'Harry , look the sky is falling!'

A few days before Christmas I woke up, walked to the bottom of my bed to let Harry and Elspeth out of their crate then preceded to my window to open the blind.

I thought it was quite cold but only upon opening the blind would we see why.

As far as I could see the countryside was covered in about two inches of snow which might amuse american readers but that's quite deep for England and the snow was still falling!
I walked over to Elspeth, picked her up and showed her the snow. She froze for a second then tried to run away. This was very unlike her. Normally she is quite partial to a morning cuddle.
I placed her on the floor and she ran to Harry who was sitting trying to see out the window. The two of them had quite the conversation and ran off under my bed not to emerge again until I was ready to go down stairs.

So the four of us went down to the kitchen and had breakfast like normal and then into the living room where I thought it would be nice to go out for a walk in the snow and let them explore their finally finished enclosure. I put on Elspeth and Harry's harnesses and leads and went out the door only for the two of them to get level with said door and run back inside and under the sofa! I then got a hand full of snow and tried to show it to them under the sofa where a tiny little Elspeth nose appeared followed by Harry's. The looked at the snow, sniffed it and off they ran again back into cover.

It was a very odd thing to see as in the wild Corsacs come from regions that have snow and I really do not imagine in the wild Corsacs spending all winter in their burrows because snow is scary!

Anyway I gave up my dreams of taking them on an arctic adventure around the grounds and instead went on my own.

When I got back I my feet were soaking and freezing. It would appear that New Rock boots however pretty are not water resistant so I took them off and went to put my slippers on only to find that they had been taken into Elspeth's collection of goodies as I had left them within a foot of her crate. (I put them in their crates when I go out to prevent then hurting then selves or my home.) I then went to open their crate and saw that Harry had the Sky remote!

We went on with out daily playing, cuddling and what not. I tried to wrap my Christmas gifts for people and Harry decided he wanted to help. Every time he stood on the wrapping paper he wiped it due to his claws (which are meant to be kept long, it's a Corsac thing.) so I got through a whole roll of wrapping paper on one box of chocolates!..Oh well at least Harry had fun hehe.

The faces Harry pulls when he eats:

(Last one made me laugh!)

So yes that was their first snow and no they really did not like it!

I must now go, my partner is trying to entertain two foxes which looks ...painful hehe!

TTFN!

New video!

For Christmas Santa got us a new video camera which is great as I lost my camera which I used as a video camera.

Last night I decided to film Harry and Elspeth playing around on my bed. They were not feeling very cuddly but they were quite playful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mAXTzY7Ufk

I am really glad that the new camera adjusts to light and did not make the whole room look red.

I also had some photos of Harry and Elspeth 'fixed'. As you may notice on quite allot of the photos their eyes are a funny colour. Well that is not the colour of their eyes naturally so a friend of mine fixed a few for me, take a look!

Before

After

Before

After

I had quite a few more done but let me know what you think. He wantes to try again but spend longer on them so that Harry and Elspeth still look like they have a soul behind thie eyes.

Well I must be off. I have about four hours of fox movies to edit.

TTFN!

Twas the night before Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was sturring, not even an African pygmy dormouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St Nicholas would soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of sugar plumbs danced through their heads;

And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow

Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!

On, Comet! on Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!

To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!

Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,

So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,

With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;

A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,

And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;

He had a broad face and a little round belly,

That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night"

Merry Christmas!

Love-

Harry and Elspeth Flashman

xXx

Ps: More photos and videos of us after Christmas as we are getting a new Camera AND Video camera...Or so Santa tells us shhh!

Sorry!

Well hello everyone!

I am so sorry I have not blogged in a while, myself and the foxies have not been up to much and I lost my camera so I had nothing to post.

What we have generally been up to since I last posted is sorting out little issues. These are things like how foxes tinkle in their water bowls. I sorted this out by getting a bowl holder with adjustable height. I now have their food and water just high enough that they cannot mess in them but they can still reach to eat and drink.
This was a tricky thing to find as they are generally very big as they are normally used for tall dogs but I found one for Terriers which seems just right.

