The Appeal of Furry Mammals

My chief passion since I took up photography  about five years ago has been to catch birds in flight. It still is. However, I can't help noticing that when I post pictures on Facebook it always seems to be the occasional picture of a mammal that draws the warmest reaction. I think this Fox however looked a bit too mean and focused to elicit many "oohs" and "aahs"

I photographed it at Seaton in Devon on the Axe Estuary Reserve. There is a tourist tram service that runs alongside the estuary and I caught it running along the lines. It is obviously intent on something. The following day I went back to try to get another shot. For various heart-breaking reasons I missed the main opportunity as it ran along the lines in the other direction this time. I did however get this fleeting shot.
 

Rubbish photo, but interesting because you can see it has milk teats showing beneath. It is obviously a vixen with a brood of young in the earth. It should be very active over the next few weeks so I will be going back to see what I can do.

Another mammal readily seen on this reserve is the humble rabbit. Funnily enough I do not seem to see many rabbit photos posted on the web, oerhaps they are too common to interest anyone. Anyway, I like a good rabbit photo or two.

Other than these recent photos, I have to go back into my archive to find more mammal photos. Compared to Rabbits, Hares are very popular. Here are a few of my Hare shots collected over the years. I would love to get some more and I am always on the look out.

Some photographers set themselves specific subjects to photograph and study over an extended period. I think this is a good idea and there are some fantastic collections to be found online. I find myself to me more of an opportunistic generalist, photographing whatever I come across and crossing my fingers that some of the shots will be OK.

This Mink was also photographed at the Seaton Reserve. I was really lucky that it came out into the open and showed itself for a few seconds. They are not popular animals of course. They rob eggs and nestlings from the breeding shore birds. They are controlled on most reserves, but still manage to keep a toehold.

 Whilst the Mink may not be that cute, this Wood Mouse certainly is. Ten out of ten I would say.

 I am going to try to concentrate on mammals a bit this year. Much more difficult than birds of course. They are timid and elusive but that just sounds like an interesting challenge to me!

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