Red Fox Family

One evening in mid-May I came home from work to find Chip in the back yard watching four baby foxes frolic and play games in our grass. It was seriously the cutest thing ever. They would run and jump on one another and roll around and around. I got some video of it, but I'm having trouble getting it off of my phone.

A few days later, this little guy established a new favorite lounging spot on the top of the hill in our side yard. He (or she?) would visit this spot frequently. I saw him here in the early morning, when I came home for lunch, and sometimes in the evening.

A few days later, we discovered that they had dug a hole in the hill for their home.You can see it in the photo below, in the bottom left corner.

A pair of fox babies.

And here is one of the foxes heading into the hole down on the left side of the photo.

A few weeks later and they were already growing up and growing more brave. One day I came home for lunch, and this little guy (gal?) was on our deck. He saw me through the door. At first he was curious, but when he came closer, I scared him off.

Once afternoon, Chip even spotted one of the in the street!

And I found one in the ditch digging around for frogs. She got one, too, and ran off with it in her mouth.

We haven't seen them around our yard in about a week. I've had two sightings in the neighborhood this week, but it is difficult to tell whether the foxes I spotted are "our" foxes. We've had lots of rain lately, so maybe it flooded their hole here, and they went to a different home. Or maybe their mama came and got them and took them back to their real home. I really don't know. I'm kinda worried about them, and I hope they are okay.

All in all it has been such a fun experience to have a little fox family to watch. One of my neighbors said that red foxes have been long time residents of the woods behind our houses. I love it!