I then sorted out Elspeth's need to dig everything everywhere. You see she had been keeping me up at night as she wanted to dig in her crate which has a metal floor so this made a total racket. I watched her one night to see why she would do this. It was quite amusing as poor Harry would be trying to sleep and he would get their blankets thrown atop of him! Elspeth seemed to be trying to bury her treats that she had earnt through out the day. I knew she was stashing them somewhere I just did not know her trips to her litter tray were really to hide goodies!

I found a treat that neither of them wanted to stash but instead would eat right there...Puppy food. How odd is that? The moist meaty chunks seem to be perfect. They have nothing bad for foxes in them, they are the puppy ones so they can be eaten quickly and I can carry quite allot of them and they have added calcium as another bonus! They both go mad for these and they come in a cereal sized box so there is quite allot in there. As treats they work out quite cheep but if like the box suggests I used them as a complete food they would break the bank. So anyway since giving these to the two of them they sleep at night after their bedtime chat, no more midnight treat hiding, YAY!

Speaking of their bedtime chat Harry and Elspeth have totally come out of their shells. They actually talk to us which is great. It seems the noises they made before was their version of whispering. Now they talk at a normal volume and their language is...amazing. They have a huge range of sounds which they use in just a normal conversation. I have not yet heard them being mad but I am sure that would have yet another sound. I made a sound bite thing for you all last night so you have some idea what I am on about. There is no picture as it was filmed in my bedroom when I turnt off the lights. I tried turning them on and filming them but they stopped talking then. It seems it is just a little chat they have just before going to sleep and if I turn the light on clearly I want to play some more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8d4qahuBzE

So this coming out of their shells seems to mean that Harry is now my boy. Yep, my beloved Elspeth, my little princess has decided she likes my other half, her daddy more then me. She now follows him all over the place and gets upset if he goes to the bathroom as she is not allowed to follow and will run to our bedroom and wait for him under the bed. I think she loves him for his shoes. She has stolen quite a few of them and she likes it when he chases her for them.

Harry however has become a soppy little chap. He likes to sit on the bed and be fed his dinner by hand. I guess it makes it fun for him. He also still enjoys Peek-a-boo but extreme peek-a-boo. He now comes right up onto the bed or the sofa, depending where we are at the time. He now the same as Elspeth comes when he is called. It really is great! I can call him to follow me anywhere if he is not already doing so. They both have trouble with stairs though, neither of them can cope with them. They start out well but then they are a tangle of legs. Neither of them get hurt but it's interesting to see how they try to figure out how to use them.

Even though I seem to have swapped foxes with my partner I am still very happy. I love them both so very much I do not mind which wishes to spend time with me.

I read earlier in the week that Corsacs are easily habituated to humans which I must admit seems to be true. The more they see that we provide for them they closer our bond grows and it is not just material things. It is also things like is Harry is shaking his head allot and clearly has an itchy ear I will scratch it for him, if he closes the door to his crate when we are playing and needs to get in to use the litter tray I will help him. All of these things along with food, shelter, love seem to bring us closer.

I shall endeavour to write this blog as often as I did before now that I have found my camera.

TTFN!

Day Twelve

Yesterday I was lazy, I just edited a movie for you all. Though I must be honest, I do not think it is lazyness when it takes you over one hour lol!
Have a look here for all Harry videos. There are none yet of Elspeth as she HATES my camera.

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheFlashmans

I hope you like this moving picture as that really is all it is as Harry just did not want to play.

I also today found out that Elspeth means 'chosen by God' or 'consecrated by God', random fact there.

TTFN!

Day Eleven

Yesterday (November 23rd) the four of us barely got up to anything really!

We got Harry and Elspeth a smaller crate for in the living room so they can have their litter tray in there and they would have somewhere to retire to when they have had enough without us having to bring the HUGE one from up stairs.

Elspeth was not really bothered by it but Harry spent most of the day in there playing with a towel that he was very proud to have stolen hehe.

So yes quite an uneventful day really!

TTFN!

Day Ten

November 22nd

Today my partner and I went to Bristol to go Airsofting (though we actually didn't in the end as it was freezing!) so my farther was left to fox sit. I am told they were no trouble at all, in fact he did not see them as they were to worried to come out with him around.

