Look Back in .............

..............Resignation.  I think there is something about seeing a wild animal in distress.  I'd gone out late in the afternoon to find a photograph, ended up walking along a canal towpath and disturbed this fox, curled up on the edge of the path.  The way it wearily got up, unsteady on its hind legs and moving slowly off the path towards the undergrowth said a lot.  It stopped and sat back down within a few feet, despite me moving closer towards it.

There is little doubt in my mind that this fox is not too much longer for this world.  I couldn't see an obvious wound but the lethargy and demeanour displayed spoke volumes.  Mother nature can be cruel.  I even had time to shrug the backpack, take out a camera and load the SD card without it moving that much further away.  This shot was probably from no more than 10 feet.  It moved off into thick brash and even then displayed its weakness by having difficulty lifting its hind leg over a particularly thick bramble branch.  I don't think I will see it again.