Snowdrops. Tiny harbingers of spring. An eerie barking and screeching in the night – another sure sign, even in West London. It’s been building up over the past couple of weeks. The scrabbling sound as large creatures scale garden fences. The noisy stand-offs, the come-ons, and the face-downs as the vulpine sap rises. Listening at night, I reckon there are 4 foxes involved. I’ve often seen a single animal in the garden lying in a warm patch of sunlight, or sneaking behind the shrubs, or loping down the street in broad daylight. I’ve watched a small cat in our garden stand its ground and then chase away a fox with a clatter over the fence. But until today, I’d never seen a pair comfortably settled on the edge of the lawn.

These photos were all taken through glass. By the time I’d managed to open the French windows (silently, I thought) to get a better shot, they were off. Until tonight, no doubt.