#279-365 Shadows

I apologize for not having the correct name for this wily little fellow, but I had so much fun watching him outwitting his keepers, I didn't read it or ask. He is foxlike so lets call him that and he has Batlike ears, so that too. Ron's newly named "Bat Earred Foxlike Thingy" Good name eh?

This guy had been programmed for relocation to another enclosure, apparently for two weeks prior to me getting the shot. Obviously the keepers loved and were proud of his brains and accumen, at thwarting the plan stipulated by the chief veterinarian. Who had decreed that any animal due for relocation had to be acclimatized to the cage in which it would be transferred.

The keepers had had a cage big enough to carry a corgi (Twice the size of this guy) located in a strategic place in the enclosure for two weeks and twice a day they, "baited" it with his favourite foods, all to no avail, he had refused flatly to enter the cage even once, they even had him under CCTV with night vision and in spite of being patently concious of the food on offer, he stayed on the outside. We laughed about the predicament, but the girls said it was becoming a worry, as the move needed to be done to accommodate other animals in his cage.

I suggested that maybe they were being too cute, try a cardboard box reinforced with a few layers of duct tape and he won't suspect a trick, I bet he had seen traps before. Don't know if it was tried or not just a suggestion. I had the feeling that the two girls and the little fox were so close that they could have put a collar and lead on it and just walked him to ithiss new accommodation. It obviously loved them as it knew where they were at all times even when they were out of the enclosure, and didn't seem too happy at my talking to them.

The reason I stuck with shadows for this little guy is that this photo, (far and away the best I was able to get) shows just how hard he would be to see in any type of undergrowth, and quick like you wouldn't believe. i would spot him heading around the back of the cage headed right, focus on a clearing where he was headed and Nothing, Nil, Nada, Zilch. Then he would be glimpsed moving in the thicket at the other side of the enclosure. I asked twice if there were two of them which got a hearty laugh (both times) and a reply "No they are slick and tricky, keep at it."

So I spent about two hours getting this and about four far less satisfactory shots having a ball watch a real conman run rings around two pleasant, yet professional keepers who cared a great deal for their charge, and I loved every minute.