It was nearly the end of April last year and my husband was working in our fields. I was surprised when he rushed back in and told me to get my camera. Refusing to say what it was for, I didn’t change my 105mm macro lens, thinking it was probably an interesting bug. We headed across the garden and into the field bordering the old coach road and kept going to the very bottom. Still thinking that I was looking for a bug, I couldn’t see the intended subject. Then, my husband pointed just the other side of our stock fencing and I spotted him. A stunning fox watching what we assumed was the entrance to a rabbit warren.
Speaking quietly to the fox, I edged closer to the fence and got as low as possible, taking photographs directly through the stock fencing. The fox jumped at the first click of the shutter, but after that, he wasn’t bothered at all. I was less than six feet away and my only problem was fitting him in the frame. I didn’t want to push my luck, but eventually, I told him to wait while I walked all the way back to the house, where I swapped my macro lens for my trusty 24mm-70mm.
Incredibly, he was still there when I returned and so it was that I spent the next hour photographing him from a distance of around five feet. The background could have been better, as the shadows from our post and rail fencing sometimes fell awkwardly across his coat and the coach road generally is very cluttered with fallen branches and old fencing. Strangely enough, he was still there a couple of hours later when we went back outside to feed our llamas and goats, although he eventually trotted off down the coach road. We don’t think his patience by the hole was rewarded – not on that day, at least.
Sid
28 Jan 2022Impressive ♥️
Ciao
Sid
Zooey
28 Jan 2022Thank you, Sid 🙂
Ulrike Stanley
13 Feb 2022Beautiful fox, amazing to see him in broad daylight and over many hours.
Zooey
13 Feb 2022We’ve looked for him, but he hasn’t been seen again 🙂