Sad end for Mr Fox-photos (1 Viewer)

[David Smith]

Many will have witnessed the fox at Parkgate yesterday-while chasing birds (or mamals) against the incoming tide he eventually realised he was, literally, out of his depth. He fought his way back by a mixture of wading and swimming (foxy paddling??) until he was exhausted and found temporary refuge on a mound of reeds.
The RSPB guys moved everyone away in case the fox was frightened by them but unfortunately it appeared he was just plain 'knackered'.
An hour after I left I received a text to say he appeared to have 'passed away' as the Crows were now doing what Crows will do:-C
That's nature I suppose!

 

[ChrisKten]

That's a shame, but like you say, it's Nature. I'm wondering if rescuing this Fox was ever an option, or whether it was too dangerous for would be rescuers?

 

[Gwynn]

I saw this picture http://www.birdforum.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/291641/cat/all/limit/last1 taken by Jaff in the gallery of which I guess is the same fox but his story had a happier ending.

Gwynn

 

[halftwo]

Oh dear, David. I left before this happened (see my thread) and I can't help but feel that our presence lined up along the fox's escape route must have been the cause of his demise. What a shame.

 

[KC Foggin]

I would suspect this is the one and the same that Adam (Jaff) had posted in the Gallery yesterday. This is so sad.

 

[dantheman]

That's nature I suppose!

'Caught between humanity and a wet place' ??

Sounds like a pretty exciting event, but having read accounts of last year too, it does sound a little like the presence of lots of people could be affecting things - (maybe giving the small mammals more of a chance?, or stopping them coming ashore/stressing them?) Is this the case, or are the people managed (kept out of the way) in such a way that disturbance is not happening? Just wondering ...

(And is the two fox theory a possibility here?)

 

[David Smith]

I saw this picture http://www.birdforum.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/291641/cat/all/limit/last1 taken by Jaff in the gallery of which I guess is the same fox but his story had a happier ending.
Gwynn

Well I really hope so-as I said I received a text to say the Crows were attacking it and it wasn't responding but if it's the same fox (difficult to imagine 2 of them) then I prefer Jaff's ending:t:

 

[halftwo]

...it does sound a little like the presence of lots of people could be affecting things
(And is the two fox theory a possibility here?)

Hi Dan,

The voles & shrews were coming ashore in droves - many were picked off by birds before they got near us - those that got closer were safe from predators - and we saw many finding dry refuge literally under our feet.

It does seem that there were two possible outcomes - we need to hear from Jaff where exactly 'his' fox was compared to David's. Did David stay as long as Jaff? (The tide must have taken hours to go out - longer than any chance of the sun still being warming)

H

 

[Jaff]

Yes you are mistaken David I'm happy to say. I stayed till just after 4:00 and witnessed the Fox running away from his little spot as some feckin eediot was walking on the marsh and went right past the Fox flushing it. I saw the crows showing an interest in the Fox earlier but they never attacked it and neither did the Fox make any attempt to chase them away which is probably the text you received.

Unfortunately I deleted those shots of it running off but take my word for it.

 

[John Barber]

Hurrah for the fox !

So pleased he made it.

 

[halftwo]

Great to hear, Jaff, H.

 

[Marcus Conway - ebirder]

Heres another blog of the event

http://www.craigjoneswildlifephotography.co.uk/blog/

 

[timwootton]

Heres another blog of the event

http://www.craigjoneswildlifephotography.co.uk/blog/

Superb link - cheers Marcus.

 

[David Smith]

Yes you are mistaken David I'm happy to say. I stayed till just after 4:00 and witnessed the Fox running away from his little spot as some feckin eediot was walking on the marsh and went right past the Fox flushing it. I saw the crows showing an interest in the Fox earlier but they never attacked it and neither did the Fox make any attempt to chase them away which is probably the text you received.
Unfortunately I deleted those shots of it running off but take my word for it.

