Campsite Friends
During our stay at Rising Sun Campground we were visited by plenty of critters trying to make a living off of the camp ground residents. There is signage everywhere and strict enforcement rules for open food left for even a few moments, and these guys really drove home how quickly they could take advantage of an opportunity.
While my son Noah and I were out for a walk, we had just made it back to our campsite when, on our very short and dense trail up to the tent, Noah came across an awesome little red fox!
Red fixing hiding on the trail to our campsite, looking for a quick bite to eat.
He yelled out that he had a fox right next to him and as any good dad does to protect his son…
I quickly ran over to the car to grab my camera and 400mm lens ;-)
The fox was quite accustomed to people, and we were able to follow from a distance as it moved from campsite to campsite looking for a quick grab from someone who’d turned their back for just a moment.
The fox you see in these images was a single Red Fox basically using the campgrounds for a quick meal. Foxes are of course cunning and will use every advantage including quite often living near humans to take advantage of structures or meal opportunities. The kits (baby fox) can even become quite curious and playful with other animals and humans.
The mixture in coat length you see on this particular fox is simply due to a transition between the summer and winter coats, much like the mountain goats in the previous post. I imagine it eats healthy both on table scraps (sadly), but also by feeding on the squirrels and other animals coming in to benefit from the campsites.
While all images below are available for print (just ask!) These few are already in the store and ready to be shipped to you directly!
There is nothing more cunning than a fiery red fox as it slides through campsites looking to sneak some of your food ;-) My younger son and I followed this fox from a distance and observed its behavior slipping in and out of the foliage, but also often trotting along the road with complete confidence. This beautiful animal is a resident of the rugged landscape of Glacier National Park.