the food went every night and we often had to play hunt the dish as the food and water bowls were often some distance from the feeding site and often in a completely different part of the garden.
We started using broken plant pots to put over the food and water dishes which still allowed the hedgehogs to get in.
A few months ago we set up a trail camera in the garden (a present from our wildlife-loving son David) and lo and behold we discovered that although a number of neighbourhood cats used our garden as a route to and from their usual haunts they did not bother with the hedgehog food and water dishes.
The culprit was – a fox.
The fox had not been just interested in the food but also had been taking the plastic dishes and trotting off to somewhere else in the garden to deposit them.
The camera has proved a real education and over time I will introduce you to some of the escapades going on at night.
Today, however, I want you to meet the delightful Francesca Fox (see above).
In the beginning we didn’t realise we had more than one fox and more than one hedgehog visiting us during the night. Now all we know for certain is there are at least two hedgehogs (both have been caught on the camera at the same time) and two foxes – the foxes being Francesca and Ferdinand.
In later episodes I will identify the differences between them which indicates two (at least) foxes but for now I just want to tell you about Francesca.
She is easily identifiable by her cautious approach to the feeding table provided for our nocturnal visitors. It is high enough for the foxes to eat off but too high for the hedgehogs to get at the food – food for foxes is not always suitable for hedgehogs.
Francesca became identifiable by the way she approaches the food.
Although I have been putting food out for them over the last two or three months Francesca approaches it every time as though it were her first.
She will appear on camera sniffing and looking around, sometimes starting as though she has heard a loud noise. She sniffs around the table (a circular piece of paving on an upturned flowerpot) and then looks around as though fearful there is someone lurking in the shadows.
After a careful sniff at the food she will reach out, take a small piece and then hastily retreat – sometimes just a foot or two away from the table but at other times going completely off-camera.
She will then approach the food again and occasionally move it around with her nose before selecting a couple of tasty morsels and then retreating, often looking over her shoulder as if expecting someone to come and take the food from her.
She is not a fussy eater and will take almost anything presented to her, but she is a hesitant creature and lacks the fearless attitude of our other foxy visitor.
Watch the short clip above and you will see what I mean about Francesca.
Robin's Nest 