Fox Family Living in Woman's Garden Has Turf War Worthy of House of the Dragon

It’s stunning how many domestic dramas may be occurring in your own backyard, if you merely take the time to observe it. For years, in my old house, I watched an entrenched territorial dispute between a family of gray squirrels and a family of black squirrels for some prime real estate in the hollow of a maple tree. There were battle scars, detentes, and more than one casualty.

For writer Lucy Goacher, a similar evolution has been occurring in her English garden, where for a decade now she’s been observing and documenting the lives and fortunes of several groups of red foxes.You think House of The Dragon is violent? Check out these furry little guys.

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Goacher’s adventures with the neighborhood foxes began after one evening when she accidentally left the barbecue out on the back patio. After seeing the family of foxes who claimed her leftovers, she became enchanted with their familial and territorial antics and began leaving for (and sometimes medicine) out for them on purpose.

Related: Fox Is Positively Giddy When Her Favorite Dog Comes Out to Play

The nightly fox dinner party grew more populous, but it wasn’t until the arrival of Miss P. (short for “poorly,” due to her mite-bitten and injured condition) that Goacher truly fell in love. Miss P was not a part of the original fox family, and was subject to plenty of abuse from the folks who called the territory home. But Goacher was determined to help the poor creature, and sneaked medicine into the food she left her.

Soon, Miss P. Was joined by a new family of foxes, Bruiser and Tiny Tail, a mated pair that Goacher suspected Miss P was distantly related to, possibly as Tiny Tail’s daughter from a previous mate. This couple had a litter of three kits: Boo Boo, Vesper, and Georgie, who would soon kick the game of thrones into high gear.

A Game of Foxes

As the kits grew, so did the potential for violence. A new, younger male fox arrived onto scene, one she named Tiger, and he instantly started to duke it out with Bruiser. True to his name, Bruiser often won these fights, but at great personal cost. She could see his injuries. Even Georgie, the other male kit, was injured by tiger’s war for domination.

Finally, Bruiser stopped coming around, and so did his family. All except for one of the female kits, who had apparently become part of Tiger’s group.

Devastated by the loss of Bruiser, Goacher started to chase Tiger off, hoping it would help the other family re-emerge from their hiding place. Sometimes one of the kits would still steal by to take food and bring it back to whatever den the displaced family had retreated to.

But the times changed, Eventually, Miss P. Seemed too warm to the usurper, and she and Tiger eventually even mated, albeit unsuccessfully. Goacher, too, relented, siding with Miss P.’s choice.

Helping Wild Foxes

Many people feed their urban wild foxes in the garden, but as you can see, such activities may lead to even bigger struggles for territory. And it’s not cheap, either. Goacher pays for the foxes’ significant dietary needs with her social media posts about them.

If not choosing to feed the foxes one thing you can do for them is give the vixens and their cubs a place to den in your yard. They will only be there for a short time.

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