Red Fox Kit – A Scenario
// June 14th, 2010 // No Comments » // Boreal Forest, Mammals, Red Fox, Whiteshell Provincial Park
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Here’s the scenario. I am driving home from the Whiteshell on Hwy 44 and from a distance see a fox family up ahead crossing the road. The mother is a black fox, white tip tail ( only the second one of this colour that I have seen ) which is a variation of the Red Fox. She has two kits with her. Momma fox and one kit run towards the bush to the right of the highway and are safe. The second kit runs across the highway to the left on its own. There is fairly decent traffic on this highway and cars were coming in both directions. I had slowed down but still driving I could see that the kit realized it had been separated from its family and starts back up towards the highway. It was coming up on the highway, stopping on the road, going back toward the ditch and seemed confused about where to go. I had visions of another little dead animal at the roadside. So, I pulled off onto the shoulder and chased the kit back down into the ditch area. The kits were quite young and its first instinct was to crouch down and lay still as pictured above. It laid there looking at me. After a few minutes there was a break in highway traffic so I walked around and behind the kit and chased it up and over the highway so it could safely join its mother. I have to believe she was at the forest edge watching for her kit and that they found each other again. The kit was so beautiful with a soft and richly coloured coat of fur. It always makes me so sad to the wildlife laying at the sides of roads being the victims of vehicle traffic. A happy ending I hope.
Back up and over the highway towards its mother.
Running back to the forest and to momma.
Enjoy!
Sharon
