Tuesday, December 28

Happy Holidays!


Happy holidays everyone!


We are so sorry we did not post on Christmas day but we have been very, very busy celebrating Christmas on three days with three groups of people (and animals of coarse). If I never eat Turkey again it may well be too soon and I think Harry and Elspeth feel the same as by day three they were turning their noses up at it.

So what did Harry and Elspeth get? Well they got some toys from their favourite company. Now the reason I say it is their favourite company is that they love every toy I get them from Play-n-squeak as the toys from there make the most annoying sound (or at least I find it annoying, you can hear it here: http://www.playnsqueak.com/) and they seem to withstand being pounced on, thrown across the room, shaken vigorously and chewed very well. We got them the 'Ball of furry fury', 'Dangle mouse', 'Spring fling' (which I had to screw to the wall in their bedroom as when they flipped it over they gave up on it) and a few 'mouse hunter' toys which they like very much!

Elspeth:

Inari and Kitsune got some kitten toys as the fully grown cat toys seem often to be to big for them but Sprite ran off with half of them within 30 mins. Oh well, at least they like to play together! I also got them some morio worms but they have those every other day so was nothing special really, they just had more then normal. I filmed Inari eating some a few days before: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUzQYDG5dhk (You can see their "Ball of furry fury" at the back of the cage.)

Inari:

My partner got me some wonderful gifts including an ornament of two red fox kits, a plush little red fox and 'Biology and conservation of wild canids' which is a VERY interesting book, I actually started reading it the second I unwrapped it. Of coarse the first thing I read was 'Corsac foxes' (did you expect anything else?), though I have read most of it before in various other places over the years there was one thing I had not read before which was: 'One limiting factor is snow height in winter, as the species avoids areas where snow height exceeds 150mm'. Well now I know why Harry and Elspeth will not go out in the snow for love nor money and why they go nuts when they see it falling from the sky; it's what they all do! It is good to know that my kits are not totally crazy hehe!

December seems to be the season of foxy love as Harry and Elspeth will not leave each other alone. They are constantly grooming each other, curling up together and playing with each other it is so cute!

Well we wish everyone a wonderful holiday season!



Harry:The flash woke him up so he was in a mood.

Tuesday, November 16

November 13th 2009- Present

Oh gosh it is hard to think that Harry and Elspeth have been part of my family for one whole year. . .and three days as I had no time to post anything on the 13th (forgive me?).


Everyday I learn something new about them; for example I did not know until yesterday that Elspeth could jump over a four foot barrier in a single pounce and then proceed to dismantle said barrier until she managed to get to the chair that the barrier was protecting! How bout that?! That is one hell of a skill to manage to hide.

I also learnt recently that Harry who always tries to steel a sip of my coffee is quite happy to have his very own coffee cup but filled with water as long as he THINKS it is mine and I do not want him to have it.

A few months ago I moved Harry and Elspeth into their very own bedroom. I decided loosing my duvet to a cheeky fox every night just would not do so now they have their own room with their own sofa and their own duvet which they like very much.

On the 13th to mark their birthday we had a little party with their favourite foods (pheasant, duck, venison and rabbit), unwrapped their gifts, looked at photos of them from their first year with us, played with and tried on their gifts and just had a nice family evening. I made a slide show for those interested the link is:

http://www.slide.com/r/sCMEZMfVxj-rc6SUKcML4YverdTZVLlc?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url&view=original

Harry and Elspeth are the most wonderful fur kids a girl could ask for and I am so happy to be part of their lives.



Wednesday, November 10

MINE!

So the night before last I was in Inari and Kitsune's bedroom feeding them, cleaning up after them, playing with them etc. When I was about ready for bed I went to leave the room and Inari shot past me into the hallway and right into Sprite (my papillon and Harry's best friend)!

I was a little worried as she a fair amount bigger then him and accustom to playing with the Corsacs.

Inari froze and Sprites tail started wagging like mad, she was so excited. She shoved her nose in his left ear and looked at me with this really happy look on her face, Inari looked at me with the most worried look on his face. I knelt down to pick him up and he suddenly spun round to look at Sprite squealed and started wagging his tail up and down then started to sniff her all over. Sprite seemed a little confused but went with it, she lay on the floor as dogs do and he put his head in her ear which she took as 'lets play!' so they started chasing each other up and down the hall Inari squealing with delight.

I am so happy my big eared kids (well 2 of them) like each other! It was so funny after though when I went to put Harry to bed and he rubbed himself all over myself and Sprite as we are HIS and it seems playing with a different male fox is just not on! He sulked for a little while but when I dozed off on his sofa he decided to clean my feet which seemed to mean 'I forgive you'.

I do wonder if I should ever let Harry meet Inari, they may argue over me which sounds big headed but Harry is a Mummy's boy and Inari seems quite fond of me. . . We shall see.

Tuesday, October 26

Where have Harry and Elspeth been?!

That is the question that so many people have asked me, I had no idea so many people read our blog until I was inundated with e-mails from lovely people like you who were worried about the wonderful Flashmans.

