As I’ve said many times before, where would we be without friends who’s kindness make our lives better? Thank you Tim Brandenburg for letting me know about this wonderful fox family.
I spent a few hours, over several days, watching this mama fox and kits…of which I think I counted four in total…she was a doting, protective parent. And the young all looked robust, healthy, and happy.
The owner of this old barn was very supportive of this family…and he is wise to do so. Fox, like many predators, get this rap that is almost always undeserved. I mean if you want more tick carrying mice and rodents around, that’s your business I guess…as for me…I’d take a fox in the backyard with no questions asked. We, as a culture, and as a society, need to grow up and let go of ignorant stereotypes of the past…that predators are evil, or useless vermin. Maybe ignorant doesn’t describe that kind of thinking very well, but it’s the best I can come up with, without being disrespectful altogether.
About a month after this image was taken, the kits were doing just as they should…going farther away from the den and exploring the world around them. The land owner found one of them in a back field…shot dead. Stupid people and guns just don’t mix. And don’t take that as some kind of anti-hunting rant, or anti-gun statement. Not from me. Truth is, numbskulls like this make legit hunters and gun owners look bad…they are not part of the group of honorable outdoorsmen (and women) that I know.
I’ve tried to imagine why someone would even want to do this…did they think that they are somehow protecting huntable species like pheasant or rabbits…or were the just out pot shooting anything they found? Or is it that hatred of predators popping up again? In any case, my opinion is it is misplaced thinking, and it seems senseless to me in the end.