Category Archives: fox

photographing the red fox

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I watch and photograph a red fox watching my cat in his catrun. When the fox hears my camera clicking, she stares at me a moment and then curls up on the hillside as if to nap. I hope she’s not dreaming of cats.

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Suddenly, the fox sits and stares up the hill into the forest. Another fox is coming, perhaps interested in watching my cat, too, but he’s apparently not welcome to join us.

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I wonder if they’re already aquainted and have a long history of greeting each other this way.

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After a few seconds pushing match, the newcomer slinks away. And we, the first fox, my cat, and I, go back to watching each other while I make photographs of the fox.

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After a few minutes, the fox leaves. I hope both foxes have gone searching for rodents, their natural diet.

Captured with a dslr and 100-400 telephoto zoom lens in cloud filtered afternoon sunlight. Cropped a bit to let you in on the details of each image.

red fox wants my cat

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red fox staring

I looked up the hill to see a fox staring at my cat in his cat run. After the first capture the she looked away as if to hide her interest in him. But, the tongue licking the lips told the truth. I’m glad my cat is always safe inside our house or the cat run.

red fox tongue

most popular image

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Thank you to everyone who attended last weekend’s Holiday Extravaganza in Bailey. At the show, the red fox kits were the most popular images in my booth. I didn’t ask people to vote, but the images of the fox kits drew the most comments and purchases. Below is my top seller for the show. As the mother fox grooms, her baby’s expression seems to say ‘enough!’

My fox kit images were captured in late May and early June of 2007, thanks to near neighbors who called when the vixen and three kits emerged from under their deck.

What gets people talking in my booth? Here are some of the FAQs:

  • St. Elmo, a mountain ghost town – Where is that?
  • Hummingbirds  – How did you get these photos of hummingbirds?
  • Other Birds  – What kind of bird is that?
  • Lions Head – Is that Lone Rock?
  • Fox kits – How did you get so close?
  • General – What cameras do you use?  Is it digital? Photoshopped?

I drink lots of water at the shows because I have to do a lot of talking.

Now today, as I prepare for this weekend’s show, should I print a large number of the same images that sold last weekend? Not necessarily. My experience has been that the favorite image often changes from one show to the next.

This Saturday the show is in Conifer at the high school.

The Holiday Boutique and Silent Auction is run entirely by community volunteers each year (since 1977!) and with net proceeds from the jury and booth fees going to mountain area schools, volunteer fire and rescue departments, and other local nonprofits. Nearly 90 artisans participating in this event donate 10% of their gross sales and an auction item.

Conifer Newcomers and Neighbors Holiday Boutique 2008
November 8
9AM to 4PM
Conifer High School

(my booth is #95 in the cafetorium)

reviewing June

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male broadtail hummingbird

I’m still sorting through all the photos I captured in June and now it’s July already. Here are some June captures I found in the files dumped hurriedly onto the computer during the past few weeks.

another tongue:

male broadtail sticks out his tongue

sipping current nectar:

male broadtail with current flowers

 

baby nuthatch:

sparrow? what kind?    Female redwing! Thanks, Drew!

western tanager:

red fox “tippy” at sunset:

red fox resting on a stump in the glow of the setting sun

 

look who’s back

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Last spring I photographed a baby fox with a crooked face nicknamed Tippy by my neighbors.  I saw Tippy several times throughout the summer and fall and then no more.  Early yesterday morning the fox with the face you can’t mistake was running by my house. It paused for a moment while I photographed and then continued on its way.

 

red fox

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Standing on an old log at dusk, this red fox looks toward the setting sun one evening this week. My dog growls at the door when foxes are near so I know to grab the camera and hurry out to capture an image or two. The dog doesn’t understand why I won’t let him out to chase the invader away.

Red Fox – Tippy’s Beautiful Sister

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Here is one of the young foxes from the family I photographed in the spring. The markings on her legs identify her. She’s been hanging around on the hill above my house and I took several photos of her scratching the back of her head with her hind leg. After viewing those images, I’m fairly sure this lovely fox is female.

I watch her from the deck in the shadow of the house, but she knows I’m there. I see her staring intently at something, usually I can’t tell what. If I make noise, she will glance at me for a second and then stare off at some point to my right or left refusing to make eye contact.

She stole a bread crust I had tossed to the stellers jays and carried it a short distance away and buried it by digging with her claws then dropping the crust and pushing leaves and sticks over it with her nose. She stalked one of the jays, but it flew to a high branch when she came too close.

Red Fox Family Update with New ‘Tippy’ Photos

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Tippy, the little runt of the litter with the crooked nose, is still in the area. I saw him (or her?) once in August running across the road. That distinctive face is easy to recognize.

Last week, I thought I saw one of Tippy’s siblings running by on the hillside. I haven’t seen the mother fox since spring.

Tonight, just after sunset, as we drove up to our house, there sat little Tippy almost grown. I set the ISO to 800 and hoped for the best in the fading light. The young fox moved a bit farther away into the tall grass after I took the first image.


And here’s a crop of the face from the 2nd image:

The offset jaw doesn’t seem to be a problem for Tippy. He is still small, but looks quite healthy. I hope that means he’s been catching lots of mice, especially the ones near my house. I’ve read that the red foxes’ favorite foods are mice and voles. The foxes eat as many as they can and then bury any others they kill for later meals. I like the idea that this little fox may be ridding the area around my house of rodents.

fox kits update

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For those of you who have been asking about ‘Tippy’ and the rest of the fox family, I went over to the home where they have taken over the back deck and captured a few images on June 12th. Mother and kits are still calling the space under the deck home, romping, grooming, and hunting in the area. My friends may not be using their deck much this summer! When I arrived, the morning rain had ended and I was able to photograph the kits in that beautiful after-the-rain light when it’s seems even the air is full of color.
The first image is the little runt Tippy, the only kit my friends have named, with the small crooked nose. The first I saw when I was setting up to shoot. Mother fox ran by and dropped a live mouse in front of Tippy who swallowed it quickly. Here is Tippy with one paw on an edge of the multi-level deck shot at 1/200 sec at f/5.6, ISO 400, focal length 300 mm.

Often, foxes will move the kits from one den to another. This family seems content to stay under this low deck where we know they have been staying for at least several weeks. And why not? The large deck affords shelter and safety from predators. The kits can retreat far under the deck and have three or four outlets for escape.

The 2nd image is one of Tippy’s siblings whose tail is already getting the white tip characteristic of adult red foxes. Image captured at 1/125 second at f/7.1, ISO 400, focal length 200mm. This kit has mostly black legs and I believe is the largest of the three.

The black legged kit is also in the 3rd image play fighting with the mother. There was a lot of this going on that morning, but the action was mostly behind the trees and I was only able to catch glimpses of it. Here, the kit with ears layed back goes after the mother’s neck while her open mouth moves toward the kit’s leg. I suppose a good mother must teach her children to defend themselves. Image captured at 1/200 second at f/7.1, focal lenth 300mm and ISO 400.

I’ve read that these kits may stay with the mother until September when the family will split up and go their separate ways. If they continue to use my friends’ deck as a base camp throughout the summer and I am able to photograph them, I shall post another update when they get a bit bigger.

This final image was captured at 1/125 second at f/5.6, ISO 400, 300mm.

grooming

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Tippy holds very still for ear cleaning. Mother has big teeth! Sometimes, Tippy squeals in protest at all the grooming his mother does to him. The first image is a crop to show a close up of the big tooth. The one below is the full image. Image capture at 1/160 sec at f/8, ISO 250, focal length 200 mm.