Leeds, West Yorkshire: I missed it first time as my dad couldn’t wake me up. The second time round, he pulled my toe
Dad and I were boiling in the house because of the UK heatwave. So we decided to camp out and sleep in our garden instead. Before we went to bed, while playing catch, we could hear the swifts swoop around our house in the orange evening light.
Once it had cooled down, Dad said it was time for bed and tucked me up. At some point in the night, Dad heard something and he tried to wake me up. There was a vixen – a female fox – drinking from the pond, but I missed it. The next morning, Dad told me about the fox and I said, if it comes again, pull my toe.
There are about 150,000 urban foxes living in the towns and cities of the UK. They have amazing hearing – they can hear a watch ticking from 40m away, and a mouse moving around under the snow. That night, one did come to our garden again. Dad woke me up – I felt sleepy but it was exciting.
She was standing just 10cm away from the tent – we were nose to nose. She was looking through the mesh window with her sharp pointed teeth and her triangular ears pointing up into the night sky. The thing that stood out the most was her beautiful amber fur. I could see how soft it was, and her wonderful eyes that glistened in the moonlight.
You don’t need to live in the countryside to see amazing wildlife.Ada, eight
Read today’s other YCD, by Aled, eight: ‘Crabbing then fish and chips – a perfect beach day’. Young Country Diary will be open again for submissions on Thursday 1 October, the link is here so keep it handy