DOUBLE EPISODE (Day 10 - Randall's final night, plus Day 146 - Digger Doug is revealed!)
It was April 12, 2023 and 10 days since the once magnificent 'Randall-The-Red' took shelter in Bertie's kennel, and this would be the last consecutive night that he stayed, so this is the final episode of this part of Randall's story.
He was still scratching a lot, and pulling fur from his tail with his teeth, it would take a couple of months for him to fully recover, but the healing had started and he was getting better.
There was no footage of Randall during the day, he was already starting to return to his natural life, then in the night, for the first time was see Randall interact with Panda's scent-markings, the dominant male and probably his father, and this may have contributed to his decision.
Randall didn't spend much time in the kennel overnight, and while he was away, Panda enters the kennel for the first time too, so a case is building for reasons why Randall moves out. I call him Panda because when I first started discovering the foxes I knew him as the one that looked a bit like a red panda.
In part 2 I've put together footage from Aug 26 (day 146), which was a few days ago, and Randall's full brush has returned and he's starting to look magnificent again.
He does stay over occasionally, just for one night for old time's sake, and he uses it for shelter when it's stormy, which is what the kennel was originally intended for, and he, his mum Lady B., and his sister Hannah all visit every day for nourishment, but he has completely reintegrated himself back into his community away from my garden.
Randall still scratches, but I think it's normal for this time of year as his coat recovers and changes, but I'll keep an eye on all of them.
Digger-Doug has a wonderful cameo throughout part 2, and has a big surprise for us, no spoilers!
As predicted, Hannah has become one I have to be alert around. I was woken one morning by small, sharp teeth gently tugging my fingers. It made me jump, which startled the perpetrator, followed by the sound of four unfamiliar panicked paws hurtling down the stairs as fast as possible.
When I eventually followed, sure enough, I just caught the back end of Hannah slinking away across the back wall. She had raided the cat flap, ate all the cat food and came upstairs into my bedroom! Now I have a stair gate behind the cat flap, positioned so that anything bigger than a cat will knock it over and make a scary noise. Thankfully she hasn't caused any damage or left any dirty protests, yet...
The garden is quite peaceful at night, Panda doesn't bother him when they encounter each other at the moment, but that will all change as we approach breeding season. There will be challenges between all of the foxes, friends will become rivals, it's heartbreaking when they arrive injured, and some might disappear, but I hope the kennel continues to be a place of shelter in the future.
Hannah is likely to be involved in any disruption, she is definitely a future alpha and is already challenging Lady B. The life of an urban fox is a short one, but for however long they visit they will not be hungry in those short lives, and if I can contribute to their welfare those lives will have been better than most.
If the sound seems a bit off in places, it's because once again the motion-sensing security cameras I'm using pick up hardly any sound, and in this episode the only original sounds are the foxes' vocalisations, every other sound has been crafted in post-production which has been a great learning experience.
I hope you enjoyed following saga of Randall-The-Red's self-rehabilitation, I'll be making regular updates, and the occasional short if I spot something interesting, so please subscribe for the latest.
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