Family Fox

I was out for a late-day shoot, looking for flowering trees or other signs of spring. I had spent a few minutes shooting a tree at a local high school, then made my way to Tyler State Park to look for more. I didn't expect to find much there, as my observations have shown that flowers and flowering trees typically require personal care and are usually on private property, and rarely in local public parks.

So I drove in one entrance and not seeing anything of interest I made my way out to the main entrance. In the adjacent field I saw the shape of an animal, and I quickly realized that it was a fox. I had seen foxes in this park a few times, but this fox was only 20-30 feet from the roadside. And as I got closer I realized something even more amazing - this was a mother fox and and it was in the process of nursing four young fox pups.



I stopped the car and quickly changed lenses, and I was able to capture a series of images that I would have thought was improbable. After a minute or two of nursing the mother fox became aware of my presence (and the line of cars behind me, wondering what was going on).





After a short time of nervously examining her surrounding, and wondering if there was a threat to her family, the mother separated and walked a few yards up the hill, while the pups remained, content to play with each other.



But the mother did not go far ... she was in constant visual contact.



The pups continued to play for a while, and as the daylight subsided I was content to have been allowed to experience this wonderful private activity of these wild animals.