Close-Up Of A Fox Family
As the weather warms and Spring marches on, naturalists anticipate bees, birds, flowers and fruit from the outdoors. Since relocating to Bella Vista from Minnesota four years ago, Bobbie Loverud now looks forward to observing and photographing the growth of a local fox family each year.
“There’s been a neighborhood fox for as long as I’ve lived here,” Loverud said. Each year, as April approaches, she watches vigilantly for signs of the familiar female fox (called a vixen) and eventually, kits too. The patriarch of the family (called a dog) is occasionally seen coming and going, but he is generally more shy than the matriarch.
“2019 was the best year. The kits were born under our shed and I watched the family from early April until mid-June. I took thousands of pictures,” Loverud said, laughing. “This year I wondered if she would have babies under the shed again. And about April 6, I saw the mom with two little heads peeking up behind her.”
In the weeks since their debut, the two kits have shown themselves to be much like human children — playful, full of energy and endlessly curious.
“They are really skittish, but Mom will let me get about 25 feet away before she gets concerned,” Loverud said.
This tentative trust allows for Loverud to capture countless candid fox family photos from the haven of her patio.
Loverud regularly shares photos and videos on Facebook, displaying the siblings’ shenanigans. The pair can be seen feeding, wrestling with each other, and exploring their new-found environment under the close eye of their mother.
At the end of April, Loverud noticed that the family had relocated two blocks down the street, to another welcoming backyard.
“I still keep an eye out for them when I walk around the neighborhood,” she said. “They’re a part of the community.”