An Edinburgh photographer has captured amazing footage of a mother fox and her cubs frolicking around Saughton Park in Edinburgh.
The adorable images have been put together to create a video collage by professional snapper Dode Allen, 39, who is local to the area.
Traditionally a wedding and football photographer, Dode only began capturing images of wildlife after the pandemic and lockdown took hold and his usual passions were closed off to him.
Living just a stone's throw away from the park, he has managed to capture a variety of wildlife species that visit the popular greenspace, with otters, kingfishers and foxes being among his subjects.
In the footage, a mother and father fox can be seen trying to keep their sanity as their young pups try to nip at them playfully - an image that many families can empathise with after a tough two years of lockdown.
In other elements of the video, fox cubs can be seen playing with one another and getting the hang of their little paws and teeth as they snap away at their brothers and sisters.
On the experience, Dode said: “I only started filming wildlife when lockdown started because the footy was all off.
“I'd seen a few otter photos on the Friends of Saughton Park facebook page and I stayed 5 min from there so I headed down.
“Over the last couple of years I've met a number of local photographers around Saughton, who capture shots and footage of otters, kingfishers and of course, the foxes.
“It's been a bit of an education, but it's got me out of the house and done wonders for my mental health, and was one of the reasons I decided to quit the day job and pursue camera work full time.
“I hadn't been down near the fox den in a while, and there was some nice bright evenings last week and I knew it was around the time the cubs first start to leave den so I walked down to the river, and was lucky enough to spot three cubs and two adults about 10 metres away from me.
“The adults were keeping a close eye on me but the river was between me and the cubs so I don't think they were too disturbed by my presence.”
You can visit Dode's website to enquire about his services here.
And you can look at some of his work via his Instagram here.
Let us know if you have captured any images of cute or interesting wildlife when out on your travels by emailing: Jacob.Farr@reachplc.com.
