Topic: A Strange Occurrence On My Allotment

[markyb23]

Hello everyone,
                    I just thought I'd recall something that happened to me on my allotment yesterday afternoon.
  I was on my allotment,pottering around and doing a bit of digging,when I looked up and saw an adult fox,about twenty yards away from me.The fox stared at me,so,I stood still for a while,and then the fox carried on,not taking much notice of me,just looking up at me occasionally.It then went onto one of the overgrown plots,still close by,and started hunting.I watched as it crept around and then jumped up and pounced and rooted around in the grass.Eventually it caught,what looked like a mouse.It played with the mouse,tossing it up into the air,letting it go and then,catching it again.It did this a few times before eventually eating the mouse.
  Afterwards,the fox strolled off and wandered around the allotments for a while before returning close by my plot.I didn't want to scare it, so I carried on working,trying to keep some distance between myself and the fox.
  The fox was still very close,but I thought It was about time I was heading home,so, I decided to dig up a couple of parsnips and leeks.I shoved my fork into the soil under the parsnips and,when I lifted the fork,in amongst the parsnips,was a hen's egg.The egg was completely un-damaged and had the red stamp on it that you get on supermarket eggs.
  The fox was still close by,so,I showed it the egg,and tried to get it to come and get the egg.The fox was approaching to within about ten yards of me but it wouldn't come any closer.
  Eventually,I placed the egg down,on top of the parsnip leaves,and left it there,for the fox to maybe,pick up later.
 Sorry if I've rambled on a little,but I just wanted to share It.
  The thing that baffles me is:-I've never seen a fox on the allotment site before.I've never been that close to a fox before in my life and,I've certainly never dug a hen's egg,completely un-damaged,out of the soil before.Also,the soil where I dug the parsnips and the egg from was completely un-disturbed before I started digging.So the egg was probably put there months ago,just after I planted the parsnip seeds.Something else that's baffling me.If the egg was buried by a fox,how did it carry it there,then bury it without breaking the egg?
  If anyone's got anysuggestions I'd love to hear from you.
     All The Best-Marky .B.

[Doris_Pinks]

No suggestions I am afraid Marky, but I too have a fox, I see it sunning itself in the summer on my beds! ( :-\) I also hear it coughing when I am up there, think it smokes about 60 marlboro reds a day! how lucky you were to be so close to nature! I am envious! DP

[Mrs Ava]

I can't help you on the egg story either, but I too have a foxey that comes to visit.  The first time I saw it, he introduced himself by pinching one of my leather gloves and making off with it!  He is very brave and will walk right up to you.  I am scared of dogs so am a little nervous when he is around, especially as I am usually alone on the plot, but we don't seem to have any real rodent or rabbit problems so I guess he keep them under control, just wish he would be a bit quicker and grab or scare the pigeons once in a while!

[markyb23]

Thanks for the replies D.P and E.J.
 Best Wishes and Good Luck for 2005 to both of you-And to everyone else,out there.Thanks for all the helpful advice and,of course,the jokes.
  All The Best-Marky.

[eileen]

Hi Marky,

Just thought I might be able to shed a little light on your unbroken, stamped egg!!

It was probably stolen from someones lunch pack and was hard boiled. A fox will take every opportunity that arises to steal food and it's not the first time I've heard tell of a gardener or lottie owner leaving his lunch box unattended for a couple of minutes and finding that his lunch has 'walked' when he returns. The fox will eat what he wants and bury the rest for later.

Foxes also steal eggs from birds nests and bury them. When they pick the egg up they carry it just behind their canine teeth which means that it's resting in the hollow of their mouths and won't break. It's then a simple job for them to find an appropriate spot to bury it.  My old labrador was trained to pick up raw eggs and carry them from one place to another without breaking them and he used exactly the same method as foxes do

I think, if your egg was raw, however, it would have exploded on contact with the air, or when you picked it up (if it was an old one) as the centre 'goes off' and the gases inside make the shell very fragile.

Hope this has helped with your mystery.

Foxes in gardens and lotties are so used to humans  nowadays that they aften sit around within feet of them without a care in the world but you were certainly privilaged to see it actually hunting near you.

Keep us informed of any more visits the fox pays you and maybe you could get a couple of piccies for us???

Eileen.

[sandersj89]

Thought you might like this picture:



It is on the gardens question time page at the BBC.

Jerry

[markyb23]

Cheers Eileen and Jerry,
                                I  appreciate your feedback.It was just a magic moment for me-Like digging your first spuds. :)
      All The Best-Marky.