Yesssss!

Now, I wasn't sure if the vixen was expecting or not. I think the general consensus of opinion was that she did look rather bulgy. But since then, her teats haven't looked particularly obvious. the way they did last year, though she and the dog fox have been begging for food several times a day, which is a significant behaviour change, as usually they vixen only appears once, in the evening, and we hardly see the dog at all.

Last night, I was just turning the kitchen light out at around 11pm when the garden security light came on and there was the vixen, nose pressed to the glass to see if there was anybody up. She then sat down on the deck and that's when I saw that her teats were indeed full of milk. So she HAS had cubs and hopefully, in a few weeks' time, she will bring them into the garden like she did last year. She is such a good mum.

Here's a photo I took yesterday, of her eating stale chocolate cake. I didn't think she looked as if she was feeding cubs. Perhaps her undercarriage is a bit saggier than it was last year!

Bird porn!

"Quick, quick!" I called to Him Indoors. "There's two Great Tits having a terrible fight." One forced the other down onto the ground and I thought it was killing it. But no. They were mating. A very risky place to do it, in a garden full of cats!

Not a red robin!

This wee chap who visited the garden was definitely not red, but vivid orange. Perhaps he'd been Tangoed!

Is she or isn't she?

You know I said the vixen wasn't pregnant? I took these pictures yesterday and now I'm not so sure. There does seem to be a slight bulge, doesn't there? Ooh, how exciting!

No cubs this year?

If the vixen was pregnant, I would surely see signs by now as the cubs are always born in late March, early April. I thought at first that she looked a bit bulgy, but her shape hasn't changed and I think I was wrong. Shame! I really enjoyed having those four cubs around the garden last year.

A pair of ravens

I had thought our visiting raven was a singleton, but a few days ago he brought his mate to the garden. I have no idea where they are nesting, but it would be wonderful to see a baby raven in the spring.

Handsome swain

The vixen has paired off with this dog fox. Isn't he a handsome fellow? Just look at that thick brush! He made short work of the bird food, which I put on upturned tins so that the birds wouldn't have to flounder in the snow.