Baffling how people inveteted stuff like this without the internet, phones to contact other knowledgeable folk or even electricity. Do you own anything cooler than that?
"Where did this come from!?" "I don't know, its a gift from the gods, let just eat it real quick! " "But, is there more!? Are they coming back!? " "They are gods, who knows!" "Lets get outta here, back to the den, tell mom."
Sadly, they can't tell mom. Both parents appear to be missing. The entire family should have moved on by now, but they haven't, and I haven't seen the parents in quite a while. They may have been shot by hunters, or eaten by coyotes. If they're dead, we won't have a new litter next spring, unless these remaining kits stay here and find mates.
Thanks for sharing. We might be seeing some baby chipmunks sometime soon. The robins which return every year are still feeding the first three which hatched about 3 weeks ago but as if that's not enough to keep them busy, they built another nest and there are 4 eggs in it. Sometimes the eggs in the 2nd batch aren't fertilized and the nest is abandoned. That's what happened with the nest of 8 eggs which the mallard ducks had made under a fir tree in the front yard. The female had done a good job of trying to incubate the eggs for some time and she was not happy that they were "no good". She actually pushed each of them out of the nest and cracked them with her bill.
Sorry, Mike. For some reason I never received a notification that you had commented. I would never purposely ignore you. Nature is so good to us. I hope you get/got photos and videos of your baby birds and chipmunks. I'd love to see them.
@@lynnb-TruckCastreauJr NP Lynn. With the comments I leave various places, the activities I'm involved in and the gov't censorship almost everywhere, there are plenty of comments I make which no one actually does see.
Dad usually does the hunting, and it's all hours of the day, right up until nightfall. Once it's dark outside, he stays put to avoid the coyotes possibly killing him. The coyotes got one of last year's litter of kits, so they are a huge threat to foxes.
That's a lot of mouths to feed! Yesterday as my wife and i were sitting on the deck enjoying our lunch, a solitary coyote just on the other side of the fence (100 feet away) pounced and came up chomping on a rodent. My wife wasn't impressed. She chased it away and I kept eating. If it wasn't for the carnivores we'd be covered in varmints.
As much as I despise coyotes for stalking and killing our outdoor cats, I'm still very thankful to have them, and especially the foxes, to keep the rodents in check. Where we live we're inundated with gophers and mice, and they both do a ton of damage! The predators do a great job of keeping the numbers down.
@@lynnb-TruckCastreauJr For the foxes to have 7 kits must be an indication of a good supply of food for them, or is that a higher than usual number? The only large predators we get besides coyotes are the occasional weasel and I saw one fisher as road kill in front of our place. Lots of birds of prey, including more frequent sightings of bald headed eagles.
@@mikemol5995 Food is very plentiful here, and their diet preference seems to be gophers, which is great for us. An average fox litter is four to six, so seven is slightly above the average, but they can have up to eight and on very rare occasions even more. I've been seeing bald eagles here, lately, too. I was shocked! We've always had hawks, but never eagles, so this is a treat.
We've got far too many coyotes in our area for any foxes to stand a chance. We're right on the western edge of urban sprawl and the concrete and asphalt jungle is getting closer every day. The foxes at your farm must be very intelligent to survive - I've been watching coyotes for 30 years and they don't miss a trick!
We've got a huge pack of coyotes here, so I was both shocked and thrilled when this fox family moved in. They got one of the kits last year, and it broke my heart. Wiley, evil creatures they are!
Nothing on this earth lasts forever and it's sad when something we've enjoyed and appreciated is gone. Imagine what it will be like in our next lives to see the lion laying down with the lamb. Life as it was intended for us will exceed anything we can imagine. Lots of love.😍💯❤
@@lennymalley745 Given the truths you were speaking, I can understand why you're being banned everywhere. Our overlords don't like the truth! Much love back to you. 🥰
I love these beautiful critters too, and I'm elated that they chose our home as their birthing place. They come every spring, and disappear before the end of summer.
@@lynnb-TruckCastreauJr I can relate (somewhat) I lived on Vancouver Island for 16+ years. I'm not a fan of the ocean but some of the views were nice. I'm an Alberta boy.. I need my mountain's more than ocean.. 😎
@@RobHellfire666 Why not both? I love the mountains too. My dream property would be near a creek or river IN the mountains. Maybe some day, but not likely.
I was shocked when they showed up for the first time last spring...2021. Sadly, they have now moved on. Once the kits have learned enough hunting skills, the parents take them away in order to ensure they don't remember the location of Mom's birthing den.
@@RobHellfire666 I'm hoping so. She has birthed her litter here two years in a row. Once a fox finds a birthing den where she feels safe and secure, she comes back every year. I will know next spring!
@@williamholness2089 I am sad that they left, but I'm also now terribly worried. For 3 nights, after they moved on, one of the adults came back screaming and looking for their mate. I think that one of them may have been attacked by the coyotes. If it was the male that is gone, the female will find a new mate, and be back next spring for her new litter. If it was the female that was attacked, then we won't see them again next year because it was SHE who chose our granary as her birthing den. Of course we have no way of knowing until the spring.
@@williamholness2089 Yes, they do. As soon as the kits have learned enough hunting skills, the parents lead them away to find new territories. They don't want the kits to remember the birthing den for next year because they would be a danger to the new litter.
No, that would be impossible. I can't tell the kits apart. If the adults show up again next spring for their new litter, I may name them, but the kits are out of the question.