One of those occassions when I am glad to be wrong! Not sure if the birds & voles would be so glad as the fox was doing his best to eat them:-O

Heres another blog of the event

http://www.craigjoneswildlifephotography.co.uk/blog/

Interesting to read the part where he says that he hid "in the reed beds"....I trust he wasn't guilty of scaring the wild life just to get his pics?
A good blog and nice photos either way.

 

[Rossichalu]

So glad Mr Fox survived, the photo of him looking sorry for himself on Gwynn's post is absolutely charming, my daughter was reaaly upset at first but relieved to hear he got away.

 

[Jaff]

Interesting to read the part where he says that he hid "in the reed beds"....I trust he wasn't guilty of scaring the wild life just to get his pics?
A good blog and nice photos either way.

Indeed David. This sounds like the same person I had my eye on all day and was very suspicious of his motives. For one thing he was wearing wellies, there is only one possible reason for someone wearing them and yet he had a huge lens, a 600mm I'd say.

It always saddens me that it's these people that aren't happy unless they're filling the frame who are making life difficult for the rest of us in their reckless pursuit of their images. At least while I was there he never went more than a few metres into the marsh, although that may have been down to him deciding it was too unsafe rather than any ethical reason. However he was still there when I left so he must have literally been there from dawn till dusk, who can say what happens if there is no-one around to see it.
Some might say this is an unfair attack on someone who might be innocent of what I've said, maybe, but recent history has shown (Jane's thread for one), there are people like this out there. :C

Rossichalu, reassure your daughter the fox was well fed as well as being well fed up.

 

[Marcus Conway - ebirder]

Craig has a very solid reputation for bird/animal welfare. He is a respected photographer and conservationist. He is a regular contributor to a number of magazines and forums.

 

[deborah4]

Interesting to read the part where he says that he hid "in the reed beds"....I trust he wasn't guilty of scaring the wild life just to get his pics?

Some might say this is an unfair attack on someone who might be innocent of what I've said,

More 'naming and shaming' without any evidence?

If you both actually take the trouble to read the rest of the blog that Marcus kindly posted before casting potentially libelous statements, especially the pages on his ethos towards photographing wildlife, you'd have seen he has an excellent attitude towards wildlife and fieldcraft that priorities the welfare and ''comfort zones'' of his subjects (as well as being a great photographer).

I'd never heard of him until Marcus posted the link to the blog (which is excellent btw) and Marcus's comments seem spot on based on what I've read about Craig's techniques.

Glad the fox made it though!

 

[Jaff]

Some might say this is an unfair attack on someone who might be innocent of what I've said,

Like I said before.

I'm always happy to be proved wrong in these circumstances and offer an apology if I have the wrong person, but my opinions were based on what I saw. Everyone else was content on staying on the shore but this photographer I saw had to just try and stretch things that little bit further, especially for the fox (when the tide had receded a lot more that is).

There had already been reports of a photgrapher wandering out into the marsh recently, flushing birds as he went so my trepidation is justified. Another example, when the RSPB warden had asked everyone to move away from the shore in front of the fox to give it's chance, there were still a few that remained and others went over there to get a few closer shots, whose to say that's why the fox never came ashore. I left that bit of the story out of my shot, it's sadder than still than the story of the Fox itself. It's very hard to know who are the good guys from the bad guys in the current climate, I'm sure we all know it's an escalating problem that needs addressing somehow, and very soon.

And that's all I'll say about that right now. :t:

 

[deborah4]

Like I said before.

I'm always happy to be proved wrong in these circumstances and offer an apology if I have the wrong person, but my opinions were based on what I saw.

Jaff read Craig's whole blog - the guy knows what he is doing. I agreed with you btw It was an 'unfair attack' on persons known (by naming and referring to the blog)

Also don't condone bad practice/behaviour, but you need to be very careful before you start slurring someone's name on the internet despite what you feel are good intentions. In the very least, more than just proof from a blog that someone was in the same place at the same time!