Today I catch Freddie Fox lying sunbathing on the plot. At first,
he becomes aware of someone and potential danger. He sits up tries to out stare
me. He then sees Lottie, my faithful whippet, besides me and the two dogs
momentarily freeze. Who will blink first?
Lottie, suddenly has had enough of this trespasser and barks
out, ‘Don’t mess with me and leave now!’
Freddie leaps up and duly scurries off, briefly casting a
glance over his shoulder and aware he has four eyes following him as he weaves
across the plots and disappears behind some sheds at the far side. Lottie gets
the pat she deserves and jumps appreciatively onto her bench for a rest.
‘How would i have coped without you?’ i ask mockingly.
‘Don’t mention it. It’s our plot not his.’ Lottie replies,
‘and can i have a treat now please?’
Foxes are a fixture at the allotments and only tend to see
them early in the morning especially if its sunny and they want a quick
warm-up. Rarely do you see them as a pack unless there are cubs and they are
teaching them how to behave of the plots. It’s as if they can only go out as
single foxes and they probably either draw lots or take it in turns to forage. They
are far more scared of us than we of them and disappear at the slightest
disturbance or sight of plot holders.
Freddie and his gang have an annoying habit of pooing everywhere.
No point in leaving toilet paper or poo bags out as they do it on top of your
best veg, on the path, where you have just sown your seeds, round your bench, no
place is safe. Their diets are not always the best, so their poo is often,
shall we say ‘loose’. I wish they could be plot trained.
Another annoying habit is the midnight walk. You rake your
bed over, perhaps sow some seeds in it and the next morning it can look like a
crime scene. Paw prints everywhere and never in straight lines! It’s as if they
wanted to help and heel in the seeds and flatten the earth. I think they bring
on the music and have a disco dance without the lights of course. When i ask Freddie
if he did it he always says with a straight faced, ‘Not me guv,’ and waves his paw
in the direction of some far-off lair of one of his relatives.
Then there is the redevelopment of your plot. You don’t get
chance to see their plans before hand and i doubt they have any. They just
start digging and excavating. The next day you are welcomed by a big hole and a
mound of earth. Does the hole mean a den? Or, have they started, stopped and
forgot to clear up and fill in the hole? They have more attempts than success
and its hard to understand where they will start next. Yes, we have tried all
the old wives’ recommendations, the fox deterrents but all fail. I didn’t
realise that foxes can climb over fences 2 metres high and so our careful
laying of large stones at the base of the fence was a fruitless exercise.
Freddie says its best to dig next to a shed as then he
doesn’t have to worry about the roof and weather as he sleeps under your feet
and can eavesdrop into your every shed move.
Some of the gang are not so clever and just tunnel anywhere
and everywhere often creating sink holes. They never did watch those Second
Wold War POW films and learn that you must shore up the tunnel otherwise it may
just collapse. The other thing they would have learnt is to hide the entrance
by removing the excavated soil. Mind you they don’t wear trousers to hide the
soil in and disperse it quietly around the plot. They probably think we can use
it on the plot!
I once asked Freddie why there was no stones or roots in
their earth mounds. He just looked at me and said, ‘but i thought you didn’t
want them so i got rid and just left fine soil for you.’ As he scurried off
and my foot collapsed into the labyrinth of tunnelling beneath me, I shouted,
‘Thank you!’
He didn’t bother to turn around.
I suppose we often don’t appreciate that Freddie and his
gang may look dangerous, may be disruptive, leave deposits everywhere but they
do keep the vermin away. That’s apart from those with a grey furry tail.
Now i
must talk to Freddie about a squirrel cull.