Well first off let me say I am so very, very sorry to have kept you all waiting so very long for an update, I have been very busy with work but that is no excuse now is it?

Well let me see where did we leave off. . .

On July 25th Harry and Elspeth were meant to go to the Arc in Evesham for Exotic keepers awareness day. I was very excited about this as they were to be the only two foxes there bar the red foxes that reside at the sanctuary and loads of people were excited about seeing them. The night before I was getting their crate ready for the morning when Harry and Elspeth were playing and having a nice time but then Harry seemed to get the wrong end of the stick and thought that Elspeth was interested in doing more then just playing around.



Harry started pinning her to the floor which she normally would deal with by pushing him off if she is not interested but today when she did that she had rolled onto her back and Harry bit her leg quite a bit harder then he intended.

(I am quite confused in his behaviour as he seems to be 'in the mood' one hell of allot for an animal that is meant to have seasons for this.)

Anyway as soon as he bit her more or less there was blood all over the floor. Elspeth had ran away under the sofa.

I got her to come out and saw that Harry had nicked an artery in her leg. No matter how much pressure I applied the blood was not stopping.

I remembered that only a few days prior to this a member of Sybil's den had said that Cayenne pepper was good for stopping bleeding and so I ran to the kitchen
I was worrying which is very unlike me Elspeth is my baby and I was so worried about her.

I thankfully had Cayenne pepper. I sprinkled it....or more almost tipped the whole jar on her wound and hey presto it started to clot. About 10 mins later Elspeth moved and knocked the pepper off and the blood started again but I put some more on and we were safe once more. I took her to the vets the next morning.

So I was told to keep it clean and been given a cone for her head so she does not pull off the new dressing...Thing is the pepper I used the night before worked fine at keeping her off it AND she didn't have to look like a lamp.


So on July 25th instead of telling the world how great foxes are Elspeth was sleeping and being treated like a princess...A very, VERY grumpy princess. Oh well there is always next year.

One week after her injury she was totally fine bar a scab where the puncture was, amazing!

On August 28th our family gained two new additions, two beautiful fennec foxes Inari and Kitsune. We finally got after much thought, consideration and waiting. They are settling in really well but I have not let them meet Harry and Elspeth yet, I want to do that when they are more confident.


(Kitsune top, Inari bottom taken prior to first bath so quite scruffy looking)
Inari (the male) is much smaller then Kitsune even though he is meant to be older, he is also much more confident around me.

Kitsune was quite nervous around us and I was a bit concerned about her as she had various issues such as her front paws claws have been cut so short that the quick is right at the end of them, it looks like the quick has been cut, you could touch it. . . Her elbows and such are red and bare of fur she also (I discovered when I took her to the vets only a couple of days after getting her) had ring worm. . .

We treated her ringworm with the meds the vet gave us and then when bathing her every other day proved too stressful we decided to use vinegar as many people who had dealt with ring worm before had advised me that it would work, which thankfully it did!

It is amazing how different Fennecs are from Corsacs when I first got Inari and Kitsune I gave them a bath as they really needed it and it was amazing how easy it was! Unlike Harry and Elspeth they really did not like having a bath but as they are so small it was fast and easy. Also unlike Corsacs if you pick up a worried fennec it will go limp where a worried Corsac will wiggle to get free.

After we towled them off my partner and I took them into our bedroom with a hot water bottle each and sat with a hot water bottle each on our knees and then a fennec atop of that. They both seemed to really like the heat as it was then 3am and seeing as we live in an old house it was quite cold.


When we decided to actually go to sleep and we put them in their sleeping crate Inari sorted out the blankets for both of them and then lay down which was cute. I had put a water bottle in with them but they seem to have not noticed it was the water bottle and not me that was warming them up and so totally avoided it.

I must say it is so funny to see them eat. Harry and Elspeth go for meat normally over the veggies unless it is curly kale or basil (herb I know but they eat it like it is going out of fashion). Inari and Kitsune go for the veggies over everything else and wolf it down. Thus far Kitsune though the bigger of the two has always gone to take food second where with Harry and Elspeth it is always Elspeth who goes first.

I think that is more or less you all caught up!
Here is a video of Harry and Elspeth in their bedroom:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfwxoFfMsEM

And a new one of them talking:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kNHGE5C1FA


Harry
Harry
Harry on the back of his sofa in his bedroom.
Harry left Elspeth Right

Friday, June 25

Elspeth talks

I was looking through a SDHC card and noticed I had loads of videos of my babies I had not got round to uploading so heres one of Elspeth:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdQxzbUexh0

Enjoy!

Sunday, June 13

Elspeth's corner


As you may all have noticed I have not been posting many blogs as of late. Do not worry nothing is wrong, just my internet security has decided that nothing is safe including my blog which make no sense at all so today I went to get a new internet security so now everything is back to normal.

