Bat-eared Fox Puppies.

**TStone** · 10-02-2026, 09:45

**griffin** · 10-02-2026, 09:51

Oh my goodness, very cute.

**Toxxyc** · 10-02-2026, 10:29

That's the one animal my wife wants on the yard to tame and treat as a house pet. I have to agree, she has a point, they're damn cute.

**Heath Robinson** · 10-02-2026, 15:11

Beautiful little things.

But one of those gave me one of the biggest scares I have ever had.

**BBCT** · 10-02-2026, 18:54

Originally Posted by Heath Robinson

Beautiful little things.

But one of those gave me one of the biggest scares I have ever had.

That sounds like you're dying to tell us the story, so please go ahead............ ;-)

**MohamedD** · 10-02-2026, 19:46

Adorable creatures!

**Heath Robinson** · 11-02-2026, 06:38

A few years ago I had a craze for night sky photography.
This requires that one spends hours in the dark in places with as little human habitation as possible. On a self-drive tour through Namibia I wanted to take a set of pictures including a quiver tree and a starry background, and to do so a local friend advised that I spend some time at Blutkoppe.

For those who have not been, Namibia has some very interesting geology. In a number of areas you will be driving along on what seems to be an endless flat plain, and all of a sudden a canyon will open up or a range of hills will appear. Blutkoppe is such an area. A flat plain with some large hills that appear to be basically a single large rock poking up. But there is also a smallish canyon just a couple of km away.
During the day we had poked around in the canyon, finding a monument/gravesite to a couple of WW1 German soldiers, a stone ruin, a small pool of water and... Some Leopard tracks.

That evening, up on the plain, I found my quiver tree. It was about 300m from the road, and of course driving off road is not allowed. So I carried all my gear to the spot, set the camera up and started taking photographs. Any artificial light in the vicinity is likely to ruin such photographs, so I was sitting in the darkness. It was of course also new moon as that is the best time to see the stars. So it was really dark.

At some times one's imagination starts playing tricks on you, and eventually I could virtually feel that leopard stalking me. And just then I heard something right behind me.
To hell with the photo, I whipped around, torch in hand. It was a Bat-ear, about 10 yards away. We stood and looked at each other for a minute or so before he trotted away.

**TStone** · 11-02-2026, 09:09

Thanks for sharing. Yes, the dark can mess with one's mind. Bat-ears, while not dangerous to humans can actually be quite aggressive, despite their cute teddy bear like appearance. A pair of them gave a friend's Jack Russel terrier a hiding. I have also been "charged" by one when I got too close to its den.

Great photo by the way. Can you tell us a bit more about camera settings etc. for night sky photography?

**Paul** · 11-02-2026, 14:29

Originally Posted by TStone

Thanks for sharing. Yes, the dark can mess with one's mind. Bat-ears, while not dangerous to humans can actually be quite aggressive, despite their cute teddy bear like appearance. A pair of them gave a friend's Jack Russel terrier a hiding. I have also been "charged" by one when I got too close to its den.

Ima speculate the Jack Russel started it...