What Does The Fox Say?

After watching this mother fox diligently tend to her young, I think she says “I’m exhausted!”

On and off for many years in the Spring, red foxes have made a den in the rocky ledges of friends’ rural backyard in the Kansas City. This year, there are two adults and six kits. A fox family consists of a male and female adult, plus their offspring, although sometimes a female from the previous litter will help. The gender of the second adult in this family wasn’t clear. The kits (also known as pups or cubs) may be about three weeks old in these photographs, taken April 5, 2014. They are gray and roundish, but are quickly turning red like their parents. Last year when I saw young foxes in early May, they already looked like smaller versions of the adults.

The foxes are very active in this rural neighborhood, and my friend Pat has seen all sorts of behavior, including adults carrying prey, burying it in leaves and then retrieving it; carrying tiny kits in their mouths; nursing the kits; and grooming behavior. Earlier, one of the adult foxes spent about two hours screaming as he ran around the area, possibly as a way to announce his territory. The screaming was so loud that neighbors called out of concern that something terrible was happening, Pat said.
About Foxes.

Click on a photograph to see a full-size version and begin a slideshow with descriptions.

A mother fox returning to her den is greeted by her hungry kits.

Six fox kits compete for a space at their mother’s nipples.

A mother fox scans the forest as her six kits nurse.

The fox kits wonder where their mother went when she leaves the den for a few minutes on her “break.”

A mother fox nudges one of her kits back to the den.

The fox kits try to hang on as the mother fox leaves to take a break from caretaking.

The mother fox rests a few yards from the den. Occasionally, a kit will wander up to get her attention, but she sends them back to the den.

Her short break over, the mother fox returns to the den.

The kits are getting brave and spending more time outside their den, especially when their mother is there to watch over them.

Another fox adult, possibly the father, joins the family get-together.

The two adults take a break from the children, grooming each other on a rock above the den.

The six kits are back for another meal.

Evening is falling, the fox kits are fed and put to bed in the den, and now the mother heads to a higher rock to rest.