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| Mid February |
Day 1 (3/22/25)
Fox Files
Last year we came across a fox den on one of our walks. We decided
to set out a trail cam and see what we could see. We observed the fox family
for several months but realized we were too late to get early pictures of the
kits which were pretty much full grown. At first we didn’t even realize that
they were the kits. Eventually we noticed that the young ones were slightly
healthier looking, whereas, the adults were thinner and scruffier probably from
taking care of the kits. Apparently, both parents help raise the young with the
male providing food and protection while the vixen nurses the young. Sometimes there
is a second female that helps with the nursing and care. We learned a lot that first year but determined
that we would have to get a camera out earlier next year.
This year we put the camera out in mid February. At first it
was hard to tell if they were using the same burrow. They occasionally showed
up on the camera but rarely going into or out of the den and never during the
day. Even when there was snow on the ground there was little or no evidence of
the den being used but we kept filming. Eventually there was more activity but
even then it appeared as if they were just passing by the den. We like to check
the camera sparingly as to not bother them so today was the first time in a
while. We were surprised to find evidence of the kits being moved three times
over the last couple weeks. It looks as if there are four of them. It is a
little hard to get the full picture of what is going on with random pictures so
I am thinking of changing over to video for a while. From what we can see, they
were moved into and then out of the den again and then maybe back in. Some of
this was done during daylight giving us some good pictures. We were surprised
to see how dark the kits are. They appear to be mostly gray blobs. At first I
wasn’t sure what I was seeing. Right now they appear to be about the size of a
football. I am sure a lot of it is fur. Hopefully they will stay in this den
and we get some good footage of them growing up.
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| Enjoying the Sun |
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| First Move |
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| If you look closely you can see its little face |
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| Nighttime Move |
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| Third Move |
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