I've been keeping a blog for some months now of the six (formerly seven) foxes who visit my garden and their exploits. Recently there's been some interesting arguments between the long-established male (whom I refer to as the Old Dogfox) and a youngish intruder, dubbed the Interloper.
A couple of nights back, I got some
video footage of the Old Dogfox's reaction upon finding his rival in the garden. No surprise that he's relying on implied threats rather than risky actual attacks, but I didn't really expect him to attack a tree!
He's done this on several occasions when the Interloper is present and it's always the same conifer tree. It obviously means something to the Interloper, too, because one time he sat there watching and uttering a very high-pitched whine. His body language is very submissive but I cannot see that the Old Dogfox will ever tolerate him here. The vixens are fairly indifferent to him.
Here's a portrait photo of the Old Dogfox, which I took a little while back:
And of the Interloper:
