Foxhttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🦊" title="Fox face" aria-label="Emoji: Fox face"> Thread (update & backstory)

For 4 years now, a presumably single bloodline of Foxes have returned each year to dig new homes and raise their young on the 3 acres of deciduous coniferous mixed forest I protect by living on it. #NaturePhotography #foxes

They likely enjoy the safety of being top predator here from spring till winter, when a nearby river freezes over and the 2 wolf packs in the forest hills across have clear passage (I hear them in the winter but never see them)

The Foxes generally keep their distance from me, the youngest not at first, I assume they& #39;re taught quickly. I myself never go near them...

They seem to hold a steady diet of squirrels, rabbits, and fish by this point. Their playing and play fighting amongst siblings continues to escalate and get more aerial, athletic, and aggressive each week, yet they never seem to hurt one anotherhttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤷🏻‍♂️" title="Man shrugging (light skin tone)" aria-label="Emoji: Man shrugging (light skin tone)">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🦊" title="Fox face" aria-label="Emoji: Fox face">

There favorite time of year comes soon, in only a few weeks. I imagine their mom is teaching them here. They& #39;ll watch out of sight as lake turtleshttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🐢" title="Turtle" aria-label="Emoji: Turtle"> lay thousands of eggs in these sands, record the locations in their sneaky Fox brains, then spend weeks eating all of themhttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😂" title="Face with tears of joy" aria-label="Emoji: Face with tears of joy">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😬" title="Grimacing face" aria-label="Emoji: Grimacing face">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤷🏻‍♂️" title="Man shrugging (light skin tone)" aria-label="Emoji: Man shrugging (light skin tone)">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🦊" title="Fox face" aria-label="Emoji: Fox face">

It seems odd to me that such an intelligent mammal that exhibits all the social behaviors of pack animals for a good part of the year and carefully raising its young, goes on to live a life of solo solitude till mating again.

They& #39;re almost a perfect mix of dog/cat personality