So with the warm weather Harry and Elspeth have had no idea what do do with themselves! They have mostly been sprawled out in front of various fans around the house trying to cool down, they have also both decided they they are quite partial to frozen Mango now weather this is just as it is cold or they like the taste I am unsure but it keeps them happy.

Bedtime in their crate has been nothing but arguments as Harry wants to cuddle the same as in the winter but Elspeth really does not and gets very mad at Harry when he tries to. I tried getting them their very own fan so that instead of sharing mine which oscillates they could have one just pointing at them but this did not help so I tried separating them into two crates which also did not help as they screamed for one another even though they were next to one another. I decided in the end to get a second HUGE crate and attach it to the first and put Harry's favourite carrier and his blanket in there so maybe he would get the idea that Elspeth wants peace. It worked and I really have no idea how! I mean when they were in one crate Harry would not sleep away from Elspeth but now he seems to think of the extension as his own little night time play room.

I have also changed their suspended bed in Elspeth's crate to instead of being made of a pillow case and a pillow to being a baby changing mat, still with the bars through it of coarse to suspend it. I did this as Elspeth has gained weight and when she would sit on the fabric one after about seven nights is would rip and the pillow would fall out so I thought the plastic may be more hard wearing.... Well actually the day after I put it up she had half pulled it down and by the next day she had created herself a cave sort of thing at the back of the crate! It would seem she had been pulling it down all along! What a sneaky fox.



So now Elspeth has this very girly bit of the crate with her pink fleece blanket and her pink wall, it looks very nice! She also keeps everything she liberates back there which as of late has changed from underwear and onto soft toys and throw cushions.

The other day my partner got seven pairs of socks with foxes on them. He got me so many as Harry is a sock monster and always runs off with my socks and with 7 pairs there is a chance I might be able to retain a pair hehe!

Given they are red foxes but foxes none the less!

Monday, June 7

Baby girls seriously hurt in fox attack

Below quote taken from :http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20100607/tuk-baby-girls-seriously-hurt-in-fox-att-dba1618.html
Officers and paramedics were called to a house in Homerton, east London, on Saturday night to reports that the animal had attacked the nine-month-old sisters.

A police source said the fox apparently entered through a door on the ground floor that had been left open for ventilation, before attacking the twins in an upstairs room. Their four-year-old brother, who was also sleeping upstairs, escaped injury.
Police said the little girls are in a "serious but stable condition" at the Royal London Hospital. They both suffered arm wounds and one of the girls is believed to have facial injuries.
After the attack, pest controllers set fox traps in the back garden. A fox was discovered in one of the devices on Sunday night and was humanely destroyed by a vet later
The above upsets me immensley and it is not just because I love foxes so much but that I did not think that people could sink so low.

I honestly do not think it was a fox.

Foxes are very timid animals, they do not like to be around humans so I really do not see one going into a house that to them will stink of humans.

As it was an urban fox I also do not think that it would be starved and thus I have no idea why it would attack a human, I mean we do not have rabies in this country and the only documented fox attacks I have heard of have been by rabid foxes.

Occasionally the press reports attacks on children that are said to be by foxes, but very often the bite wounds do not appear to be typical fox bites. It is not impossible that a child could be bitten by a fox but, if it occurs, it is extremely rare. In comparison, the risk of injury from domestic dogs and cats is very much higher. For example, in the USA about 5 million people are bitten by dogs each year and 15 to 20 people die from dog bites yearly. Most of the victims are children. Similarly, there are more than 400,000 cat bites each year in the USA. There are no good statistics from Britain, but it is likely that the number of dog and cat bites is around a fifth of those recorded in the USA. Even in countries where rabies is present, humans are much more likely to be bitten by a rabid domestic dog than by a fox.

The risks of people being attacked by a fox are negligible compared to the risks of being attacked by a domestic dog or cat.
(Above quote taken from http://www.thefoxwebsite.org/urbanfoxes/urbanconflict.html)

I honestly think it may well be a case of 'Oh no the dogs bitten the kids, say it is a wild animal so the dog is not put down.'.

I had to post about this as I feel people are to quick to blame the fox, the wolf and all other animals they they do not understand. I think it is deeply disturbing that just on one persons word and people are ready to go on a killing spree as they are affraid of what they do not understand...

Trapping and killing a random urban fox who may or may not have had anything what so ever to do with this is plain wrong and it upsets me immensely!

My heart is heavy and my head is held low as I am ashamed to be a human. I am however glad that Harry and Elspeth are part of my life and more importantly my daughters life and thus she will not turn out like any of the people involved in this.

Sunday, May 16

Totally forgot

I totally forgot to upload this to you tube back in April so here you all go!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKzdq-iKz4k

I have not forgotten about all you you, do not worry I have just been really busy house hunting and stuff.
Shall get some photos of my not so furry fur kids this evening.

TTFN!

Saturday, May 1

Summer coats are SO in this season!

Harry and Elspeth have been shedding so much over the past month or so, I fear they will vanish entirely!

I thought I should post some pics of them in their new coats. Harry has shed the most or more he lets me brush him more then Elspeth does.


