Foxes in the snow?

[Alex90]

Hi,

I have the day off college tommorow due to the "adverse" weather conditions, and im hoping to spend some time out on the golf course in an effort to photograph foxes, i knwo that there are foxes that pass through frequently or live on the golf course, they visit our gardesn most nights.

As well as the actually golf parts there are several small 1-3 acres sections of woodland scattered around the golf course and several large area's of long grass although this is largely covered by snow tonight.

Anyhow what i'm wondering is are foxes likely to be active tommorow morning and evening? i'd imagine the snow will make hunting more difficult for them. but i wouldnt have thoguht this woudl deter them, my thinking is as in this area they are largely nocturnal and its still very bright outside, from my window i can see a good 400 meters clearly onto the golf course.. is this likely to affect their behaviour?

Last time it snowed there were obvious tracks which i followed although lost in some woodland, i tihnk perhaps i will try again tommorow and then stake out the area where the tracks end.


Any advise/info mcuh appreciated.. and any tips for fox photography would be great.

Alex

[DrNickBurton]

There are foxes in our local alotment. I go there occasionally at sunrise to take pictures, and have seen them pretty much every time I went:

Mammals - Nick Burton Photography- powered by SmugMug

They seem to be quite active at dawn still, so get in position just before then!

The photo above was taken at a distance of about 20 feet, and he even came to within about 6 feet at one stage. They seem to tolerate humans being nearby, as long as you stay still and passive.

Also, don't forget to set your exposure compensation to +1 stop in these snowy conditions!

[thebeard]

if there are any areas of frozen water where there are wildfowl, you may be lucky enough to see them on the ice. at my local nature reserve they're causing havoc as they're running all over the lakes scaring the wildlife, in fact they're affecting the usual distribution of the bitterns which winter there. it was quite incredible to see them running across a huge frozen gravel pit!

[Words]

Alex, patience is the real key with foxes, and keeping fairly still when you do see them. Much better to let them approach you, rather than the other way round. Much depends on how used to humans they are. Some foxes will spook at the first sight, others are quite confident.

Keep warm if you are spending a lot of time outside though. And good luck.

[numeniusaqua]

We've noticed that in conditions like this (lots of snow) since it is much harder for the foxes to find food, they tend to range further afield. In line with that my father tells me he had tracks this morning where they've never in 30 years had fox tracks before (in his garden - in normal winters the tracks are only ever in the adjacent field) and we have them right beside our house today, and the fox normaly has a regular (we see them at least weekly throughout the year) route along the fence on the opposite side of the field. Today they are also all over the field as if he has been quartering it looking for food.

I also think that it's only when there is snow that many people discover they have a local fox as they stand out so well against the white, and people see thier tracks for the first time even though the fox might have been around for years without them knowing.

Tonight we plan to put some dogfood out and keep watch.

[Words]

I've just posted a couple of photos from last night into the main Gallery, which should show up later. Meanwhile I've put some up on my blog (see signature).

[Ukwildlifeo]

Just saw a fox in next door garden which disappeared behing my shed - there are footprints all over my garden too