A brush with nightlife

More correctly, nightlife with a brush. 

I set the trail cam up above the house at the top of the field where we have planted 600 tiny trees. I could see a lightly trodden path crossing through the fence between the planted area and the grazing area. Here's the result - no surprise! There are badgers up there too but it was a fox that was caught on camera. Whether it's a vixen or a tod it looks in fine fettle and no doubt has been eyeing up the hens. Fortunately there's a rabbit boom locally so it's not short of food.

Extra is another hunter caught by the camera in the same spot during daytime: one of our cats, Truffle. She's a rabbit catcher too.

 You can also see the view across to the harbour. In the nighttime shot it's only visible as a line of lights.
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Many poems have been written about foxes. They seem to have captured the human imagination from very early times. This one is by African American poet Lucille Clayton (1936-2010)

the fox came every evening to my door
asking for nothing. my fear
trapped me inside, hoping to dismiss her
but she sat till morning, waiting.


at dawn we would, each of us,
rise from our haunches, look through the glass
then walk away.


did she gather her village around her
and sing of the hairless moon face,
the trembling snout, the ignorant eyes?


child, i tell you now it was not
the animal blood i was hiding from,
it was the poet in her, the poet and
the terrible stories she could tell.