Foxes

For some reason, a mama fox wondered into our backyard and took up residence under my husband’s workshop. Early spring we noticed the mama fox had a big belly (or at least for her it was). Then around March or April, we saw three baby foxes with the mama fox. We really enjoyed watching their progress.

Everyday my husband and I would look out our sunroom windows for a glimpse of the babies and mama and most times we weren’t disappointed. The foxes would come out to sun or frolic around in the yard with one another, just like little puppies do. When the baby foxes were just about full size, mama left, and the babies were left to fend for themselves, which they seemed to do quite nicely.

We have a birdbath that sits about halfway between the house and the workshop. One morning I looked out the window and there standing on the edge of the birdbath drinking water was the largest of the three baby foxes. I took the opportunity to walk out on my patio deck. I stood within 25 feet from the fox, camera in hand taking pictures. He stood on the edge just watching me then eventually jumped down and ran off with the other two.

The foxes called our backyard home up until around October, then, just as their mama, they were gone. We missed being able to watch them and take pictures of their antics.

We often look out our back windows hoping for a sign of the foxes, but they’ve never returned. How they strayed into a populated area, we’ll never know, but we enjoyed their visit while it lasted. And who knows, maybe one day another fox will claim our backyard as home for a season.