Mangey fox's tail.

Healthy fox, looking chubby

Raccoon looking for food, and giving up

 
 
 
  

I knew sooner or later that we'd see a skunk, since they are not uncommon in Virginia. I just hope I don't get sprayed!

I thought I heard a weird noise last night, sort of like a grunting. It must have been this wart hog, or maybe it's a wild boar. You can see the water level in the pond is pretty low due to the drought we're having, so it must have been forced out of hiding to take a drink from the pond.

It's a pygmy elephant! Usually you only see them in herds, so this is a rare sighting!

Mangey fox eating chicken leg and scratching himself

 
 
  

Mangey fox in the woods eating a chicken leg

 
 
  

Update on feedings

I think I had mentioned we were going to try to cure the mangey fox by injecting a chicken leg with medicine that Leotis got from a wildlife rehab place. Well, since the raccoon ate the chicken leg, Leotis had the bright idea ;) to put out so much dog food, that the raccoon couldn't possibly eat it all and then there would be leftover food to entice the foxes. Well, I think the raccoon tried to eat all the dog food! Then the batteries went dead, so we didn't get pictures of what actually finished off the dog food. Then Leotis cooked up a second batch of chicken legs, and started putting them under the pond deck during the daytime, so that the crows couldn't get to it as easily, and so that the raccoon might not get it before the foxes, since we had seen the mangey fox in the daytime but the raccoon at night. Then the raccoon was onto the new plan, and made a daytime appearance. Leotis did put out one medicated chicken leg, which we think the mangey fox had a good chance of eating, because we saw him that day. He looks better in real life, and was running around at a good pace. He looks smaller than how he looks on the camera trap, since that is more at fox level. Leotis saw the healthiest fox in the woods, scratching itself, and it does appear that fox is starting to get mangey. My brother in law (a vet) advised us against this whole scheme, because we're messing with natural selection and we might be creating resistant strains of mange-causing mites because we can't control who gets the medicine and how much of it. So some foxes might not get enough medicine to totally get rid of the mites. Anyway, I had gotten behind in posting since I was getting used to my new software, but I have more photos I will post later. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. The frogs are back. I counted like 6 of them today.

Raccoon makes a special daylight appearance

 
 
  

Return of the Raccoon

 
 
  

Mangey fox, looking fatter, but still mangey since we hadn't medicated the chicken legs yet.

Hey, where'd all the dog food go?

I think this is a new fox! At first I thought it was the mangey fox getting cured, but it's not. And its tail looks mangier than the healthier fox. So I'm thinking it's a third fox.

I think this is the fox we had seen before, who looks pretty healthy, but is looking like she is starting to get mangey. I'm thinking this is last year's mother, but who knows.

Not sure which fox this is. Either the healthy fox looking slightly mangey, or a new one?

Mangey fox, looking like he has a full belly.

Attack of the crows

 
 
  

Crows checking out the chicken leg

 
 
  

Raccoon still chowing down