Things That Scream In The Night

January and early February are the months when foxes pair up and mate and this can make for some jolly noisy nights. Surely there is no more blood-curdling sound than a vixen calling for a mate? This is then answered by a high pitched bark of a male. A full moon will encourage late night calling but most often it is just after sun set or just before dawn. Mating can be a long and painful affair, with the dog fox crying out in pain.
The vixen will choose a den, known as an earth, and her cubs will be born 52 or 53 days after mating. The choice of earth is quite varied and could be an old rabbit burrow, a disused badger set, under a shed, or even under a pile of old tyres or other rubbish on a waste site. They soon tread down a path to the entrance and, unlike badgers, they are not house proud and leave bones and feathers lying around. The earths often have an acrid smell, unmistakable once you know it! Foxes are not fussy what they eat; a few Kentucky Fried Chicken bones, vole or mice, almost any kind of fruit; cherries, blackberries, or dropped apples, a rabbit, or a nice free range chicken. They all go down the same way! Our garden seems to be full of foxes and at least one of them must have mange as our poor old dog, Bob, has had it this month. If your dog begins to scratch incessantly and lose hair around the eyes and ears pop along to your vet straight away. The treatment is quite straightforward and very effective these days.
The other barking sound that one is likely to hear, night or day, is the muntjac. Their sound is similar to that of the fox, but it does not quite make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up! They seem to bark to proclaim their territory or to attract attention whilst the family makes its escape. On a couple of occasions a male has barked at us and stamped one front leg to keep us at bay whilst his Mrs and a youngster have made a discreet exit.
I am often amused when night scenes come on TV. A warm summer evening, a full moon, a vixen calling, an owl hooting etc. Foxes and owls almost never call in high summer! Wendy Bathurst