Director Frank Gallo mentioned to me how often he has seen red foxes going by in broad daylight lately, too. This is a prime time for these animals to be feeding young. They do not have to be ill or injured to be seen in such a way. They are not a threat to us, either. Ironically, at Stratford Point around 8AM the next day, I was walking out to meet Twan as he was already in the upland area surveying plants and insects. I saw a red fox staring at him from a distance by the main gate. I should have taken a photo of it first, but silly me shouted over to Twan to point it out. It took off like a shot and ran into the brush.
An old distant photo of a red fox from my yard
These mammals are all around us nearly every day, and we as a society typically only hear about the bad encounters. There are plenty of enjoyable sightings like these. Sometimes they're on a mission feeding a growing family. Other times they may be as interested in you as you are in them. That fox was wondering what Twan was up to and watching from a distance. Once I had a red fox slowly creep up to me from behind in the woods. I didn't hear a peep until it was about 10 feet away. I turned, we made eye contact, and it backed away slowly before dashing off. I think it was only curious as to what I was doing as I was stalking a warbler and taking photos of it.
Twan had a mammal encounter of another kind. He has a wildlife camera trained on his compost pile. Lately it has been snapping off skunk shots nonstop, but he also gets a near nightly visit from a rare gray fox.
That is one I would love to see up close and personal. We enjoyed some more amazing Connecticut mammals in our Croft Sanctuary yesterday...watch for that post soon!
Scott Kruitbosch
Conservation Technician
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