Red Fox

Description:

An old spotting, but a good one. This family of red foxes lived right on the edge of our property. There were seven kits, total. I think the father of the families we had last year and this year is one of the kits from this original litter, but I have no way of knowing for sure. The female has been a different individual each year.

Notes:

According to the people who lived here before us, they had been watching the foxes for years. They returned in 2011 and early this year, but later moved from their original den sites. Last year, a large porcupine had crawled into one of the den's entryways and died. This year, they moved under pressure from a pack of coyotes that had moved into the area. I watched this family throughout the spring and summer of 2010. The mother (shown in the photos) was very tolerant of my presence and didn't see me as a threat to her family. She would eat, drink, and even sleep when she knew I was there. The father wasn't as accepting, but he didn't see me too often. He was always out hunting for them. It was one of the greatest experiences I've ever had with wildlife, and I wish I'd had a better camera to document them with. I'm hoping we'll have foxes again next year.