When my partner and I got home we got them out of their crate which though had been left open all day they did not want to leave. We played with them until I decided that if Elspeth was happy enough to sleep on me I should be able to give her a bath.

While Elspeth does not smell she does need to have a bath in her bubble bath from the vets to sort out her skin. The only reason I had left it so long was that I had to wait for her flee drops to fully soak in.

I filled the bath to about half way up her legs with warm water and placed her in it. She was so worried that she just did not move. While this made it easy to bathe her it also made me feel horrid, I never wished to freak her out, let alone this much. I tried to make the bath as quick as possible. When I got her out I quickly towel dried her and then wrapped her up in a warm towel and cuddled her. She soon returned to her normal self, though also into a bit of a biter.

We went down to the living room where I continued to hug her. She got a bit aggressive (who can blame her) and tried to bite me. I quickly put a piece of chicken that I was about to give her for dinner into her mouth. She looked so shocked and then pushed the chicken out of her mouth with her tongue and stared at me for a while. She then started panting so I unwrapped her so she could cool down. She snuggled in and watched the TV.

When it came time to put her to bed I gave her a treat and put her in her crate. After giving her the treat I noticed there was only one left in the packet so I went to give it to her and she bit my finger. I am not sure if she meant to do this or if she missed the treat. Like when Flash bit my partner there was blood everywhere but it was not too painful thankfully. Oh well we learn from our mistakes.

Check out Elspeth's fluffy paws!

Day Nine

Yesterday (as in the 21st)  was so very lovely, Elspeth and I spent the day together as in the whole day!

I opened her crate and she trotted over to my partner who picked her up and handed her to me. She is not often fond of being picked up but she did not mind as much as normal. I walked down stairs to our living room and sat on the sofa. I still had a hold of her at this point and she was snuggled into me.

When my partner and Flash caught up he put Flash on the floor to play and turned the TV to play Assassins creed II. I had Elspeth sitting on my lap at this point and I let go of her but she did not go. She lay down and snuggled in with her eyes fixed on the TV ready to watch/hear what was about to happen.

After about 2 hours she started snuggling up to me higher up so that she was on my necklace, I think she liked the sound so I took it off and put it on her. She looked very impressed with herself in her shiny new necklace.

We spent more or less the whole day sitting together on the sofa. I am not one for lazy days at all but it was nice because I had her sitting on my lap. She only got off to go to the toilet and have some lunch.

I am so impressed with the progress I am making with her. She is by far the more dominant of the two foxes and the more friendly she acts towards us the more Flashy does.
I put her back in my room at about 12am and gave her some treats for being so good.

I love my Elspeth! (I love Flashy as well but he bit my toes! hehe).

Ps: Please excuse the bad photos. Once again the phone is to blame.

Day eight

Sorry this is late, my computer crashed yesterday when I clicked the post button.

Today was very exciting for Elspeth. The two of us went for a walk around the house which meant that she wore her harness for the first time. It was pretty hard to put it on her as she had no idea what on earth I was doing. She got a little mad and bit me, not hard enough to break the skin bit it still really hurt. I do not blame her though, I am sure it was a very odd experience.

Once we had the harness on we went off with the camera to try to find somewhere in the house with good lighting so I could film her.

We tried every room but none were quite bright enough so it looks like I am going to have to wait till I can take them outside to make another film.

On our way back to our part of the house we encountered my mother. She was walking down the main staircase with her bengal cat and carrying her teacup Spaniel. Elspeth walked up to the cat, they sniffed one another and then quickly ran on opposite directions. I was just glad that Elspeth had not tried to attack him but to be honest the cat is at least one and a half times the size of her so maybe I should be more happy that he did not attack her!

This was the first time my mother had seen Elspeth and she was shocked to see that she is so small. She complimented her appearance and knelt down to pet her. Elspeth was not happy with this. She made herself as big as she could and started to 'mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm' in a really deep tone.

