A fox at Cape Henlopen

I'm in Delaware and vicinity for about a week, staying in Lewes. It's a great base camp for a number of interesting places and I haven't been letting the grass grow under my feet. Yesterday, my first full day here, I thoroughly explored Cape Henlopen State Park. This is the elevated boardwalk that forms a section of the trail back to Gordon Pond. I had an amazing experience with a Red Fox right about where I took the above iPhone snap.

I was mostly shooting birds and had my big 800mm (plus 1.4x extender) on a tripod. I was trying to shoot an Orange-crowned Warbler eating bayberry fruit with that rig when I heard the patter of little feet. I whirled around just as the fox shot by just feet away on the boardwalk. I dropped to my knees and squeaked, which stopped him in his tracks. I almost always carry a 400mm on another camera body on a shoulder strap when out on foot after birds and whipped that into position and fired as he ran back my way.

He ran up to about fifteen feet or so from me, paused to give me the once over, and I got this portraiture shot. Apparently deciding I wasn't really a mouse, he trotted right by me and down the trail in the direction he originally came from. I'll gladly add this to a hefty memory bank of notable fox encounters.

NOTE: Making squeaking noises is a tried-and-true technique to get animals' attention. Foxes are especially lured by it. They are highly curious, and squeaks suggest the sound of a wounded animal, or perhaps a mouse - anyway, it's a sound that warrants investigation! Dropping to one's knees is critical to get rid of the upright bipedal posture. Humans, after all, are easily the most dangerous mammals on earth and a lot of creatures know it. Going prostrate or at least to one's knees presents a less threatening appearance.

Visited a few other amazing locales today and took lots of shots of interesting subjects. Tomorrow morning is a boat trip to seek seals, and I'll hopefully have some interesting material on pinnipeds and that excursion later.

A fortuitous fox encounter

I spent yesterday and this morning in Killbuck Marsh and vicinity, an area rich in wildlife. Located near the town of Shreve in Wayne County, Ohio, this region is full of wetlands and other interesting habitats, and always produces noteworthy encounters.

I was out in the marsh bright and early today, stalking birds. After finding an especially productive honey hole and spending several hours watching and photographing many species of birds, I had to head for home. But the allure of ground squirrels was strong, and I opted to make one slight detour and visit a cemetery that harbors a population of these fascinating little "prairie dogs".

A Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel stands near its burrow, ever watchful. One wrong move from your narrator, and he'd be underground in a shot.

I didn't have much to spend stalking squirrels, and after making a few images, I was slowly rolling out in the Jeep. As I neared the cemetery's exit, I spotted another squirrel nearby, stopped, pulled the camera up and went for more images.

Suddenly, as if from thin air, a gorgeous Red Fox materialized. As I was in the car - vehicles make great blinds - the fox utterly ignored me. He (she?) began trotting about my vicinity, at one point snuffling about a pile of fallen debris. I suspect it was after the very ground squirrels I was there to photograph.

In order to draw a bead on the animal, I had to slowly and quietly slip out of the car, then balance the big telephoto atop the door. That allowed me to get a few shots such as the one above.

As the Red Fox is a very handsome animal, I wanted to take this opportunity to create a portraiture shot. By making squeaking sounds in his direction, I was able to get the beast to briefly freeze and stare my way. Bingo! I'll send him this one for his Facebook profile. As (bad) luck would have it, a car pulled in just after I shot the image above, and spooked the animal. I would have loved to have spent more time with him.

It's not common to see Red Fox hunting and cavorting about during midday hours, and it was a lucky way to end the day.

Red Fox, lazing in the sun

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of heading NNE to the wildlands of the Mohican region with Bruce Miller and Peter King. We had a few objectives in mind: investigating a report of a Barn Owl that had just come to light, seeing the now famous Evening Grosbeak flock, and searching for a Northern Shrike that has occasionally been seen along the route that we would be taking.

 

We scored on the owl and grosbeaks - more, perhaps, to follow on those. But as is often the case when spending time afield, something cool and totally unexpected pops into view. This is such a story; a tale of a foxily serendipitous find.

 

The boys and I had made our rounds, relishing the spectacle of a ghostly Barn Owl in its dimly lit haunts, and marveling over a flock of noisy and gluttonous Evening Grosbeaks. We had just circled about the area where the aforementioned Northern Shrike had been seen, but no luck on the butcherbird, although a consolatory Rough-legged Hawk put on a show. Well, two out of three ain't bad.

