Corgi

Name: Corgi

Species: Red Fox

Gender: Male

Status: Alive

A tailless red fox. First spotted 2018. Went missing shortly after the season ended (March 2019), however as been spotted once more (October 2019). (January 2020) he was photographed again. (March 2020) He was seen again.
Brother of Squirrel, mate to Belladonna, father of Vision. 

Story 

Birth:

Growing Up

Losing His Tail

Balance:

He landed on the ground with a thud, he grumbled “Oof! I'm useless.”
“You're not useless” The vixen, Squirrel, said in a soothing tone. “You've just had some bad luck” She looked down at her brother, who was still laying on the ground “What happened to your tail wasn't your fault. You're having to learn to hunt and balance all over again. It'll be tough. But you'll get there.” He took a sharp breath in “A foxes brush is their pride... at least I'll get a name now, I suppose” He sat up and stood proud “I always thought I'd have a cool name, like, I dunno, Ranger or...Hound Slayer” A look of realisation crept over his face and he slumped back down “Oh no! They're going to call me stumpy!”
Squirrel rolled her eyes “Squirrel is hardly cool”
“Are you kidding? Catching a healthy squirrel is something a lot of adult foxes can't do, let alone a six month old! I don’t want to earn my name by losing my pride”
“In any case, they wont call you Stumpy. Now, let's get back to the den, we need to hunt tonight.”
“You know I can't hunt yet”
“Just raid the bins again, then!” Said Squirrel as she trotted towards the hedgerows.

Gaining His Name:

Later that evening, when all the stars were in the sky, the two foxes trotted through the streets, noses to the ground, trailing scents, ears alert and listening, picking insects and small scraps of food from the floor as they went. Squirrel stopped in front of a tall wooden garden fence and looked towards her brother. She chuffed to grab his attention and smiled as he looked over “Are you ready? I smell something good over this fence, I think it's meat!”
“Over there? JUMP over there?”
“Yep, you can do it”
“I really can't, not any more”
Squirrel rolled her eyes “Ok fine, but if you don't try, you'll never be able to” with that, she sprang gracefully up and over. Looking up with disdain, the male fox snorted and set off along the fence line to find a weak spot or a gap. It wasn't long before he found a loose panel, he nosed it to the side and took several short sharp sniffs “All clear” he thought to himself. The gap was smaller than he thought and he almost got himself stuck, though he managed to haul himself free, the plank snapped back into place behind him “Oh no...” he said as he looked around, but the garden was totally enclosed “Squirrel” he yipped “Can you hear me?”
Silence.
He sat for a moment, trying not to panic, staring up at the wall of wood which seemed to stretch into the night sky. “I could always dig my way out, I suppose,” he thought, getting up to walk the fence to find the best place to start digging. He was so busy sniffing that he didn't notice a door in the house open and a dog walk into the yard. With its exceptional nose, the dog wasted no time in picking up the foxes scent.
The fox wheeled around and crouched against the fence “I eerr...” he stopped. The dog was in silhouette, but he could see pointed ears, orange fur, white chest and no tail. The dog came closer, sniffing the air “Oh, you're a fox, the humans often say I look like one of you but without the tail”
“Without the tail? Did you lose yours too?”
“No, I didn't lose mine” Chuckled the dog “I'm a Corgi, we are often born without them, it's part of our breed. My name is Pumpkin, what are you called? How did you lose your tail?”
“Oh um, I don't have a name.” He said, sheepishly, not really wanting to go into detail with a stranger about how he came to lose his tail.
“Really? No name?! How unusual. Don't wild animals have names? I'm sure the Robin that visits said his name was Raisin...” Pumpkin looked thoughtful.
“We aren't named by our parents or humans like pets are, we have to earn our name. I just haven't earned mine yet.” sighed the fox “I know mine will have something to do with my tail, but I just can't face being called Stumpy my whole life!”
“Well...” Said Pumpkin, looking around the garden for inspiration, before her gaze drifted to her own paws. “Oh! Oh, oh I have it, I have got it!” Her bottom wiggled with excitement “Why not Corgi?! We're both orange, have pointy ears and no tail!”
“Corgi, huh?” He said, looking back at where his tail used to be “You know, I rather like that! Thank you Pumpkin! I finally have my name!”
It then dawned on him, that he had no idea how to get out of the garden “I need one more favour, Pumpkin, I can't get out! My tail helped me jump and balance. I'm stuck”

His First Fox Hunt:

Any fox who has had any sort of run-in with the hunt will know the terror. Corgi had heard the screams of his mother, as she was torn apart by the hounds. He heard the huntsmen congratulating themselves on a job well done. He had seen her lifeless, blood-stained and muddy body flopping from side to side as the huntsman carried her by the tail and dumped her in a plastic bag. The sound of the horn and the hounds would never leave him. 

