Urban Fox

When we moved down to South Wales after a life in the North of England and Scotland, one of the things that struck me was the prevalence of wildlife I had rarely seen previously. Badgers were everywhere, although sadly mostly roadside casualties. Buzzards, a relatively rare bird for me prior to that, were ten a penny - 12 in one field our first winter. I can remember a time in South Yorkshire listening to a birder enthusiastically telling his mate on his mobile about a buzzard on the skyline. Down here they are like sparrows.

Foxes are another I hadn't seen much of in the past - and certainly never this close up .......

You know when you have a good scratch - how nice it can feel? Here's the foxy reaction

It'd be nice to pretend these shots were the result of SAS style camouflage techniques, and patient hours, but the truth is they were taken on my way into work where the local fox pack have taken to lying on cars in the sun - or on a cold day on the warm bonnet of newly arrived commuters. I didn't even take my new camera - partly due to worry about having it lying around at work, but also because my sole lens - 300mm- might have meant I had to stand too far back!

Kinda cute, eh?