Saxonville Fox Den Confirmed Still Active in 2023 - Trail Cam Results

 I have had a lot of problems with my trail cameras lately. Earlier in the winter, I left my Meidase P-40 on a branch that I stuck through the ice to make it stand up. It was facing a dead canada goose, in an attempt to get bald eagles feeding on camera. The next day of course, was 50 degrees, causing the ice to melt, and the goose carcass, branch, and camera to fall into the reservoir.

My other one, a Meidase Sl122 pro, had a problem with it's SD card port, so I replaced it with a blazevideo camera, which had a similar problem with it's SD card port. It was very important for me to check all the dens in the area for activity, so instead of returning my new camera, I taped the SD card into it's port. Finally, for the first time all winter, I got trail camera footage...

A few weeks ago, I found a new entrance of the fox den. This one is further upstream, near the upper turf field at FHS. Tracks of both foxes and raccoons were all over the den's mound of dug up earth. I also saw a few raccoons check out the den last year, curious about the scent of fox urine. Out of all the entrances of the den, this new one was definately the most active, judging by the size, and cleanliness of the mound...

                                                              Here are the results of the set:

 for these 2 clips, turn up your volume. Both show the fox parents communicating to each other. They go back and forth between a whining sound, and a soft chuckling. I noticed the same chuckling noise a lot on videos from last year while the kits were still around. A parent would approach the den and then chuckle, signaling the litter to come out to nurse or feed.

                The female clearing the entrance, and pulling sand up, onto the mound. By this point, the fox breeding season is over, and she is almost certainly pregnant. I wonder if the mild weather we've gotten lately will speed up gestation, and cause the kits to come out earlier in march.

In this clip, you can clearly see that this is the male. The male has a twist in it's tail, possibly from a fight with another fox. This confirms 100% that the fox pair this year is the same one from last year...