The Blackberry Foxes

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Along the road to our home are blackberry brambles. In one bramble patch is the den of a family of gray foxes. Some mornings I glimpse the foxes hanging out on the road. The foxes have lived in the area for years. They’re attracted to the area for the cottontail rabbits that also live in the blackberries. They appeared in my earlier post The Fox and The Song

pen and ink, drawing, fox, gray fox

“The Vixen”    pen and ink.

The other morning, I was on my way to work. I came around the corner and surprised the fox family. There were four kits and the vixen playing in the road. When they saw me coming they scattered. Foxes were darting here and there diving into the blackberry bushes. I grabbed my camera to get a picture of the group, but they had scampered away. When I stopped in front of their blackberry patch, two of the little kits were peeking out. Before I could focus my camera they disappeared.

This brave little fox graciously pose for me.

The gray fox kit.

However, a couple of days later, I was fortunate to have one brave fox kit sitting out in front of their thicket. This little one posed graciously while I snapped a few pictures. It is always a treat to see the fox family. I just hope they stay far away from our chicken house.

 

44 thoughts on “The Blackberry Foxes”

  2. We have red foxes in my part of the country. The kits are always so cute and it’s so much fun to watch them play. I have no chickens to worry about. I leave the chickens to the family up the street, who have about 100 roaming free, guarded by two loud, pushy dogs.

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    • It’s kind of funny that with the foxes living so close, we really haven’t had problems with them, that I know of. We’ve had more problems with skunks, owls, hawks and neighborhood dogs. I like the foxes so I hope they stay away. We have seen them in the yard on occasion.

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    • Thank you Craig. It’s been hard to post much with this being such a busy time of year. My slow time of year would be….hmmm. I got nuthin’! I think I better work on my time management. 😉

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  11. Great art as always! We have foxes, however they are very rare to see. I also totally hear ya on the busy time. .. I’m pushing 55 weekly. Granted, peeps love hearing that as I’m in construction and if I’m busy, the economy is better. (Ahem, not giving pres credit. ..)

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  12. OH it’s a lovely little gray fox kit !
    Nice to see a pen and in Tim … the vixen you’ve caught nicely looking slightly hesitant I guess …

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    • I used a picture that I took last year for the drawing. She was a bit annoyed with me, giving her all that attention. She finally roared at me and then left. I was taken aback that such a little fox could make such a big roar. If she had sneeked up behind me and done it, I’d have expected a wolf. Now when I hear the song “What Does the Fox Say”, I know the answer.

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  16. I’ve had a great chance to spot a young fox in the spring. It was so young that probably it has never seen a bicycle, and didn’t notice a danger. I could watch it hunting as long as I wanted, completely unaware and innocent 🙂 Very cute 🙂

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