 

We were on our way to the Mohican State Park lodge for lunch, and the driver - me - had just hung a left into the lodge's long entrance road, when STOP - BACK, BACK, BACK!!! roared Peter, blustering and choking out his words. I knew some new game was afoot, although I wasn't sure what. A quick jab of the transmission into reverse and a stab of the throttle, and I saw what had caught his eye. A gorgeous Red Fox, lazing right out in the open, on the edge of the lawn!

Dopey with the warmth of the sun's rays and the promise of a soon to arrive spring, the fox barely regarded his new-found admirers. In short order, big telephoto lenses were bristling from the car's windows, and scads of images were fired off, burst-mode style.

As sharp of ear as they are of eye, the distant clicks of cameras finally made the fox beam on on us, wondering no doubt as to who the fools were that were interrupting its sleepy reverie. We certainly did not want to bother this glorious animal, but a stunning photo-op with a wild Red Fox is as rare as hen's teeth, and we couldn't help ourselves.

Finally the animal stood, shook off the dust, and turned to give us a baleful glare. It still sports the full luxuriance of its thick winter pelage - just have a look at that magnificent tail!

The fox slowly sauntered into the adjacent woods, turning to take another look at the paparazzi. My hunch is that it has a den very nearby, and when the weather is sunny regularly loafs on the grassy bank. Even though the temperature was decidedly cool, we had not a half-hour before commented on how nice the sun's warm rays felt. Apparently this fox felt the same, prompting his bask.

Sure enough, when we departed the lodge an hour or so later and motored back by this spot, our foxy friend was back, sprawled out on the lawn as before. Should you find yourself entering the lodge at Mohican, and it is a bright day, check the lawn behind the entrance sign and perhaps you'll also see this handsome beast.

If you would like to read more about Red Foxes, HERE IS an article that I wrote about them a while back.

A "Silver" Red Fox

 Photo: John Howard

Just about everyone loves red foxes, Vulpes vulpes. Well, maybe not everyone. Chicken farmers who are unsuccessful in defending the coop don't like foxes. Conservationists trying to protect certain species of birds and other small animals may take issue with the bushy-tailed beasts. And the folks who put together the International Union for Conservation of Nature's list of the top 100 species of worst invasive species put the red fox in the lineup.

The red fox is found far and wide; it is distributed more widely than any other animal in the Order Carnivora. They're now found in places where they weren't, historically. In fact, the line between native and non-native foxes in North America is very blurry. Some authorities believe that prior to European settlement, red foxes were found only in regions to the north and west of the once vast eastern deciduous forest, while the woodland-loving gray fox occupied the latter habitat. But as has happened elsewhere, people didn't waste any time introducing red foxes to parts of North America where they probably weren't, and the clever adaptive little mammals quickly ran wild.

But, unless a fox is caught making off with their kitten, puppy, or steak on the grill, most people just love red foxes. I wrote one of my Columbus Dispatch columns on the red fox back in March, HERE, and was fairly inundated with email from infatuated fox enthusiasts.

 Photo: Daniel Redfern

But most fox hounds ain't seen nothin' like this! Dan Redfern of rural Geauga County, Ohio sent along some photos of a most amazing fox. I can see why someone would do a doubletake, lunge for the camera, then grab the field guides to sort this one out.

Photo: Daniel Redfern

Quite the handsome fellow, and that's saying something as "normal" red foxes aren't too shabby in the looks department. This is a "silver" red fox; a melanistic form that is apparently quite rare. At least I've never seen one, and I'm not sure I know anyone who has. While this form is selected for and bred on "fox farms", it does occur rarely but regularly in the wild. Chances are that all of this animal's litter mates were of the normal red color.

Photo: Daniel Redfern

Red fox can be quite variable in coloration, although at least in these parts the vast majority are reddish, just as the one in John Howard's beautiful photo at the top of this post. At least eight different consistent color forms have been described, but this silver form may deserve the tiara for winning the beauty contest. Apparently silver fox pelts were highly coveted by European nobility at one time, and an excellent skin was more valuable than 40 beaver pelts. John James Audubon said this of the silver form:

"In the richness and beauty of its splendid fur the Silver-gray Fox surpasses the beaver or sea otter, and the skins are indeed so highly esteemed that the finest command extraordinary prices, and are always in demand."

An extraordinary find indeed, and thanks to Dan Redfern for sharing his photos!

Some very foxy photos

John Howard sent along some excellent photos of a Red Fox that he happened across a while back down in Adams County. He had the camera at hand and was quick on the trigger, and did a marvelous job of capturing the clever little beast as it made its prowls.

