Comments | zebulen: Fox family

zebulen

Fox family

Apr 26, 2011 10:32

The vixen fox emerged from under the schoolhouse yesterday at about 11:00 A.M. I jumped to the telescope and turned on the camera. Shortly after her appearance, three fox kits tumbled out of the den! That's all I could count, as she was keeping them herded pretty close to the entrance. Whenever a young one tried to follow her from the den, she ( Read more... )

foxes, photos, phenology

Comments 24

oregana April 26 2011, 17:39:25 UTC

Wonderful picture.

zebulen April 26 2011, 17:42:38 UTC

More to come (I hope)! If conditions allow it, this will be the most frequently photographed fox family in all of Minnesota. :)

oregana April 26 2011, 17:58:09 UTC

I look forward to more pictures.

Don't you think mama fox knew about Cinnamon when she picked that spot? Maybe they are friends. And I am not suggesting that mama fox and her family come indoors to sleep with Emilia! Cinnamon will make good company though.

zebulen April 26 2011, 19:03:33 UTC

Oh, she knows about the dog and the humans. She is vigilant of our presence, only leaving the den when Cinnamon is napping and all humans are inside the house. Our dog is keen to their smell, but has seen the foxes only once (that I know of). He ran after them, barking like a maniac. My fear is that too much disturbance will cause the mother fox to move her litter to an existing alternate den location, which foxes are known to do.

tenthz April 26 2011, 17:57:14 UTC

I am so jealous! We have some foxes around our parts, but it is very, very rare to see one out in the open. I think I have seen a fox twice in my life and they probably live not that far away in the woods behind my parents' house.

parrotthead April 26 2011, 22:57:29 UTC

I'm so excited over this post! I love that you can share these things with us so we can experience them with you. That schoolhouse also looks neat-o. Is it abandoned? Or just in need of some paint? Or being used as something other than a schoolhouse/Fox dream home?

zebulen April 27 2011, 12:15:35 UTC

That building hasn't been used as a school since at least the 1940s. The original owners of our property moved the building here to be used as a storage shed. Currently, it houses only wild animals of the furred and feathered variety.

katsurian April 27 2011, 04:56:58 UTC

Nice! I enjoy seeing all your pictures.
Is the schoolhouse on your property?

zebulen April 27 2011, 12:17:16 UTC

Yes, the previous owners moved it onto this property to use it as some kind of farm storage shed. It's full of old junk, and it's kind of an eyesore.