Watch: Buxton wildlife photographer scoops stunning footage of fox cubs in woodland
This stunning photo of a fox cub was captured by a wildlife photographer following weeks of planning and preparation.
Conor Blount, 27, spent four hours in a camping chair covered head-to-toe in camouflage near the cub’s woodland set before snapping the young fox as it appeared from some bushes.
The beautiful cub shown in the photo was one of three living in the den at the time, while infrared video footage shows two of them tussling in the dark and playing nearby.
The incredible image – taken in June at about 8pm from just five metres away – has now been selected as the front cover for wildlife not-for-profit organisation Protect The Wild’s 2025 calendar.
Conor, from Buxton, located the den in south Derbyshire woodland, travelling away from High Peak where the moorland is more difficult for foxes to burrow.
After watching for telltale signs of foxes nearby such as small animal carcasses and a fox hole’s characteristic oval shape, Conor started planning his shot.
Speaking about the picture, he said: "I had an inkling that something might be there because the woodland was quite boggy and attracts voles and things. I could see the dens and carcasses of birds they had caught outside them.
"I set up a trail camera which activates as soon as the animals walk past. That was just to get an idea of how many foxes were there and a idea of where they’re eating or playing.
"That allowed me to decide where to set up. The first location I sat at for about six hours waiting for one was not a good location. So I moved around a bit to try and get the shot and with this shot I waited for about four hours for the cub to come out."
Conor left two trail cameras in position for a week and then re-positioned them again to get a better picture of the creatures’ comings and goings and at which times they were most active.
He said: “Foxes are mostly nocturnal but they do come out during the day. When they have cubs they come out more because the cubs are playing and learning about the area.
"I was really close so I was in full camo with a tripod set up as the light was so low. When it came it didn’t spot me at first until I moved a bit then I saw it disappear back in the den.
"Reviewing the footage was nice because you saw them all playing together and jumping on top of each other and biting. I was very excited about it because by this point I’d known that fox had been at that spot for a couple of months, so it took a while to build up to the actual shot itself.”
Conor hand-makes his own wildlife calendars, mostly featuring birds of prey, with shots taken in High Peak which he sells through contacts in the area.
However the fIbromyalgia and chronic pain sufferer normally takes photos from the comfort of his car.
Speaking about the four-hour wait for the fox shoot, he said: “I have a very low camping chair with a flip screen on my camera which I looked through to take the shots.
"It’s just a case of making sure you eat beforehand and making sure you have enough water. But it’s just sitting, listening and observing.
"On this occasion there was a little owl in the woods but that unfortunately was killed by the foxes not long after. I found it’s carcass. If it’s nice weather, which it has to be because you need a lot of sunlight in woodlands, then the waiting is fine. The only thing that was quite bad was the insect bites.”