Enjoy, and thanks for sharing these, John.

Red Fox

An alert Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes, warily eyes the camera man. Photo courtesy Tim Daniel/Ohio Division of Wildlife

I recently wrote a piece about one of our handsomest mammals, the Red Fox, which appeared in last Sunday's Columbus Dispatch. At the end of the column, I asked readers to let me know of any foxes that they had seen within the limits of Interstate 270 - Columbus' outerbelt , which largely defines the city and its suburbs. And only sightings from within the last year, so as to get an up-to-date snapshot of their frequency in our city.

Well, I received 53 e-mails from area residents, and two things became obvious. One, Red Foxes are thriving within the city, and two, people really like these animals. Their larger brethren, the Coyote, tends to provoke a much more negative and often semi-fearful response; not so with the fox. People often spoke quite fondly of their encounters and made mention of the pleasure they got from having the opportunity to observe and admire these clever little animals.

Following is my Dispatch column in case you would like to read it, and after that is a map that I made that shows the approximate locations of the fox reports that I received.

Columbus Dispatch
NATURE
Cute, clever foxes are all around us
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Jim McCormac

“If the lion was advised by the fox, he would be cunning.” — William Blake

Sly, svelte and good- looking, the red fox is your neighbor — although you might not know it.

One of our most interesting mammals, foxes are adaptive and faring well, even in suburbia. These clever beasts recognize us as one of their few enemies, and that, coupled with their mostly nocturnal habits, keep the fox largely out of sight and mind.

A red fox is worth a gander, if chance permits.

It’s testimony to the fox’s good looks that especially pretty women are called “foxes.” Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, the fox is endowed with a gorgeous coat of burnt orange. A white breast and dark legs give the impression that it wears black stockings and a bib. The incredible white-tipped tail can be well over half the animal’s length. It serves as a rudder on aerial leaps and helps balance the animal when in full gallop.

Foxes are canids, the same family that your dog belongs to. They do look doglike, albeit small: A 15-pound fox would be hefty, and they’re only 31/2 feet long. Were it not for the thick coat, a fox would be but a wisp of itself.

Foxes act catlike in spite of their canine lineage, as anyone who has watched them hunting mice knows. They’ll furtively stalk prey, then pounce in a stiff-legged leap, deftly seizing the victim.

Red foxes pair up in winter to breed. Their dens are usually modified woodchuck burrows, but they’ll use rock piles, hollow logs or other suitable crevices. The babies — kits — are born in early spring. Watching an active den is a treat. The kits, which usually number a half-dozen or so, cavort and tussle near the entrance like kittens. The parents bring wounded chipmunks and other small prey so that the youngsters can practice the craft of killing.

Foxes aren’t strict meat-eaters, though. They’re omnivorous: They eat a variety of foods. During summer and fall, berries and other vegetable matter become dietary staples.

I once drove by a rural farmhouse with scads of chickens in the yard when something caught my eye. It was a red fox, frozen stiff as a statue, paw in the air and poultry on its mind, looking straight at me. Busted, the fox scampered off.

The clever creatures aren’t usually chicken thieves, though, and are far more beneficial than detrimental. They’re inveterate mousers and partial to the rabbits that plunder your garden. Fluffy should be safe, too: Cats are usually too much for a fox to handle.

In 1962, 70 of Ohio’s 88 counties offered bounties on foxes. People didn’t understand the importance of predators, and foxes were vilified as killers of “good” animals. In 1975, the archaic bounty practice was banned.

Today, red foxes are common in every Ohio county and plentiful in urban areas such as Columbus.

Naturalist Jim McCormac writes a column for The Dispatch the first and third Sundays of the month. He also writes about nature at jim.mccormac.blogspot.com.

Further afield
• Let me know whether you’ve seen any red foxes during the past year within the bounds of I-270. Drop an e-mail to ambrosia@columbus.rr.com.

• One of spring’s great natural phenomenons is the running of the salamanders. Naturalist Chrissy Pheifer will present a program titled “Salamanders: The Mystery and Journey” at the Columbus Natural History Society meeting at 7:30 p.m. March 14 in the Museum of Biological Diversity, 1315 Kinnear Rd.

Locations of red fox sightings in Columbus, Ohio, over the past year. A few of these foxes are local celebrities and were reported by multiple observers. And I'm sure there are plenty of others going unreported. Thanks to all who shared their sightings!