Harry
Winter:
Summer:

He is in the Kitty carrier which he has decided to turn into a bed with a blanket and he is trying to pull a pillow in.

Elspeth
Winter:
Summer:
Still sticking her tongue out at the camera, some things never change!

Anyway it's duck jerkey time so TTFN!


Tuesday, April 27

Volcanoes and mice, who would have thunk it?!

On April 17th I was meant to leave for Alberta Canada but due to this Volcano in Iceland that did not happen, the strange thing is I think Harry knew it was not going to happen as well...

The night before when I put him and Elspeth to bed I was talking to them (as I do, call me mad) and Harry walked to the crate door and took my hand in his mouth which was a bit odd and then he put it on the floor or his crate and proceeded to bury it in the pine litter...

It was all very odd. He used one of his paws as a guide of where to nose the litter up to which he never does with his toys...He then peed on the litter he piled on my hand, that I did not like but it was also odd as he uses his litter tray 99% of the time (the other 1% is when he misses as Elspeth is in there or I am cleaning it out.). After he did that I took my hand out of the pile and left the room to wash my hands. Harry was not happy with this, the whole time I was out of the room he gekkered for me which was odd as I always put him to bed at the same time and he knows that is bed time.

I probably should not have but I went back in to see him and quite him down. He was being really sweet which he is more and more the more time I have him, he let me pet him and scratch him behind the ears, even brush him. I then gave him and the sleeping Elspeth a piece of duck jerky (home made) and went off to bed.

That night my partner said he heard nibbling under the bed, I thought he was hearing things so rolled over and went to sleep. I was then woken up by him turning on the light and saying that there was something under the bed. He put down one of Harry and Elspeth's treats and waited with the lights out and the treat vanished!

He then decided he was going to pull out the wicker drawers from under our bed to find this 'something' and as he did so I saw something run past the foot of the bed out the corner of my eye! It was the size of a mouse.

I am a bit soft when it comes to mice, I really do like them and I could not bare to put down a humane trap only to come back from Canada (at this point the plane was still meant to fly) and find a mouse starved to death inside it so I was going to leave it until I came home.

Well at 4am I went to check to see if the plane was going to fly and it said the dreaded word 'CANCELLED'...Lovely....

The next day I talked to someone of the exotic keepers forum about what to do about this mouse, it seems that wild mice are nowhere as nice as fancy mice and can really cause some damage to your house and what not so it is best to catch them ASAP so I put down the humane trap filled with stuff I know my African Pygmy dormice like.

On the morning of the 19th I was getting ready and Harry and Elspeth were out and about as normal. I left them loose when I went to brush my teeth. Harry ran down stairs to his bedtime crate faster then I have ever seen him run and started digging in there.

I put him and Elspeth in their crate so I could go out and sort out a refund with the travel agent.

Upon my return home Elspeth trotted out of the crate like normal and out of the room looking for my partner but Harry was sat at the back of the crate looking shifty. I climbed into the crate to see what he had. He turnt round, rummaged in the kitty litter and emerged with a dead mouse in his mouth and a smile on his face.

I am quite honoured that he showed me as normally if he hides something he will not show anyone but that day he wanted to show everyone how he had slain the evil mouse who was intruding in Mummy and Daddy's room starting with me.

Today is the 27th and I only yesterday managed to get Harry to allow me to take his mouse off him. I thought it was quite cute how he was so proud of it he did not even eat it...Bit icky as well though.

Sunday, April 11

Bed time crate

On April 17th I am going away to Canada for a family wedding at Lake Louise in Alberta but guess who can't come? Yep Harry and Elspeth so they are going to be babysat by my Dad. Last nigth my partner and I moved their sleeping crate into our spare room so they could get accustomed to not having us with them 24/7 and sleeping in a different room.

It was so hard to collapse and carry their Great Dane sized crate to the spare room, especially as Harry and Elspeth wanted to know where their bedroom was going. I decided as I was putting it up from scratch that as so many people have asked what exactly is in their bed time crate I may as well show you so here we go!

Well as already stated this crate is made for Great Danes, I shall get the measurements when I find a tape or yard stick.

Their bed is made from a foam pillow, two metal bars and a pillow case.

I have bent the bars so that they hook onto either side of the crate but. Before hooking it up I get a pillow case and cut the corners off to thread the bars through and then I stuff the pillow in. This creates a sort of hammock for Harry and Elspeth as the pillow hangs between the two bars. The bars and the foam pillow give the bed integrity and thus make it easier for them to get onto it.

(Pillow hammock prior to being put up)


(Pillow hammock in place)


Harry and Elspeth also have a small kitty carrier with no door on it to sleep in. They both enjoy playing hide and seek in it and it also gives them another way to get into their hammock and a sort of cave to hang out in. (I say hand out as neither of them sleep in it very often.) I did originally have the crate just placed in there but have started to use cable ties to hold it in place and onto the bars as during play Harry would often spin it whilst Elspeth was inside leaving the door facing the bars of the crate and Elspeth in a foul mood. I filled the kitty carrier with some straw last night for a change from their blankets only to this morning find Harry eating it which made him sick (literally) so I have removed it now.



