What is making holes in the lawn? This time, not squirrels.

 

Two foxes in back garden. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

The first time I saw holes in the lawn, I thought I had caught the culprits a few days later. I saw squirrels, nose down, clawing away frantically at the lawn. 

I thought that there was only one type of hole, and only one type of animal digging. Only one type of animal that likes lawns.

I took this picture on a mobile phone. If you look at this on a mobile phone you can hardly see the foxes. However, if you display on the screen, you see very clearly the two V shapes of their ears. They are listening and watching. To get them to look at the camera I bang on the glass. I had to bang three times.

I sent the picture to our WhatsApp group of family in different addresses and countries.

I said in my comments, I had the feeling I was being watched.

My son replied, So did they. 

One of the foxes left. The other one started digging.

You see foxes race across the road in front of you when driving at night. As we turn into our drive, one races out.

I had considered trying to get rid of the foxes.

Eaters

Our neighbours have a long back garden and put out food for their cat. The food kept disappearing and the cat was still hungry. Then the neighbours saw a fox. So they put out food for the fox when the cat was indoors and fed her indoors.

The fox must have been a vixen, or taking food to a vixen (female fox). It set up a set, if that is the right word.

This was a few years ago. The fox ate the rabbit of my other neighbours. 

Strong Foxes

The rabbit keepers thought they had had a strong wire netting around the rabbit area. Strong wood.

They underestimated a hungry fox. All that was left was white fur.

Anti-Fox

For the rest of that year they would not talk to each other. Not angry. Too embarrassed and upset. I brought them together at a New Year's Day drinks. 

Note the large shallow area which I had thought might be a nest. Just in front of the tree in the foreground. What do you see there? Nothing. A bit like an empty road at night. That doesn't mean there is no traffic.

Photographing Foxes

 Another fox had moved area to the distant right. Half hidden by the lower tree branches. I had to move to another window.

I have a video of one of the foxes.

Useful Websites

Wiki foxes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox

https://www.bbcwildlife.org.uk/urban-fox#:~:text=Virtually%20anything.,dogs%2C%20cats%20and%20other%20wildlife.

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What's Making Holes In My Lawn?

Squirrels on lawn in London, England. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Dig this! I wrote on Facebook that I would take a picture of a squirrel. The squirrel picture which I promised is here! 

Not only that, I have solved another problem. What was making holes in my lawn. I was editing my photos and found my attempt to photograph a squirrel, the culprit responsible for holes in my lawn. 

Normally I would have deleted this picture because when the subject is blown up large the picture is out of focus. That is not clear to the reader and does not reflect well on me as a professional photographer of in focus pictures, carefully cropped to tell a story, usually about travel and tourist sights.

However, I cannot re-take the photo and it is interesting evidence of criminal damage by the squirrel! Let's analyse this incriminating photo, like detectives.

On the left is an innocent by-stander, the bird. This bird is not a useful witness - busy with his own breakfast, annoyed at being wrongly accused, saw nothing. 

The bird was listed in our list of suspects as a wood pigeon. It was later identified from feathered outfit with white ring around the neck as a collared dove. 

This picture is cropped with the squirrel culprit in the middle, the two other characters forming a triangle. On the right is another squirrel which is leaping, racing towards its quarry, the central criminal squirrel obliviously burying its loot.

Afterwards, I saw the squirrels chasing each other, fighting, escaping, fighting, racing off, engaging again, quite a fracas! Only when I looked at this photo did I realise what the fuss, the fight was all about. One squirrel is burying its food. The second is trying to grab the food. 

The squirrel on the right is not police in my pay protecting the lawn. Alas no. The second squirrel is even worse, a squirrel mugger! That's why I have so many holes in my lawn.

Known Noises

Secondly, I have now identified the source of so much mysterious noise from unidentified flying objects. Thumps land on the creaking fence and bang on the roof, day and night. 

By daylight I see four or more magpies, looking so smart, black and white like men in dinner suits, but seen as thieves by smaller birds. The magpies, like the squirrel, are also taking food away from weaker creatures (small birds and soft hearted gardeners like me). 

Magpies are constantly pacing the conservatory roof. Next comes a loud, banging of hard fruit with their beaks, attempting to crack open unripe nuts, fruit, figs.

A high pitch sound at night might be cats caterwauling. 

At night Casanova foxes pursue and catch vociferous, screeching, lady foxes of the night.  Once I heard such a lot of shrieking outside in the dark street that I nearly called the police. next day I asked my neighbour. She said it is foxes mating. She has them breeding at the far end of her garden. 

Now I have identified another noise as scampering squirrels, scattering and pattering, fighting for food. It's a wild world out there.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and phtographer, atuhor and speaker. Author of How to Get Out of The Mess You're In. I give talks on this subject covering finding your glasses, getting organised