My mother stood up and stepped away but then her little dog wanted to defend her and after much wriggling became free and jumped at Elspeth. The little dog growled and Elspeth continued to 'mmmm'. I tried to pull Elspeth away from the little dog but he followed her. My mother could not catch him and then Elspeth nipped him. She drew no blood so I think like how she bit me before it was more a 'go away' kind of thing.

The little dog sulked back to my mother limping even though Elspeth nipped his neck. My mother was not impressed and told me if I am to bring Elspeth into the main area of the house she must wear a muzzle.

Elspeth and I retired to our room. Poor Elspeth was just worried, she had not even really hurt the dog as later in the day I saw that he was running around just fine.

I think I may have to get Elspeth a muzzle for when we walk her so I can snap it on if we see a dog. I do not really wish to muzzle her though but needs must.

I really do not think that she would have nipped the little dog if he had not followed her and growled at her but I suppose we have no idea how dogs will respond to her.

I will find some way to work around this. I mean she does not seem to be an aggressive animal herself she had just had enough.

During our wander my partner had a call from the vet who was meant to have gotten the shots they need delivered today telling us they had not come so we will have to wait to sometime next week. One more week without going outside, I am sure we will cope.

My partner had spent the the time me and Elspeth were off having our adventure playing Assassins creed II with Harry laying next to him on the sofa getting his tummy and ears scratched.
Elspeth and I spent the rest of the day hanging out in our living room with Harry and my partner. We gave them each a pigs ear but neither of them seemed very into them. Apparently my bare toes were much more fun....well at least for them they were hehe!


I am very sorry that I took next to no photos today!

Harry just before bed on his blanket.

Day Seven

After staying up until 3am last night and then getting up at 7am myself and Elspeth were a tad sleepy when I got the camera out today.

She could not keep her eyes open!

She is so cute!

Part of the reason for staying up until 3am was trying to figure out how to edit a video of Flashman.
I am afraid it is quite bad as the lighting in our room is not very bright but you get a general idea of him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7_BMgFPxew If anyone has any idea why he bows like this I would love to know!

So now I am exhausted I must go to bed. I am very sorry that today's blog was so short!

Good night!

Day Six

Elspeth, Flashman my partner and I went to the vets today to get Elspeth checked out. We took Flash with us in case it was something that he might also have. I had told the vet in advance that I had not had the foxes around other animals so he got me to check them in and then get them out of the car and run around the back of the building with them to avoid anyone getting attacked or worried.

So once inside the vet was very interested in them. Flash was not in him. Flash wanted him to leave himself and Elspeth alone. Elspeth sat in a corner and then Flash went and sat on her facing the vet with a very angry look on his face. Flash did NOT want the vet to touch Elspeth. I went over and played with them both to distract them and then my other half played with Flash until he got off of Elspeth and then picked him up.

Elspeth was not very much into leaving the corner nor having even me pick her up so the vet had to look at her in the corner. He looked through her fur and said that she looked as though she had been in the wars, she also looked as though she had flees not long ago. He was shocked to see any of my animals in such a state and I told him that I had only had her since the 13th. He demanded to know the name of the breeder as it is just wrong to sell an animal to someone like this. I could not answer him this as I had gotten them from a broker.

In the UK it is common to get exotics from a broker, especially when they are as rare as these Elspeth and Flashy.

The vet got a flee comb and ran it through the 'hot spots' for flees on Elspeth and Flashy, there was nothing.

He said the best thing for me to do is wait till she is a bit more sure of herself around me and bath her in some shampoo that he prescribed for me. Apparently it is for cats with some kind of dry skin condition and it will help her heal faster. It would seem when she stretched under her legs in the joint the scabs break and thus the healing has to start all over again.

Out of the vets and off home we go. I felt really happy that Elspeth has not got flees, but bathing her is looking a bit daunting. Even if I were to muzzle her (which I do not want to do)in case she bit me in fear she still has really long claws that Corsacs use to climb trees.

I sat on my bed doing work with Elspeth on my knee most of today. She would let me pet her a little and then give me a warning nibble to remind me that she was trying to sleep. You have no idea how hard it is to type with a moody fox on your knee!

