Fox Foreplay

It is the habit of the Lady of the house to look out at the area near the house soon after arising.  What she saw at 6:30 this morning was two foxes.  Focusing on their actions, no pictures were taken since no camera was nearby. This later photo of the deer also shows the ground where the fox action took place.  The curved trail that all of us use disappears at the notch but continues to the back woods.  This morning two foxes used the trail to reach the area where they spent much of their time.  The area in the snow in front of the tall weeds near the right edge of the picture was the center of their interaction.  Then they moved onto a grassy area and continued their dance. It was the vixen who headed off into the unmown grass.  The male laid down on the grass one more time perhaps expecting her to return then he   got up quickly and followed her. 

All of these marks in the snow were made this morning by a pair of foxes.  Today was the first time that both foxes were here at the same time.  Like many animals or birds, the organs of reproduction must be awakened before the seeds for the next generation are ready for deposit.  This scene of much activity included the pair stretching out on the snow while pressing themselves tightly to the ground.  Facing each other, their noses were mere inches apart.  The female moved away first with the male closely following.  Then it was back on the ground facing each other again.  These movements were repeated many times as can be seen by the number of tracks in the snow.  Becky watched this pair for fifteen minutes.  Then they left this area together likely seeking out a suitable spot for their den.

The female fox is much smaller than the male.  They had to be seen together for the difference in size to register.  Recently the fox seen being chased by the beagle seemed small to me.  Apparently it was the female.  This photo shows the difference in the size of the footprints.  The larger male marks are more easily seen since they are both larger and deeper in the snow. The smaller more shallow prints made by the female are near the top of the photo and are barely visible.

It is exciting beyond description that we may provide the home for the next generation of Red Foxes.  We will make no attempt to find their den since we will not risk driving them away.  We will devote much time looking out of our windows to see whatever happens by.

How To Track A Fox

After the amazing fox sighting we had yesterday morning I thought it might be awhile before the fox came back this way.  Boy did I have that wrong!  

This morning when I looked out  the snow directly outside the living room windows was filled with animal  tracks. Sunshine and blue skies made a perfect opportunity to get pictures.  Trust me when I tell you these footprints and other imprints were made by our fox.  I'm no Daniel Boone, but it was about 5:15PM last evening when the fox sauntered into the garden.  Both Ed and I stood and watched the fox while he was hunting for voles.  Picture a breathtaking male fox with black legs, red orange fur, black orange and white ears, and a white tip on the end of his tail.  First he stood and listened sniffing the air.  Slowly he sniffed walking slowly along the tunnel that he could tell was under the snow.  Next he hesitated, shifted his weight to his hind legs and  pounced. His front feet and his nose came down first and he dug a hole hoping to come up with a brown hairy vole.  This process was repeated over and over.  Sometimes he would just stand and wait. Sometimes he would sit with his tail wrapped around his legs.  There is one actual fox sitzmark in the above photo.  

Now I really hate it when one of those furry rodents surprises me and makes me scream.  Not only that but voles are bulbs and root eaters.  Obviously Ed and I were rooting for the fox.  All of this hunting and no finding was getting a little depressing.

I stayed watching though and the fox and I  were both rewarded for our patience. The hole closest to us was the next to the last pounce.  That fox was poetry in motion. He went from still to pounce in seconds, pinned that vole to the ground with his feet, grabbed it with his teeth and tossed it high into the air. The vole seemed stunned. The fox watched it for a moment then played with it for awhile.  Letting it go and then catching it again, not unlike a house cat might do with a mouse toy.  In the end he held the vole down with his foot biting it a few times until it stopped moving.  I watched as he chewed off the head, swallowed it and then swallowed the rest of the vole.  The fox trotted off taking a walk on top of Ed's curved wall, down to the basement door and back, and across the parking lot past the bluebird house until he was out of sight.

 These are brand new rodent tunnels made in this morning's fresh snow.  I could be wrong, but I think the fox will be back.  Perhaps it is cheating to watch what happens and track the animal afterwards, but it sure works for me!

Repaired Stone Walls

This first snow of 2012 was long overdue and most welcome.  With both vehicles shoveled out and the driveway clear, it was time to walk in the snowy woods.  My destination was the area described in an earlier post, Stone Detective.  Just a few days ago the ground was soft and muddy as the frost had been warmed out again.  About the only place to putter was the fallen end of this wall.  Brush was levered out and carried away and the fallen end stones of this wall were  again piled.  No attempt was made to lay the stones in a well tied together wall.  I was simply curious about the shape,size and number of fallen stones.  Proper building will wait until spring but these moss covered stones have an ancient appearance.

Nature has strongly reclaimed this area.  It will require considerable effort to clear around the wall.  The barbed wire fence is on my side of the property line and it will disappear in stages.  The strands of wire will be removed first.  By rolling a two post section of wire into a loop, it can be unrolled and refastened should my neighbor object.  Four separate loops of barbed wire hanging from a fence post may look strange but they will mark a work in progress.  With the wire and brush out of the way, the wall can be built again.

Another earlier post, Tumbled Down Wall, described the repair made here.  The fresh repair was easy to spot as the patina of the two sections were not a match.  A short period of time has made the difference softer.  We will watch to see how long it takes the repair to match the old wall.

There is little question that these are fox tracks.  Most four footed animals make two parallel tracks when they walk.  A fox places its hind foot in the same spot just occupied by its front foot.  The resulting linear tracks have a unique appearance.  Ed had two separate fox sightings yesterday.  Both involved a fox working for its dinner alongside of the road.  One fox appeared much bushier than the other so they may have been a mated pair.  Several years ago we watched foxes mate in the snow on our front lawn.  Perhaps the two seen yesterday were starting to spend time together.  Winter seems new with a long wait until spring but preparations for the next growing season will be soon underway.