Happy Sunday! Last Sunday I showed you a a few shots of animals in love, or lust maybe! One of the animals that I love to photograph is foxes. (As if that wasn’t already obvious.) This is a story about a den in the middle of downtown. I’m not sure if it’s still being used but I guess we’ll find out soon enough!
Foxes inside the city are quite friendly which can be a bit un-nerving if you’ve come from a place where they are not a common sight. Foxes here will follow you on walks, play hide and seek, and even tolerate your presence near their den. The city foxes are practically domesticated which is fantastic for photography but not so great for their health. Unfortunately the reason many foxes are so comfortable around people is because people are feeding them.
There was a den site in the middle of downtown Yellowknife where I used to go to catch a glimpse of the youngsters chasing each other and wrestling. The parents would usually be nearby sleeping with one eye and ear open atop a vehicle or out hunting and scavenging for food. Because of the close proximity to humans and their high visibility it became quite common to see folks throwing tidbits of food into the area where the foxes lived. Everything from old fish to fast food.
And those foxes thrived. There were always a ton of kits around and sometimes you had to wonder if there weren’t maybe two families living there. Over time though, developers moved in and the space became more and more dangerous for the foxes because of their proximity to the construction site. I’m pretty sure the blasting was what caused them to move along. I haven’t seen foxes denning in that location for a couple of years now.
Foxes are curious by nature. I have often spied a fox, let it spot me then moved out of the way only to have them come closer to investigate me. If I talk quietly and sit still they often will come right up and sniff at my boots or try to run off with my mittens. I never fed them only spent time with them and allowed them to get as close as they were comfortable.
Now that they are grown up I’m not sure if they are in greater danger because of the way I have respected them or whether I should have avoided them. Inside the city they are safe from hunters and trappers but if they disperse to areas outside the city they may be a greater risk of trusting humans who are not as friendly as I am. I always do my best to be careful about how much time I spend with these creatures, leery of making them too comfortable. I love to watch them grow up but realize my quest for photos is never more important than their lives.
Until next week, enjoy the photos.