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I collected the SD cards from the trail cameras this past weekend.  I had my fingers crossed the whole way down and back, hoping for some fox footage.

And I got lucky.  There was only one video  and this is it . .. .

Okay, I admit it, I’ve been withholding information.

I was afraid to show you.

But you see, right around May 1st (not the date on the video) I was going through the videos, watching cute little fox kits tumbling all over the place, wondering which one I was going to show you on FB next,   when I saw a image that stopped my heart.

I gasped. “No!” I watched the video again.

Ben and David ran into the room to see what I saw.

Fox Den In Danger

I quickly watched the next video which showed an adult frantically sniffing the den opening.  So did the one after that. It wasn’t until four videos and two hours later (on the cam)  that I finally saw this.

Two Hours Later

But, five days later (still cam time), there was nothing.  No videos with kits.

Two weeks went by.  No kits.  Just adults.

I began to worry.

Obsessively.

Until an eighth grade neighbor found me between classes at school.  “Mrs. Wight, Mrs. Wight!” he called.  “Guess what I saw this weekend?  Me and my family, we were coming home and a fox crossed our driveway with a line of kits behind her!”

I just stared at him for a minute.  Then I grinned.  “Gabe!  You have my foxes! How many kits?”

“I think there were six,” he told me.

As it turns out, they moved to an abandoned den on his property. In my research I discovered that fox have a series of dens they use.  One by one, that mom took her kits across my property to his.  And I can tell you, it’s quite a hike.

But that’s what you do, to save your family when it’s in danger.

I couldn’t resist going to their den that very afternoon.  I was sitting on the grass taking photos of the kits through the brush, when my neighbor arrived on his bike.

As we talked in hushed tones about the fox behavior we’d seen on our trail cams , the fox kits watched us warily.

“Are you really writing a book about them?” he asked.

“I am!” I told him.  “Book 3. It’s just an idea right now, but I’m researching.”

“Cool.  Anything I can do, Mrs. Wight, you let me know,” he said, as he rolled his bike back and forth.

“I’d love to know if you see anything  interesting through your trail cam that they do,” I told him.

He nodded.  “I can do that.”

I can’t wait to hear what he discovers.

I’ve only visited the fox den a handful of times, and recently I was lucky enough to catch either one or two kits peeking out from the den opening.  Last year there’d been five, so I admit to being a little sad at seeing only two.

And then I saw this clip from the trail cam.

Hold Still So I Can Count You!

Can you imagine feeding that many??   I have forty clips to wade through . . . and I’m enjoying every minute of it.

Here’s another of my favorites so far

Tumbling Kits

Mom and Kits

Each of these is research!  Glorious first hand, research!

Such a tough job, watching these cute little buggers over and over and over so I get all the details right on their behavior.  But somebody’s gotta do it.

Look who’s been out and about!

This pic was taken with the trail camera on the 13th of this month.

And here, he’s wandered into our backyard for a little shut eye the next morning.  I can’t help but wonder if his den is full of cubs and he was looking for a quiet place . . .

He stayed for quite awhile and made me late to work!  Hubby took over with the camera after I left.

I can’t wait to see what the trail camera picks up this week!