The beautiful fox, with its bushy tail and dog-like face is an efficient nocturnal creature which has 48 sub-species of fox including colour variations termed silver or cross fox.

A fox’s den is normally a burrow underground, also known as an ‘earth’, but they can also live above ground in a cosy hollow.

While they are solitary animals, during breeding season (winter) when they court and mate, the dog fox will support the female (vixen) by bringing food for the family (early spring).

You can often hear the mating calls, which is a sharp, high-pitched shrieking/screaming noise, which can sound quite terrifying.

The cubs’ eyes and ears open after two weeks and at four weeks they will emerge from their dens. They have short noses which resemble puppies when born. However, many cubs die prematurely due to other predators (dogs, badgers), but their worst predator is the motor vehicle. They also can die of starvation or cold during hard winters.