There is a group of foxes on San Juan Island in northwest Washington State, where I live. They are non-natives who were brought here in the 1930s by islanders who were trying to come up with a solution to deal with the island’s other major invasive species, rabbits (which seem to have arrived sometime in the 1850s with the early British settlers) . It didn’t really work out – foxes were mostly scattered across the entire island, while rabbits remained stationed at its southern end. But since foxes are not good swimmers, the species has not spread. They have remained here and have become accepted members of the island’s ecosystem, having survived some difficult years in the 1990s.
These are red foxes, but there is a black/silver (technically, “melanist”) species among them. So some are red and some are black, sometimes in the same family. Each spring, fox mothers carry the droppings from their crews, and the islanders enjoy watching them grow, while trying to keep them safe from passing cars. (It’s also taboo to feed them—the naturalists dealing with the hungry populations we saw in the ’90s realized the problem was their dependence on humans. They thrive when they’re on their own, because there’s plenty of prey for them here.) Happening, I was able to enjoy a few afternoons last month by observing it from a decent distance with my telephoto lens in hand. I hope you enjoy the results.
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