A friend told me about a fox den, so Jann and I checked it out yesterday morning. We got lucky. When we arrived there were three kits visible. They knew we were present but soon relaxed and pretty much ignored us.
After our first brief view of three, it was rare that more than one kit was in sight at a time. They seemed to have things to do and areas to explore. We stayed for thirty minutes. When we left none were in view. We returned 80 minutes later and none were in sight.
There was an old shed nearby. Two of the kits disappeared behind it while the smallest of the three laid on a large rock in front of the shed.
At one point all disappeared, and then about 5 minutes later two reappeared from behind the shed. The somewhat confusing photo below shows a jumble of legs and the tails of the two.
Just over one second later, below was the scene. The fox with the rope was the one behind the fox that is now out of the frame. These guys can move fast.
As I studied the photo below of the fox kit I noticed something below its left eye.
I believe it is a tick.
The fox took the rope and disappeared. Three minutes later a different kit appeared.
This kit gradually worked its way closer and closer to us. It posed …
… dug and sniffed at the ground …
… getting its nose dirty …
This kit walked past us and disappeared in the woods behind us.
A few minutes later another appeared, stayed in the tall grass for a short time, then was gone.
Here are some of the other photos I took during our short time with the fox kits.
