foxes

One of my photography friends showed me the fox den at our local gardens.  She discovered it one weekend and within days, the gardens then placed a caution tape around it.  She has been going over there as often as she can and has taken some amazing photographs of the foxes and the fox kits.  She let me tag along one day a couple weeks ago and I was happy to just get to see the babies playing together.  I do not have fancy nature photography equipment - or talent for that matter.  She added shots that were dated 4/28 to her website, so I knew over the weekend, the foxes were especially playful while she was there.  That got me thinking that I should head over to the gardens this morning.  They open at 9, but the gates were open when I pulled up at 8:45ish this morning.  I wandered around the lake to approach the fox den from the front.  Or maybe that is the back.  I stood behind a tree for about 20 minutes before I spotted the mother fox across the path from the den.  She spotted me, too.

I stood still, but watched as this fox circled behind me several times.  25 minutes later (when you take photos, the data is saved on them.  So, you can tell just when you took them. Remember this is available and for crying out loud, turn that date stamp off. You do not need it.)

 "I am still watching you."

 "I'll sit for a minute, but I have my eye on you."

 "Why are you here?"

 "Seriously, go home."

All that time, no activity from the den dwellers.  But, then after that half hour of watching "Mom" watch me, I turned my head back to the den again and saw the real Mom!  Turns out, I was being checked out by Dad!  Mom was now on the den with something in her mouth.

To me, it looked like a turtle.  But, she set it somewhere and never picked it up again.  All of a sudden, 4 baby fox kits emerged from the den in time to nurse from their mama.

About this time, an older couple walked up, spoke to me briefly, snapped a couple point-and-shoot pictures and turned to leave.  I was glad they did because the lady pulled out her cell phone and started to make a loud phone call.  But, they walked off quickly and did not stop the morning meal with the fox kits.

Once they had eaten, Mom cleaned each baby a little bit and then she trotted off in the direction of the lake.

 "Are you still here?"

 "Don't make me come over there."

Dad was still watching me from the side.  I waited a few more minutes and had just decided that I was probably done with my chances to see them today when one little kit came back out to pose for me.

Once he went back inside, I headed off.  Dad ran up to the den for a minute, but then crossed the path and left the den unattended.

At this point, I could see a group of pre-schoolers approaching with their chaperones.  It was a good ratio for kids to adults - so quite a few people.  I knew one mom so I showed her a couple of the photos and one of the other ladies said, "I would just as soon the kids not even know about the foxes."  I gestured to where the crowd was heading...  "That is where the male headed about 2 minutes ago."  I'm sure with the amount of excited chatter those kids were doing, that he was long gone by that point and that the kits knew enough to stay inside, too.  The kids seemed to be most interested in the new frog sculptures at the gardens.  It was just a nice morning for a walk outside.  A good day for a field trip for them.

I headed back to my car... snapped this azalea picture on the way....

... and drove off to the fabric store.  Got some new fabric for doll clothes - a Brownie uniform and a Cub Scout uniform as well as pink flannel for pajamas that matches the green flannel I already had bought for pajamas.  I've been cutting out a lot of pattern pieces so that I can sit down some day and do all the sewing part.  The cutting is the worst part.  It should be nice to have that out of the way already.  So, that was my Wednesday.

** remember, if you click on the pictures, they come up in a row.  Those are much crisper than the ones you see in the post itself.  Check them out for nicer viewing.**