Dinner time rolled around but just before we started to cook for them I remembered that people wanted to know what I feed them so here we go.


We start with Vegetables, today it is fresh and prepared Broccoli, Fine beans, Sugar snap peas and Asparagus. (These are from the fresh veg bit in Marks and Spencer). I cut all of it into fox mouth sized chunks.

I then get some chicken, de bone it and cook it and the bones on my Lean mean fat reducing machine thingy.

The foxes like the chicken slightly on the pink side I have found so above is their 'cooked' chicken.
They also do not actually eat the chicken bones but they do like to break the bone and eat the marrow, hence I buy chicken on the bone.

Then I more or less throw together some chicken, some cooked penne pasta and some of the greens. Mix in some extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of dried garlic:

Now we add some dried banna, apple and strawberry slices and we are done!

This is one meal for them, the amount I made worked out to be 6 meals worth so not that much really.
They then have a side dish of puppy food and dried mealworms:

They get both as each fox has different tastes in food. Elspeth is more into the dog food and Flash is more into the fresh food. This is only one of the meals that I make for them but I thought people should know some of what feeding a fox entails. Mainly people like the one who sent me this the other day:

sorry for being nosey where did you get the foxes from ,how much did you pay ,what are they like ,are they skittish ,can you go near them ,do you feed them just meat ,what size enclosure have you got them in

I am happy to answer PM's but the questions asked such as how much Elspeth and Flash cost, what they are like and so on make me feel like by answering these few questions I would be deciding for that person weather or not they get a fox. I know this sounds odd but I would have felt more comfortable answering more questions as I would feel the person did not just want a fox as they are cute. I sent him in reply the link to Sybil's Den. Then he can see what keeping a fox or more being kept by a fox is like through reading the posts.

I think my greatest fear in letting people see Elspeth and Flash is that encouraging someone who is not ready to get a fox.

On a up beat note I am really happy with Flash and Elspeth. Even in the vets where Flash did not want the vet to go near Elspeth I was not annoyed, I thought it was very sweet. In a way it showed how much they trust myself and my partner as Flash allows me to take Elspeth to another room to play everyday, I love my Elspeth and me time.

We have only been together for six days and when I look at how far we have come I am so happy!
I must be off now as I am quite tired so TTFN!

Flashy is king of the cat carrier.

Day Five

Last night was yet another amusing night in the land of the Corsac foxes Elspeth and Flashman, they spent the whole night licking my toes! Why you might ask did I not move my toes? Well I did but when I would dose off to the land of dreams I would put my feet back at the bottom only to be greeted by two very small, very cold noses and their warm and tiny tongues and on occasion their sharp petite teeth!

It was quite cute at first but soon became quite tedious.

The next morning when I was getting ready Flash left my bedroom and wandered out into the hallway which has polished wood floors. He was trying to explore the landing and he could barely go one step without sliding over. As Corsac foxes have fur on the bottom of their feet he just kept slipping over again and again. I am quite sure now that that bit of floor is better polished now then it ever has been before hehe.

After allowing Flash the chance to try to get to the staircase my partner picked him up took him there to see what it was he had wanted to see. Apparently he just wanted to see what the stairs were and so when that was established he was returned to our room to play on the far less slippery flooring.

Once I had finished all of my work today I picked Elspeth up and put her on the bed. Today was the day I was going to tackle those chunks of loose fur!

I had been petting her allot and she grudgingly let me brush her.

As I brushed these brown 'things' were appearing. I feared they were fleas so I picked one up, it was not a flea, it was worse, part of a scab. Now one scab I can understand but once I found that I had a close look at her. When I had brushed out all of the loose fur I was noticing that her whole body is covered in scabs! They are by no means new, but it is very shocking to see them. They are on her ears, legs and back. Both scratch shapes and more round ones. As she had not trusted me to brush her until now her shedding coat had been covering them.

I know Flash has not done this to her as I have been with them 75% of the time and, like I said they are old. I got my partner to check Flash. Thankfully he has not a mark on his pretty body which is more or less proof that even though not done here he was probably not the attacker or he too would be wounded. I called the vet but it was after 5:30pm and not urgent so I have made an appointment for tomorrow to double check that she is not internally wounded.

