Red Fox Pups, cups or kits

Red Fox Pups, also known as cups or kits. Three of them in fact, with the mom not to far off. I happened to be taking a walk this afternoon and noticed an adult fox on the road side. As I walked closer she stopped and looked at me for quite sometime. She then ran off into the near by woods.

I didn’t think to much about it, but was very happy to have seen her. As I walked along down the road getting closer to the area she had been standing, I noticed some movement in the bushes. I stopped and looked through my camera and zoomed in. To my surprise there were three little red fox pups, wrestling in the thicket. So I quietly walked slowly near them and saw they had a den right next to the road. Back and forth they went pouncing on each other, only taking a break to stop and watch me.

They were so delightful to watch up close, and they weren’t to concerned I was watching them.

Every once in a while one of them would come up near me out of curiosity. Then he’d run back down the hill where they’d been playing.

Up and down the hill they would go, frolicking all the while.

I noticed the three pups stayed very close to their den while waiting for their mother to return. The den had several entry ways for them to go in and out of. It looks like the mother fox has lived there for several years. There were many worn trails around the den.

It was beginning to get late and the sun was going down, so it was time for me to leave. The pups came back up from their play ground, and one by one went into their den.

As I decided to leave and let them be, I turned around and was surprised to see their mother trotting down the road . I could see that she had caught something for dinner, and was on her way to feed her cups.

What a very special moment that was watching those little rascals pouncing and frolicking around. I may return one more time to observe them to see how grown. Only next time from a far and a long range lens. I don’t want momma to abandon those kits or move her den.