He was awake later than usual, it had been a bad night for mice, so he was still out collecting insects long after the sun was up. The short grass had somewhat allowed the scent to be blown away, but as Corgi trotted into the long grass, he picked up the scent of a rabbit, an injured one at that. He was so busy weaving back and forth, tracking the rabbit that he'd strayed further from the den than is thought wise during the day. That was when the wind changed and he smelt them. The Hunt were there, just one field over. He was cut off. 

Squirrel was already in her den, so assuming they didn't dig her out, she would be safe, but Corgi was alone and exposed. Frozen with fear, he stared at them, 15 riders, 40 hounds, 2 terriermen on quad bikes and several foot followers. All there, just to kill him. His heart pounded and his legs felt cold and weak, he had to be clever. If he moved too quickly, someone would see him, but if he didn't move, well, he didn't stand a chance. Carefully and quietly as he could, Corgi walked into the hedgerow and lay as low and as still as possible, watching and waiting. It was only a matter of minutes before a hound picked up his scent and alerted his master. The hounds moved as one, constantly speaking, working as a team, full steam ahead. It was only seconds before they were halfway across the field, Corgi was out of time, he had to break and run for his life. 

Foxes are faster and more agile, but hounds are bred to have stamina that far outweighs the fox and they will always have numbers on their side. Since losing his tail, Corgi could no longer turn and change direction in an instant to try to confuse them, all he could do was run. So he ran and he ran, paws barely touching the ground. He skittered under a hedge, but moments later the hounds crashed upon it like a tsunami, flowing up and over, not breaking stride and shortly after them the horses came, thundering hooves shook the ground. The roar of the quad bikes and the whooping and jeering of the riders, the baying of the hounds, louder and louder behind him.

Corgis legs burned, his lungs were sore. Up ahead, he saw more people. They were coming his way to cut him off. Seeing an opportunity, he darted left but overcompensated and tumbled. Lightning fast, he was running again, towards a tall hedge, not even the horses could jump. Corgi had not seen the wire and collided with it headfirst. He saw stars. Standing back up he realised his head was stuck! He jerked backwards, twisting his body, scrabbling with his legs, he knew he was out of luck. This was it.

The Saboteurs:

Suddenly, he heard a shout. One of the humans he'd turned away from was standing behind him, arms out, shouting! Although he couldn't really see, he made out someone spraying something with a strong scent across where he'd just come from. All he could do was try to watch and listen as these strange events unfolded behind him. There were people blocking the hounds, calling them away, there were people in conflict with riders. The person who had stood behind him was now facing him, kneeling down, talking to him. 

Belladonna:

Fatherhood:

Belladonna is Dead:

When Corgi awoke, Belladonna was already gone, she liked to hunt, look after the cubs and sleep in hour-long shifts, so she was back and forth between the den multiple times a day and it wasn't unusual for her to not be there. Something felt off this time. He had noticed her leave, and judging by the sun, knew he'd slept for over an hour. Squirrel was nearby to check on the cubs, so he decided to go and look for his mate. He followed her trail along the disused railway line, across a garden and into the horse field, where her scent mixed with something odd. It was unpleasant. He sniffed across the ground, but stopped in his tracks. Blood. Her blood. It wasn't from a wound, but from her stomach. He forgot about sniffing her out and started to run in a panic, his eyes looking for the slightest hint. That's when he saw her. Corgi gasped and ran to her.

"Belladonna!" He sobbed "what happened?!"

She was breathing heavily, jaws clamped, but lips curled, blood leaking from her mouth and nose. She locked eyes with Corgi and whimpered. It was too late. Her eyes rolled back and her body went into spasm and then was still. 

Corgi could only stand and stare. His beautiful mate, the mother of his cubs and best friend was gone. 

The sound of a closing gate meant he didn't even have time to say goodbye, he had to flee now or risk being seen. Though he didn't run far, only to the hedgerow, he couldn't bear to leave her. 

It was a girl, one who tended the horses. She had come to fix a fence which had been damaged by a horse. Corgi watched her walk towards the fence, hammer in hand when she halted and looked over towards Belladonna. The girl approached with caution and bent over, kneeling by her still-warm body. To Corgis surprise, she started to whine, not like a fox, but it was no mistaking that she was upset.

Raising Cubs:

The Second Fox Hunt:

Corgi's Gone:

Losing the Cubs:

Vision:

We Miss You, Corgi:

(more to come)