Country diary: this fox won’t quit its prey and not using a fight

eturning home from every night walk, we go on a shortcut from the hollow way, a sunken track that bisects the coastal grazing and leads for the foreshore. The trees topping the earth banks on either side of the path arc over, their branches knitting together to generate a natural tunnel. As my eyes alter to the darkness, I watch a flicker of motion ahead C a vulpine silhouette, the limp form of a rabbit hanging by reviewing the jaws.

Confident that the fox is at risk of an opening in the hedgerow, we double back and hunker down via the farm gate. Affirmed, this indicates from behind an ivy-swathed hawthorn, the fur along its spine glistening and spiked where it has brushed in the damp vegetation.

Still carrying its prey, the fox lopes throughout the paddock. It stops suddenly, head cocked. I wonder if it has caught our scent, but no: there are spotted another animal lurking behind the barn. In the beginning I mistake it for just a dog C a Siberian husky or simply a German shepherd C yet it’s another fox, wolflike in aspect because of bigger average size and grizzled pelage. It runs dry and lunges for your rabbit, its canines clamping recorded on a swinging limb. The lesser fox is without purpose of relinquishing his quarry, while he stands a head shorter than his assailant. The combatants square off, rearing through their hind legs, striking out at each other with their forepaws because they play tug-of-war while using body. Since the rabbit’s leg is torn from his mouth, the aggressor bares his teeth and snaps at his opponent’s scruff.

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There is a bit more to the present confrontation when compared to a simple tussle over food C the midwinter mating season is around the corner and this is a territorial battle between two males.

The pair slowly revolve around one, pushing shoulder to shoulder to find out potency and efficacy. For the reason that defending fox feints towards interloper, an electric train engine turns over and headlights sweep throughout the field. Both of them fly, their white-tipped tails illuminated through the pallid moonlight while they slip throughout the shadows.