Annother new addition is that I have put skirting board all around the inside of the crate and thus made it possible to cover the floor in wood litter. I did this as Elspeth likes to dig and even though I have a lovely big tractor tyre filled with sand in their outside enclosure she will not go into said enclosure to use it and that would make far to much mess inside so I decided this would be the answer. The two of them still use a litter tray to toilet in but with different litter inside so they know the difference and Elspeth can dig until her hearts content.

Lastly is their food dishes as they have their evening meal in their crate, litter tray and their toys of which the current fave is rubber treat dispensing ball. I am sure I forgot something...Oh yes two beautiful foxes!





On and just as I thought this was really funny this is how my partners T-shirt looks after 15mins of petting Elspeth:

(Bye bye blonde!)

TTFN!

Friday, April 2

Extreme makeover

(Elspeth left Harry right)

Today I am writing to you all from within a cloud of fox fur. Do not worry , no one is hurt but I do seem to be gaining at least two more foxes in fur that is coming off Harry and Elspeth.


The two of them are currently shedding allot as they are undergoing a total colour transformation from their fluffy winter coat of blond and white to a light weight summer coat of red and orange.

Unlike a dog however they are not shedding their undercoat but they seem to be loosing their top layer of fur which I found to be quite odd. Everywhere that they have a large clump of fur that looks ready to fall off when I brush it out or they groom it out there is this vibrant red.

(The first patch of orange on Harry's back)

The texture of this coat is very unlike any other summer coat I have felt on an animal, it feels quite woolly which again I would not have expected.

The two of them look quite odd at the moment as they have random long and short clumps of fur and patched of red and orange.

I took a couple of photos of them cuddling up in bed last night as I think it looks so very cute, it is often hard to tell where Harry ends and Elspeth begins.

(Elspeth and the back of Harry's head)

Good night!

Thursday, March 25

Red foxes!

Sorry I have not written in a while, I have been very ill with a throat infection.
It has been a very interesting experience which is one thing I never expected being in to much pain to eat or drink to be.

Harry has truly shown that he cares for me, once and for all which has really made my fortnight. He will not leave me alone for love nor money, he chooses to look after me over going to play with Sprite and Elspeth which is not something I expected to happen for one second.

Harry is normally not at all into hugging yet since I have been ill whenever I feel at my very worst he will come and sit with me, not on my lap or anything, just with me so he can keep an eye on me. When I sit anywhere he has been licking my feet and sort of stroking them with his little nose. This is such odd behaviour for a fox. Normally if they go near my feet they play fight them, not clean them.

He also has been sleeping in his crate on the raised bed I made him which is not out of the ordinary but he has insisted in keeping one of his paws on the bed and his nose through the bars on my foot. (Last night after watching Paranormal Activity randomly getting a hairy paw on my foot in the dead of the night was a tad nerve racking!)

A few nights ago my partner and I fell to sleep while watching TV before putting the foxes to bed and I woke up to the oddest thing; Harry laying between us licking up my nose, as in inside my nostrils! Before I opened my eyes I had no idea what it was and when I opened them I was just very confused. Elspeth seems to have slept in her crate all night even though the door was open.

Both foxes also had not broken, stolen or eaten anything random in my room which made me happy. If I was well I know they would have so it would seem these sneaky, cunning and smart creatures are also sweet and caring. It really warmed my heart.

Last Sunday myself and my partner took our 6 year old daughter and her best friend out to see a play. I was very much worse for wear at 9am while we were in our car on the way to Birmingham and I was in a bit of a daze looking out the window. We passed field after field and then I saw him; a beautiful red fox. He was sitting in the middle of the field surrounded by fog. He looked up at the sky when we were about level with him and then off he walked. He looked so pretty and it made me wonder, like I always do when I see them, why on earth anyone would shoot these marvellous creatures?

Today I we were going to Buckingham but I had to get a coffee first so we went Via Milton Keynes to go to Starbucks and in the city centre no less there was another red fox, in the middle of the day!!! I was amazed. Counting the one I saw on the Sunday I had only ever seen two in the flesh and now I had seen three, two in one week!!!

He was about to cross a busy road and we slowed down and upon seeing the car he turned round and headed away from the road. My partner said that we saved him and maybe we did as I know some people would speed up to hit the poor little guy.


Sadly no new photos of the foxes today as since the throat infection I have been really down in the dumps but I will get some for next time, hope you can forgive me.


TTFN!

Saturday, March 13

Peek -a-boo!


Gosh have I been busy lately!

Before we got Sprite we thought that we would try clicker training as it seemed really effective. I now have one clicker upstairs and one downstairs along with a bag of treats in either place. (I always forget where I leave things I need.)

