San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
Observing curious adventures of the gray fox — on camera and off
Some moments are forever etched in our mind, like the summer evening I sat with a group of outdoor buddies around a flickering campfire while neon stars twinkled overhead in the inky mountain darkness.
The blended smell of pines, summer grass and wood smoke combined as a kind of camping cologne that only nature can create.
The crackling fire and a chorus of frogs were our symphony.
It’s a mental image from more than a half-century ago that often comes back to life at the smell of campfire smoke or forest scents.
That evening was also my first encounter with a gray fox, a secretive, dainty and beautiful creature that inhabits San Diego wildlands from coastal canyons to desert slopes.
They are also curious, as I discovered that night and many times since.
Many people here have never seen a gray fox in the wild and might be surprised how many there are.
That evening our nocturnal visitor studied us from the edge of the campfire glow. Sometimes we could only see his eyes reflecting the dim firelight.
Like all good Boy Scouts, we had cooked hamburgers for dinner but left the frying pans to be washed later.
I’m sure the fox was curious about our activity but also far more interested in the lingering smell from the cooling pans.
After we turned in for the
night, Mr. Fox boldly jumped up on the table, and we could hear the clanking as he licked the metal frying pans clean.
Since that time, I have had only a few encounters with foxes, mostly a quick glimpse on an early morning hike or in the headlights while bouncing along a dusty back road.
That changed about a year ago when I began an effort to collect images of San Diego wildlife by placing high-resolution digital cameras at remote wilderness locations.
The cameras are equipped with motion triggers and flash units all connected electronically. Anything moving past the camera will be recorded.
My primary goal was to capture photos of a mountain lion, which a friend
described as ghost hunting because of their stealthy and reclusive nature.
So far, a mountain lion has been my most elusive subject. I’ve captured images of two with trail cameras, but they have been ghosts when it comes to getting that high-quality, well-lit digital image.
Over the past year I have photographed bobcats, rabbits, opossums, ringtails, wild turkeys, raccoons, coyotes, deer, skunks, squirrels and mice routinely as they go about their forest duties.
And I soon learned there is a thriving population of gray foxes in San Diego County. They are everywhere, often showing up several times a night.
In fact, foxes have been the most frequent camera visitors.
In addition to the surprising number of visitors, my eye in the woods has taught me that wild animals are incredibly tuned in to their environment.
Despite the equipment being hidden and camouflaged, animals notice the camera, trigger sensor and flash units, often pausing to study them before moving on.
Foxes and bobcats are particularly inquisitive, often coming up to satisfy their curiosity by sniffing these objects. Once satisfied, they will then ignore the equipment not normal to their wild environment.
The remote wildlife camera has allowed me to become good friends with several of these beautiful little animals over the past year with momentary peeks into their lives.
I’m sure they have no idea I even exist.
I’ve also learned that these small canines, averaging about 10 pounds in weight, seem to have a regular routine as they make their nightly rounds in search of food.
Gray foxes are considered midlevel carnivores serving a critical role in controlling the rodent population.
Their home range is not very large, varying between 200 to 1,500 acres, where they primarily feed on mice, woodrats, gophers and rabbits but also on small birds, manzanita berries and grass.
Because of their size, the gray fox can be prey for coyotes and mountain lions, so they have developed a cat-like ability to climb trees and jump from branch to branch to escape danger.
This climbing ability also allows them to sometimes use elevated tree hollows as more secure den locations away from ground predators.
I will continue ghost hunting with high hopes of getting that epic image of a mountain lion.
In the meantime, I will enjoy the frequent visual visits with the gray fox and friends and from time to time will introduce you to some of these wonderful creatures of Southern California’s wildlands.