Now I think I see why she is not very trusting, I do not think it was a human that did this to her but no matter what hurts you this much I think you would have trouble trusting anyone. Flash is miles ahead of her as far as settling in. Earlier today he was sad that my partner had to go and get some food. He sat looking at my bedroom door grumbling with his ears down but upon his return Flashy was so, so happy!

When I found the scabs on Elspeth I was talking to her in a nice calm voice and she was replying...No not in English, I'm not that mad hehe. She kept saying 'moo' to me, I thought I got a fox not a cow! She continued to do this until I put her back in her crate. It was very odd. When I would speed up my taking she would speed up her moo's and when I got louder so did she. I am pretty sure that she was trying to talk to me.

So now they have a new noise for me to add to their list which so far consists of grumbling, purring and now mooing.... What ever next!

I think I am just lucky but Elspeth and Flash are pretty good at using their litter tray. Earlier Elspeth missed once but this can not be helped, she still got it on the puppy training pad that I put under their litter tray so it was easy to clean up. As for the smell of their business it is not so bad. It smells like puppy tinkle which I must admit was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be. They themselves also smell like that so smell wise it is like having a puppy about. The smell is reduced due to the litter tray they are meant to be one of the less 'smelly' foxes.

I really hope that Elspeth is okay. I shall keep everyone posted.


TTFN!

Ps: Flash is not really mad...really.... hehe

Day Four

So I have made it to day four without throwing my PC in the corner and saying 'I do NOT want to play anymore' even though it has been running about as fast as.....What is slower then a snail?


Today when I woke up and looked at Flash and Elspeth I was greeted in a most odd fashion.

Flash walked to the front of the crate and as he did so he kept bowing to be. Well not quite a bow but yet more then a nod of the head. When he got to my hand he nibbled it in a totally un-aggressive way, licked it and then walked away bowing. I felt like the Queen hehe. Currently I have no idea what this means but I shall endeavour to find out.

After I had a shower I noticed I had left my dressing gown on my bed so I wrapped a towel around me and ran to my room where there lay my dressing gown...With a fox attached to one end, Elspeth to be precise! She was slowly tugging it off the bed. So slowly in fact that my other half who was sitting on said bed reading had not noticed. She froze when she saw me looking at her, quickly ran around the corner of my four poster bed to where she was hidden by the curtains and continued to tugging on my robe. She really wanted the robe for her bedroom. Maybe she is trying to out do Flashy's clothing obsession by taking one big thing. I lightly tugged on the robe thinking maybe she would let it go which would be nice or we could turn it into a game, either would be fine. She decided to let go. She walked into her crate, stood on the dog bed which is inside and looked at me in disgust. She sure knows how to give you an evil look.

When I was blow drying my hair they both came out and were very much interested in this hair dryer device. I had not used it since I got them as I was unsure of how bomb proof they were and did not wish to worry them. They were both intrigued as to why my hair was flying all over the place so I aimed it at them. Instant hit! Flashy and Elspeth were pushing one another out of the way to get to the warm air. Totally the opposite to my dogs. They HATE the hair dryer for the most part.

Once the dryer game was done the four of us sat on the floor and us two humans petted the two foxes. Elspeth was unsure of the whole idea of playing outside of her crate again in a direct way, as in with no hair dryer. I gave in and petted her in her crate. She had already been quite adventurous and clearly she feels safe there.

Today I was asked :

What kind of care do they need? Food? Habitat? Just EVERYTHING!! Do they bark? Are they noisy? Do they have a strong odour?

Though I had wanted to answer this today I do not feel that I can paint a full picture of what life is like with them just yet as they are not fully settled.

Prior to getting them I read everything there is to read, talked to keepers and breeders in mainland Europe so that I knew all that there was to know but still that is not the same as having first hand experience.
For example every day they have vegetables but once I cooked them a bit too long and they went soggy and instead of them being the 1st thing to go they did not get eaten.

Each day at the moment is a learning experience.
In a few months I am sure I will be able to answer where is best for them, what is best for them and so forth with first hand experience behind me.
I hope that you can all wait that long.