The night before we collected Sprite I thought I would try out the clicker on Harry and Elspeth. The first step is showing them that 'click' meant treat incoming so they adored their first 15 minuet session as I did as the book told me and just clicked the clicker and gave them each a treat. After they clearly understood that I started tried 'target'. I had one problem with this and that was that I had no stick with an obvious place to poke with their noses so I looked all over the house and all I could find that would work was one of my daughters drum sticks so that was the stick sorted. Then we had to find something to put on the end to make them want to poke it.

In the fridge we had stinky cheese of some sort but I did not want to deal with their stomach upset the next day and peanut butter! So peanut butter it was to be.

I proceeded into my office which is the quietest room as it has sound proofing. (I have a 5yr old with a drum kit, trust me the sound proofing was needed hehe.)

Harry was first. He smelt the peanut butter and that was it, that stick was to be his!

I had no sooner lowered the stick and 'woosh!' it, and Harry were gone off to the far corner of my office and under my desk! I went to retrieve the stick. Harry looked at me like I had done something horrid and hurtful when I pulled it out of his paws but none the less he followed me back to the sofa.

Harry sat down and looked at me so very confused as to why I had offered him a treat and then taken it away again.

I firmly held the stick this time and held it out, pointed to the end and said 'target'.

Harry sniffed the stick and then went up to it with his mouth open ready to take it again. I quickly tapped his nose with the end, clicked the clicker and told him 'good target!' and gave him a treat.

He then spat the treat out, licked his nose and headed for the stick again. This time when I tapped it on his nose with hopes he would get the idea he was ready for it. The second it came near him he pounced on it and licked the stick.

At the same time my partner had decided this clicker thing can't be so hard and went about showing Elspeth what she should do. He taught her somehow in little to no time that 'crate' means go in your crate!

Harry and I decided to take a break and went to see Elspeth doing her amazing new trick.

I am astounded how well my partner and Elspeth managed to accomplish this. Normally to get them to go in their crate they have to know it's bedtime or a meal time but now just the word 'crate' when said by my partner and aimed at Elspeth and off she trots, happy as Larry!

Harry seems to need a class mate to learn with.

Now that we have Sprite Harry will happily learn with her. I think it helps that as she is a dog she is easier to train and Harry has been learning by example. The two of them have become very good friends.

Here is the two of them playing:

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

Well good night!

Wednesday, March 3

Sprite!



On Monday the 1st of March a new member joined our family, a Papillon puppy by the name of Sprite.


Sprite is a mothers day gift for me from my 5 year old daughter and my partner. She is wonderful!

Harry and Elspeth are quite taken with her. As she is very small they seem to understand that she is a baby and so they are both very sweet to her. Harry likes to lick her face. I am not totally sure if he is kissing her or grooming her but they both seem to enjoy the activity.

Elspeth likes to talk to her which is odd to see as obviously puppies do not gekker....

The one thing that has been a problem is that when Sprite 'talks' she sounds like a squeaky toy which is the one sound that both Harry and Elspeth are terrified of. I think they are getting accustomed to her slowly.

I have not yet allowed them to see one another when 'loose' all meetings have been with the foxes in their sleeping crate or the puppy in her travel crate but I will soon allow them to run freely around the house together.

I am really impressed with Harry and Elspeth's behaviour around Sprite as after my mothers dog tried to attack before I thought that they might despise her but that has thankfully not been the case. In fact Harry and Elspeth seem to have made her an honorary fox as with all the grooming of her Harry has done she now smells like them and my mothers dog had no idea what to make of her! She also cries when she cannot see her beloved foxes hehe. Really happy with their relationship so far.

I made a video of Sprite's trip home and shall film her with the foxes when I have the chance. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mkEdUUODgo

TTFN!

Sunday, February 21

Tent!

Last night I felt horrid and I do not mean the horrid which means 'a bit under the weather'. 4 am and suddenly I was shivering but I was not cold and I felt like I was going to be sick and the feeling was not going away. I thought it may have been tiredness but I have been more or less nocturnal for a few weeks now due to a work placement.

Harry walked up to me and tugged on my slipper that he had only the day before half removed the sole of, this means 'Play time mummy!' I lent down to take off my slipper to play with him and I got all dizzy so I sat up again. Harry was not impressed so he went to play with Elspeth, or at least I thought that was what he was doing. No sooner had he gone off and he was back again with Elspeth. She pulled down the floppy sole and licked my foot then tried to pull the slipper off as Harry had. I did not go to play as I did not think it would be fair to get their hopes up so Elspeth wandered off to see her Daddy. Harry sat looking confused at my slipper 'Why is Mummy not playing?'.

He sat like this for no less then 15 mins then he started to sniff my feet, I still did not bend down to play. Harry then pulled and pulled until my slipper came off, picked it up and placed it on my knee.
I had no idea what I was to do with it. I waved it around a bit half heartedly but Harry did not grab it. Instead he put his head on my knee and looked up at me 'It's okay Mummy , you have the slipper. You need it more then I do' . He then climbed up onto my knee very slowly and delicately and sniffed my face. I am not too fond of him going near my face as he and Elspeth are still not 100% tame so I gently pushed his head away. He seemed to take a little offence to this as he picked up my slipper and walked off to see Elspeth.
The two of them played for a while but not with the slipper. My foot started to get cold and I wandered over to pick it up on my way to the sofa to lay down for a bit.

