...and foxes

Our fox family is back. We had a siting a couple weeks ago at Mom and Dad's and on Memorial day we spotted one fox in the morning and two in the evening. We've had foxes here for a while. The first spring that we were in the house, I got some grainy pictures of a fox sunning itself in our strawberry raised bed at the end of our lot. The fox also liked sunning itself on the neighbors flat bed trailer too. Last summer we had several sightings and I got some good shots (like this one below) of the fox behind Mom and Dad's field.

The pair (I use the term loosely as I seriously doubt it is the same pair over these last several years) have raised pups (or kits? or cubs? I should know that off the top of my head) in the neighbors horse barn and in the woods behind Mom and Dad's house. Foxes are beautiful any time of year, although this year their red coats fade to more tawny and later in the summer they will look downright raggedy as they shed their summer coat. But what of the chickens? Well Memorial day morning I was at the kitchen sink and Andrew was at the table eating breakfast and all of the sudden he said "Fox!" And pointed at the backyard. I didn't have my glasses on and convinced a fox perpetrated chicken snatch was about to occur, ran out the back door and down the yard in my socks shouting and clapping and hoping the chickens were okay. The chickens were okay. The fox was in the field along one of the fence lines. It took a few minutes for it to run back towards the horse barn. Maybe they will den there this year. We'll see. This is problematic. It means no more laid back chicken ranging. When the chickens are out now, Andrew or I or both of us will need to be out and nearby. No more doing housework for an hour while they range. We'll have to be out and about in the yard. The grass in the neighbors field was baled over the weekend. Now the foxes can scavenge for any animals that were run over by the hay equipment and it is much easier for them to chase mice in the short cover of grass. It may very well be the foxes still aren't aware of the chickens even though they have been thirty yards away from them, or they don't recognize the chickens as a prey option...yet. In the evening, while Mom and Dad were here for dinner, we saw the fox again and we watched her on and off for an hour, keeping an eye on the chickens, as she raced around hay bales (I don't know why I am saying it was a female, I mean, who knows.) and stalked mice. I tried to get her in a mid air pounce with my sports speed on the camera but no luck yet. As you can see with the hay bale picture, I got very close and the zoom lens made up the difference. If I get any more good shots I will post them. I will leave you with this one below, of when the mate arrived on the scene. And I got them both in the same frame.