*sigh*
I love these pictures so much. A few weeks ago I heard a fair amount of fox barking, not the weird screaming sound, but a fairly short rough bark sort of sound.
I made a bad recording; I should clean it up and see if it's worth saving.
The photos, and explanations, are fascinating. Thinking of the 'fox and the grapes', have you ever tried the foxes with fruit?
To photograph one of rarest creatures on Earth you have to be incredibly skilled and remarkably lucky.
But Sergey Gorshkov is clearly both - as demonstrated by his stunning picture of a Siberian, or Amur, tiger deep in the forests of Russia's Far East.
The image has just won him the title of Wildlife Photographer of the Year.
The female tiger is seen embracing a tree, rubbing herself up against the bark to leave her scent and mark territory in Leopard National Park.
"The lighting, the colours, the texture - it's like an oil painting," says WPY chair of judges Roz Kidman-Cox.
"It's almost as if the tiger is part of the forest. Her tail blends with the roots of the tree. The two are one," she told BBC News.
A sad sighting from last night.
I mentioned back in September that my previous resident pair, Shaggy and Velma, had made themselves scarce when a new male showed up; Velma has since returned but Shaggy didn't. I had named him Shaggy because of his long, somewhat unkempt-looking coat, and about the time he disappeared, his fur was looking scruffier than usual, and I wondered if he'd picked up sarcoptic mange. Well, I think this may be him, and he's definitely got it. I'll watch the cams for a reappearance and see if I can get a fix on when he visits; if so, I'll try to get some medication into him. But with so many foxes in the yard, it's going to be hard.
I looked up what "sarcoptic mange" is. It sounds awful! Poor fox.
(On a different note...I love the names "Velma" and "Shaggy" LOL)
That was so cool. I love the music, especially when the one was pacing.
I've loved your foxes and never expected to see one around here, though today saw a gray fox while hiking.
Such charming creatures.