Once on the sofa laying down a felt a cold nose on the bottom of my foot where my slipper had flipped open, that would be Harry. He jumped on the sofa, climbed to a bit of free sofa, curled up and fell to sleep.
I dozed off knowing my other half would not let Elspeth or Harry get into trouble.

After I had been asleep for a while my other half brought me a blanket and was going to put it over me but thought it would be best to move Harry first so when he woke up he would not worry about what the red thing was over him.
My partner slowly went to pet Harry to wake him up nicely but it would seem Harry knew there was someone sneaking up on us and when the hand was in range Harry bit it!

Now that was a new way to wake up 'Babe! Babe wake up! Your fox is stuck on my hand' ...in less pleasant English. Thankfully he was not 'stuck' and he let go but none the less my partners hand was streaming with blood through tiny holes. Harry reversed into me with his nose all scrunched up staring at my partner. I told Harry he was a 'bad boy', put him in his crate and went to help the wounded.

During this short time the blood had stopped and there were just these holes in his hand so we just cleaned them up and put a plaster or two on them. 'Silly fox, you would think he was protecting you the way he was going on' said my partner which got me thinking, maybe, jus maybe he was...

I sat down, though the cat nap had helped a bit I still was not feeling like my normal self. Harry looked at me from in his crate. I was not sure weather to go and see him or not. If I went to see him maybe he would think what he did was 'okay' so I sat on the sofa and thought about his actions.

I have read that fennecs sometimes love everyone when they are young and then just their 'favorite' person when they grow up but Harry had not been with me as long as the fennecs I am talking about had been with their owners.... Maybe he was just taken off guard.. But that still does not explain him joining me on the sofa. Yes they do often watch TV on the sofa with us but this was different, and then add his actions on my desk chair...I hope he has bonded with me to that extent but I don't know...

When the sun came up it was time for bed so off we all went to bed. The foxes have taken very well to my changing shifts but I am sure they like myself and my partner look forward to when I work 'normal' hours...well for a Doctor at least.

At about 12pm I could not sleep anymore due to my cat nap with Harry and, thankfully I was feeling much better. I accidently woke my partner when I went for a shower so we decided that we would go to the Cinema to see 'The Wolfman'.

We got to the Cinema 1h early so went to Ikea to waste some time. We walked about for ages and bought loads of stuff we did not really need (such as the 3ft tall vanilla candle that is still in the boot of the car). But one of the things we bought is great! It is a small dog/cat tent! I saw it and thought of Harry and Elspeth.

I shall put it in their bedtime crate later otherwise I know the cat will decide it is his.

The tent has this odd Camo on it, look:

I have not spotted a fox on it yet.


Dog nose on the right belongs to Valentine.

Wonder what 'Bastis' means? There was annother tent there with a totally different name so I doubt it means 'tent'.

Well I must be off now, TTFN!

Tuesday, February 16

Bah humbug.


A few days before Valentines day I got Harry and Elspeth each a heart shaped cushion. They are pink and red. I did want to take a photo of them each with them but they were not in the mood for photos. Elspeth really likes both cushions and has decided they are hers and hers alone and now guards them with her life from anyone/thing that goes near them. It is very strange as I did expect her to pull the filling out of them but she has not done anything bad to them, they are her treasures.


Elspeth has also become some kind of clean freak as when I cleaned out their bed time crate the day I got them their cushions I put down a nice clean cream fleece blanket on the base and put some fake red rose petals on it to make it look nice for the photos I wanted to take. Elspeth has decided that these scented petals are messy and has put each and every one in her litter tray! She would not allow these 'things' near her new cushions!

The other day I was in the kitchen with Harry and Elspeth when I was cooking italian. They were playing with one another on the floor and all was going along like normal until I opened the Italian seasoning.
This Italian seasoning is a blend of Sesame seeds, Thyme, Basil, Oregano, Rosemary and dried garlic. It smells really, really nice so I tend to use it quite allot.

I was very silly that day as I went to the fridge to get something and suddenly the jar of herbs was on the floor and Harry was on the counter looking at me with his nose all covered in flecks of green.

During the whole 30 seconds my back was turnt Harry had decided that he too thought the herbs smelt awfully yummy and he wanted to see if they tasted yummy as well so it would seem when he had his nose in the jar my turning towards him made him jump and knock them on the floor.

The floor was COVERED in herbs and very oddly Harry and Elspeth decided they were half vacuum cleaner and went along eating them off the floor. In about 2mins you would never have known anything had happened to the herbs as the floor was totally herb free however Harry and Elspeth both had green noses and smelt very nice.

I have now decided that the Italian herbs will be added to all of their meals just not a whole jar, just a tea spoon. Since the first time I added it they have been even more enthusiastic about their food then normal, they really seem to like this new addition.

