A TRIP out to Dalby Forest this month reminded me of a visit there two years ago when I tossed dog biscuits to a fox as though it were a pet.

I had gone to the national forest after a visitor to my gallery in Thixendale told me about a particularly bold fox he had seen on one of the bike trails from Dixon’s Hollow.

It had quite a reputation. Apparently it regularly stole sausages off lit barbecues, raided open cars for food and was so tame it would even eat jelly babies from your hand.

It took me all afternoon to find the fox but when I did it was begging for tit bits from a group of cyclists near Dalby Activity Centre.

It was a vixen and I could see by her swollen teats that she was lactating, which suggested she had a family to feed. I had brought along some dog biscuits and threw a few towards her. She ate a few and then gathered the rest up in her mouth, presumably to take to her cubs.

So when she headed off through the undergrowth with her mouth full, I followed on my bike. She ran along the cycle trail, actually weaving between the cyclists along the obstacles, jumps and balance beams.

My bike is 20 years old and I was carrying a tripod in one hand and had a rucksack full of heavy cameras on my back, so I couldn’t follow suit. Instead, I headed back to the car park, hoping she would return for more food. She was back within five minutes.

Again she gathered the dog biscuits in her mouth and headed off. I raced round to where I knew she would cross the track again and this time followed her a little further before circling back to the car park to feed her the next instalment.

In this way I got a little closer to the place she was hiding her cubs each time. Eventually I heard a whickering sound and spotted two cubs peering through some ferns.

It was getting late, so I backed off. I returned the next day to see the cubs ambush her, wagging their tails furiously and licking her muzzle. But when she heard me she barked and the cubs instantly vanished into the forest.

I followed the vixen as she trotted off to Adderstone Field to raid the bins and barbecues. It was fascinating watching her negotiate cars, bike riders and dog-walkers, going largely unnoticed by the crowds.

All of a sudden there was a heavy downpour and the day-trippers packed up and headed home. I was soaked so I headed back to my bike, which I had left near the playground, only to find the vixen there dragging my camera bag about.

It had dog biscuits in it so I gave her a few then lit my camping stove and cooked four sausages – two for me and two for the fox.

A thunderstorm was brewing and the wind began to whip around me. I sat down on my folding chair with the rain lashing down to photograph the vixen at eye level. She sat patiently in front of me waiting for her sausage, as though she were a pet dog.

It was quite surreal. As dark clouds gathered overhead, pierced by occasional bolts of lightning and thunder, the fox swallowed her sausage and then placed her front paws on my knees. She looked me in the eyes and sniffed at my jacket for biscuits.

Then she tugged at the flap of my pocket, nearly pulling me off my chair.

It was a bit too close for comfort – and for photography – so I threw more biscuits, tossing them a little away from me. As I spun them into the air one at a time, she sat before me catching them in her mouth with the rain falling down on her.

There was no sign of her in the forest this year. I wonder what happened to her?

  • If you have any news of the Dixon’s Hollow fox, or of any interesting wildlife sightings, please let me know either by email at mail@robertefuller.com or on Twitter @RobertEFuller.