They are Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus).
A Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) also strolled in and marked our box hedge as his territory.
This Hare (Lepus europaeus) seemed rightly nervous at his incursion.
The Marten seemed much more at home. I don't know if it's a Beech Marten (Martes foina) or a Pine Marten (Martes martes). The latter has a more continous and creamy coloured breast patch, and a darker nose - difficult to see under infrared light.
Martens also enjoyed frollicking on our lawn.
Adult Roe Deer 'bucks' nibbled our roses.
A mother Fox brought her young cubs along - one of them learning to hunt on its own.
Badgers waddled in to scour for worms.
If life is so tough outside the garden that trespassers need to come in - then I take the approach that a little charity would not go amiss.Foxes feast on the dog biscuits and water I leave out for them.
Martens also quench their thirst, though they seem suspicious of the Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus).
Some trespassers are more brave, and walk through in broad daylight. We eye each other, knowing this is as intimate as we can ever become.
Do you have human hunters in your region?
ReplyDeleteIn the Sundgau the hunt uses beaters to force the wild animals to the guns, which I find horrible.
Yes, hunters are very much part of the culture here - they can be recognised by their luminous orange jackets - and we often hear gunshots from the surrounding woods. I don't know if they hunt deer or boar or both. I feel a bit nervous when walking in the woods during hunting, and in the Christmas period I never wear my novelty reindeer antlers outside of the house. Maybe shooting an animal in nature is a better way of obtaining meat than rearing them in captivity?
DeleteGreat collection - night time is full of exciting stuff!
ReplyDeleteWe should work on the bats in the next visit, with some sonar recordings. And the moths are a whole chapter to themselves..
I've put 'bat detector' on my shopping list.
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