Well I am falling to sleep where I sit...Which is on bed so not all bad!

Nighty night!

Day three

Last night we found out about the secret lives of Flashman and Elspeth. Myself and my partner went to have a bath before bed and we decided that the room was fox proof and that leaving the crate door open would be fine but to be safe I left my camera on film mode facing down the side of the bed that the door is on. We also left the TV on so that they could get accustomed to it.
What the camera filmed I never would have guessed!

Elspeth left the crate! I was shocked by this and yet more shocked that she left before Flashman!
She walked along, sat at the side of the bed and watched TV for the whole time I was in the bath. She now and then would wash her feet but that was more or less all. Flash however found the one thing I forgot to move; my litter basket. He covered one quarter of my room in Q-tips and cotton wool, he seemed to be having a jolly good time hehe.

Upon our return to the room they both ran back inside the crate and Elspeth curled up on her blanket as though she had never left, what a sneaky fox she is!
As they had been out all day more or less we all went to bed after that.

This morning I found that though they like their chicken and love their vegetables (I expected this to be the other way around) they adore mealworms! I decided to sprinkle them on their dry food and though all the dry food was still in the bowl all the worms were gone. It would seem that crunchy food is their favourite,

When we let them out of their crate we decided that we should put their collars on them. They did not mind to much in fact Flash seems to quite like that his jangles as he walks along and Elspeth seems to like that she has something new. They both look great in them.

Since we had filmed them being alone in the room we now knew Elspeth's secrets 1) she liked TV and 2) she has been out of the crate. After petting her for a while in her crate I decided that she should really come out.
We picked her up and put her on the bed. She seemed a bit worried. I would be if I was in her position, but when she had been petted behind the ears for a while she seemed to calm down and possibly enjoy her fuss.

After a while I put her back in the crate followed by Flash.

At the shops we saw a squeaky x-mas tree. We thought that maybe the foxes would each like one so we got them one each. When we got home I went to give them their treats and squeaked one at them to show them what it did. They did not like this one little bit! They ran away from me and looked terrified! I really did not think a toy would worry them that much. Needless to say the toys have been put away and the foxes were petted quite allot to show that we were sorry.

Well that's all for tonight, it's fox dinner time so good night!

Day two

So last night myself and my partner lay on our bed reading while the door to Elspeth and Flashmans crate was open. We thought that would be best as intruding into their personal space and harassing them would only make them feel hassled and after a long drive and a new home that is the last thing you want.

So about two seconds after I opened the crate and climbed onto the bed out popped Flash. Well his head!
He looked round to see my on the bed and then went back into his crate. This peak-a-bo lasted for about an hour. Each time he had a cheekier look on his face. He then vanished for about 10 mins and I heard their odd croaking.

Yes you read right, croaking. Corsacs seem not to bark or scream like a Fennec, they just sort of croak to one another really quietly. Alternatively they grumble to one another, this is also really quiet. This may change when they are more settled.

Flash seemed to be telling Elspeth what he had been up to but she seemed not to want to join in.

So then I went back to my book, I thought he was going to stay in his crate with Elspeth but no I was very wrong. I looked to the end of the bed and next to my drawers there was sat that cheeky fox watching me. He seemed quite pleased that I looked at him as it meant we could continue our game.

Flashy became more and more bold as the evening went on slowly moving higher and higher up the side of the bed until he was level with my pillow. I was very pleased with his progress. The fact that he was clearly coming up with a game for the two of us to play was great but then he went a step further, he went up on two legs and put his front paws on the bed!

At this my partner was very un impressed. Flashy should have been coming up his side of the bed, not mine! Flashy is his fox hehe.
We swapped sides of the bed so as that Flashy would walk up to him and they could play.

So Flashy poked his head out of the crate and noticed that second that it was not the person who he was playing with who was there so he started the game over again..
When 30mins in he was level with my other half's hand he went over and had a sniff and ran off again.

Upon return he bit his finger!

