The big cat versus fox scrap

Isla facing off foxes venturing into the garden is not something unusual. She's a feisty wee thing, who puffs up, and simply chases them out of her territory. We see it happening reasonably regularly, and obviously it must happen even more when we're not about during the day during the week.

So this morning there was the usual situation. Mel spotted the fox (at about 7.50am) and we watched it saunter through the wild bit at the back and onto the (in need of a mow) lawn. Then Isla appeared, spotting the fox, and slowly, but deliberately, made a bee-line for the interloper. The fox slunk off into the bushes, and normally that would be the end of that as it hopped over the wall and made off for less feline interaction.

But this morning the fox hung around. Then it came running out into the lawn pursued by the cat, and they eye-balled each other. Figuring the fox would still give up we watched, and sure enough the fox started to move away from Isla, turning its back. Which just gave her the opportunity to pounce. This shot is a snatch just as Isla swipes the fox's back leg, just as it starts to react (which involved a 3 yard jump away). That'll be the fox on the run. Ah. No. For the first time we've seen the fox reacted by snapping back at Isla. She remained untouched, but it was time to open the door and make sure the fox did leave the scene.

As I say, it's likely this happens on a fairly regular basis during the day, but I'm not letting our wee madam come to grief if I can help it....