Land /Water Wildlife

These two apparently believe in teamwork, two heads are better than one I guess.

 

Fuzzy picture but see this often, it was catching small fish.
Seemed to have a dark black beak.

 

Is that a Little Egret @pete ? They have black bills and legs. Used to see them down this way often but not recently.

 

I dont know what it is, it always seems to be alone, not noticed the black legs as the water was covering them.

 

Popped over for some breakfast underneath the bird-feeders right now !! Surprise surprise

 

I threw out an apple core for the blackbirds.

 

This image was taken by my trail camera in Grafton, New York. As you can see, the temperature is nine degrees below zero F. How these creatures endure these temperatures is beyond me. And, it is only the beginning of winter.

 

@hydrogardener it's very sad to hear of Rosie's mange (photo on other thread). We used to have foxes like that here, but they have not been so bad lately. I did once give medication in their food, but I don't think it really helped.

I have just checked our foxes out and can report one fully fit and furry, but another doesn't look quite right on its side. It may be the start of mange.

Fully fit fox:


A possibly mangey fox:


They are starting to make a bit of noise at night now. Mating season possibly.

 

Yes, it is mating season indeed. She had mange a few years ago, and I was able to cure her with ivermectin. I have enough ivermectin to cure her a hundred times over, but the problem is getting it into her. There are feral cats, skunks, and possums that eat everything. Last night's video showed her in distressing shape. Your animals look great, usually the tail shows it first.

The photo is not the best, but it will give you an idea of how bad she looks.

 

@hydrogardener I wonder if she is getting on in years and doesn't have the resistance to it that a younger fox would have?

 

I believe this is her third, or possibly fourth, year. She had her first litter of kits last spring.
This is what I found: "Rural: Foxes in rural areas can live up to 9 years."

 

I looked up the same information for Britain. They live for 1-6 years in the wild and up to 14 years in captivity.