Red Fox Kits

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I am woefully far behind in editing images from this very productive year in photography. For proof, look no further than these adorable fox kits that have been languishing in my processing que since late spring.  My two visits to this red fox (Vulpes vulpes) den high in the rockies was one of the photographic highlights of my year. (Thanks to Jay and Kurt for sharing the den with me!) The kits at the den were adorable, and largely habituated to humans, so they were relatively easy to photograph. The only challenge was where the foxes made their den — in a space only a few feet wide between a berm and a chainlink fence. The only way to shoot the foxes was down the “valley” between the two. Getting an ideal light angle was impossible, so instead I tried to make the best use of the raking sidelight to advantage. It in a couple of cases, including the image above, it worked nicely.

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This image illustrates just how little attention the foxes paid to people — this guy couldn’t keep his eyes open in the warm morning sun.

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This is the same fox as the one in the image I posted a few months ago. The background is better on the original image, but it’s hard to resist the bright eyed and cocked head.

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I visited the fox den twice, once in late may and again, about three weeks later. It is remarkable how quickly the foxes grew in that time. They also exhibited a great deal more independence and willingness to venture from the den site without a parent around.

Here are a few additional images from the shoot; be sure to click on the thumbnails for a larger view. If you’re reading this in an RSS reader or by e-mail, be sure to click through to the blog to see these images with the proper formatting.

Want to see even more fox images? Check out my fox collection.