Sam Fox's family? Sam (right), Limpy? (middle), and Broken Tail? (left)
Well you could have struck me down with a feather when I saw this image this morning. While my DSLR cam trap was having "techical issues" at the other end of the field, my cheap consumer cantrap was taking 160 images of foxes. At first it was just Sam Fox who was eventually joined by two more. Remarkably, images captured some interesting behaviour. Firstly, Sam barking shortly before the other two turned up, then the highly submissive body language of the two late comers, and finally one of the foxes curling up in the middle of the field. These observations beg the questions: Was Sam calling them as there was food present? Is the fox curled up the one seen with a limp earlier in the week? Are these two foxes, Broken Tail and Limpy, litter mates of Sam's family from last year?
Eventually, all three cleared off just before a large dog fox turned up to make 4 foxes in one evening!!
Arrival of dog fox
Meanwhile, back at the badger setup, one of the flash guns stopped firing resulting in very asymmetrically lit images. This was one of the best I could salvage, as it had minimal dark shadows visible.