I am quite annoyed right now as I had arranged to get a second pair of Corsacs from mainland Europe and I was told that I could have them but this morning they were sold to someone else...

I had chosen names and sorted out quarantine, I had arranged to go over to collect them and for a friend who speaks the language of the current keepers to come with me to smooth things along...Bah humbug!

I was told that the other people offered more money but if he had told me this maybe I could have sorted something out.....It's just annoying that he had said they were mine...


Sunday, February 7

Oooh there is a part two!


There is a part two to Corsac city! ( http://the-lazy-fox.deviantart.com/art/Corsac-City-part-2-116359977 ).

I had not seen it as it did not come up in my search but I am no good with any of this internet 'stuff' so you all probably found it already.

Today was quite amusing in the house of Harry and Elspeth.

Myself and my partner are not feeling too well at the moment so I could not go diving tonight which was annoying but it meant I got to spend the evening with my two favourite foxies!

My partner decided that we would watch Predator as he had just gotten the AVP box set thing with all of the Alien movies and all of the predator ones. Though neither of us are very much into aliens and that sort of thing I do like a good movie, in this case the movie was not very good but at least I now know that people are talking about with regards to it.

So the four of us (me, my partner, Harry and Elspeth) were in our living room watching it and until now I had no idea our surround sound was at all good.
Both Harry and Elspeth were jumping when the guns fired and when things exploded. They also both looked at the ceiling when a helicopter was coming in to land. It was quite amusing and the two of them had quite a bit of fun running around looking for the things making the noises. Harry looked for all of the low down things where Elspeth looked for the high up ones, it was very funny to watch.

Earlier in the day our living room had become a kind of junk room as we were doing some spring cleaning. Now normally when people do spring cleaning they firstly do it in the spring and secondly they do not have hordes of airsoft guns which they pull out. (Airsoft- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airsoft )
Our living room looked like it belonged to some kind of arms dealer!
Elspeth was interested to see what these new 'things' were on her seat.


So right this moment Harry is somewhere under the sofa and Elspeth is hugging her daddy, how cute?!


(Elspeth- 'I love you daddy')


Friday, February 5

Corsac city



I was looking up information about Corsac breeders the other day and I came across this:

http://the-lazy-fox.deviantart.com/art/Corsac-City-part-1-113020534 , a storey about Corsac foxes!!!!

I was amazed that someone had actually written a story about them. Most of the storeys I had found were about reds and wolfs and such. This one's main character goes by the name of Ainur,. When I read it I imagined him looking like Harry. I think we can all agree that Harry is a very handsome fox so that is not a bad thing hehe!

I also imagined the Vixen being our beautiful Elspeth but again she is as I said seconds ago, beautiful so it works.

So yesterday Harry and Elspeth had an outing to go and see my friend Mario who has an Italian restaurant. They were very excited to be out of the house and in a village. Normally when they leave the house they step straight out into the countryside.

When we got there they were greeted by a waitress who seated us and went to get Mario. The restaurant was empty, we chose to go at this time so as not to freak Harry and Elspeth out. I know how much they like pasta and will stop at nothing to get it so I suppose we also chose this time so as not to worry the humans.

Mario came out of his kitchen and greeted us and then Harry and Elspeth. He had brought some chicken out of the kitchen to give them to show that he is a friend. He chatted to us and petted Harry then returned to the kitchen.

Harry and Elspeth had a bowl of spaghetti and tomato sauce for lunch. You could tell they enjoyed it by the red noses and lips when they raised their faces up to see if there was any more food for them.

The two of them then rested under the table until it was time to leave.
We then went home.

When evening rolled around Elspeth wandered off upstairs and I followed her. She jumped on my dressing table and nosed around. She sniffed my perfumes and body sprays and then went n to sniff all of my make up piece by piece. She seemed to be being a good girl so I left her on the table for a moment when I went to the bathroom. Upon my return she was sitting in her bed time crate with something in her paws. I had no idea what it was but she was chewing it. I climbed into her crate to take it from her and I heard a 'POP!' come from the mystery item and a shocked Elspeth looked up at me with pink all over her lips, nose and whiskers. The item was a lip gloss, a neon pink lip gloss.
My did she look a state but I must admit I have seen humans with less skill in the application of make-up so I should not laugh....But I did!

I went down stairs with Elspeth to show my partner and Harry what a state she was and to my amazement Harry actually helped her groom herself to get it off. Then it occured to me that maybe, just maybe that is why drunk woman cover them selves in lipstick while in the bathroom at night clubs; it must be to attract a mate to groom them!...Okay that is probably not why but it worked for Elspeth!

I felt quite out of place in my living room that evening as the two of them lay in front of the fire place licking one another faces. I did not know if it was rude to look but I did not want to pay no attention to them in case Harry went to get a lip-gloss as well hehe.

Well I must go now, Elspeth is eating one of my slippers with my foot inside!

TTFN!