20210603 (19)_Red_Fox
With four dog foxes and two vixens attending for chicken every night, the hierarchy is broadly understood - but not absolutely fixed. On the left of the photo is Scally, easily identifiable with his tattered right ear and normally understood to be the alpha. However, Patch, on the right, is now a year old, well grown, solid verging on stout and beginning to feel his power as an adult. A face-off in this case resulted in wrestling: the forelegs braced against each other both support them as they push each other for mastery and keep their jaws at a reasonably safe distance, though they gape in threat. Foxes wrestling in this way can stay erect for some time, until one gives up and sags away to turn and run. So far, that is Patch, but I wonder if Scally can see the writing on the wall...
20210603 (19)_Red_Fox
With four dog foxes and two vixens attending for chicken every night, the hierarchy is broadly understood - but not absolutely fixed. On the left of the photo is Scally, easily identifiable with his tattered right ear and normally understood to be the alpha. However, Patch, on the right, is now a year old, well grown, solid verging on stout and beginning to feel his power as an adult. A face-off in this case resulted in wrestling: the forelegs braced against each other both support them as they push each other for mastery and keep their jaws at a reasonably safe distance, though they gape in threat. Foxes wrestling in this way can stay erect for some time, until one gives up and sags away to turn and run. So far, that is Patch, but I wonder if Scally can see the writing on the wall...