I believe he was trying to play but was a bit over excited. There was blood everywhere. Though their teeth are very small (the second smallest fox teeth apparently) they pearce like needles as puppy teeth do. I was shocked by the sheer amount of blood but it stopped about 10 seconds into the bleeding as the holes were so small. I was going to take a photo of any wounds that we acquired during the keeping of foxes but there really is nothing to photograph. I was also quite shocked when my other half told me it did not actually hurt very much, not half as much as when my flying squirrel bit him.

My other half and Flash continued the evening as though nothing had happened. Flash was told 'NO' when he bit and it seems to have done the trick as he did not bite again that evening.

I, unlike the boys was having no luck bonding with my fox. I tried giving her some cooked chicken which she turnt her nose up at, I tried some dried mealworms (they eat allot of insects in the wild) but she did not want those either. I tried to pet her and she went into her defensive pose and croaked at me but then I went around the other side of the crate. She had her back to me which is never a good place to start, I hate being sneaked up on but I was there and she did not want me near her face. I reached my hand through the bars and scratched her lower back where she had a huge chunk of fur that needed brushing out. She did not look too pleased so I stopped. She started to stare at me so I wondered what on Earth she wanted. I then decided that when I was scratching her back she had stopped croaking at me so I tried again. She looked quite pleased with me. I was allowed to scratch her back for quite a while before she wandered off and went to sleep.

So it seems that whole 'You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours' works in the fox world as well. She got her back scratched and I got to pet my fox!

Then bedtime came around and Flash did not want to go to bed. He was playing and he did not really want to stop even if the human playing with him was falling to sleep. So during one of his visits to tell Elspeth what had been going on I quickly closed the door on his crate. He was not impressed. He stood facing the door and jumped up and down, yes with all four paws leaving the ground in some kind of mini hissy fit. It was very cute!

This morning I woke up, lay facing the foot of my bed and saw the two of them sound asleep, clearly they had a busy night! I was still amazed. It was like I had woken from a dream and taken something from the dream with me into the real world.

I looked at what they were sleeping on. It seemed to be a mixture of clothing that I had worn in the last two days...It seemed I had placed my washing basket a bit too close to where they were sleeping and they just took what they thought looked comfortable. Apparently things to keep out of reach of them include bras, skirts (of which they had two of), boxer shorts, socks and half a pair of jeans. Must remember not to allow them near clothing shops...

So after getting ready for the day and letting them (by them I mean Flashman, Elspeth once more did not want to come out) out for a play I went to the pet shop to get them each a collar. I had spent £50- on each of them to get them each a small dog harness and collar. At the time I got the collars and harnesses I did not think the foxes were quite as small as they are. I mean everything I have read about them says 'the size of a red fox' or 'the size of a small red fox'. I really should have engaged my brain when I read that they are closely related to the swift fox and come to my own conclusion. However I did not and we should not dwell in the past. So off to the pet shop I went to get them each a puppy collar and a cat harness.

In the pet shop I was tempted to get Elspeth a pale pink one with flowers all over it but my other half rolled his eyes and informed me: 'If you think she hates you now just wait till you put that on her...' . So I went with one with all different colour stripes along it. The other half chose a leather one with metal bones around it. I think it looks a bit to canine for Flash but I am sure he would look lovely in anything.

We then had the issue at the tag machine of what do we put on Flashmans tag. I mean do we put Harry, Flashman or Flashy? We know you are not ment to confuse an animal by calling them all different names but we are still not 100% what to call him. We know it will be one of the above. So we went with Harry Flashman. Seeing as anything we will call him is a shortening of that it made sense.

When we returned home we played with our flying squirrels for a while but then retired to our room to play with the foxes which is where I type from now via my laptop. We had planned to let them have a play outside but with the rain and winds how they are at the moment I really doubt they would thank us for it, well that combined with the fact the gardener has not been able to finish the enclosure yet due to said weather.

We are all having a lovely evening at present. Elspeth is curled up sleeping, Flashman is playing with my other half and I am typing with The Pixies playing in the background (Pixies the band not the things that live in the garden hehe.) while the rain and wind beat on the windows.

What a typically English evening,

Good night!

PS: Please excuse the bad photo quality of the first two photos, they were taken on a phone.