Gray fox family: Part 1 - Dolly & Frances move into the den
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- Опубликовано: 4 окт 2024
- In the summer of 2023 a gray fox family - mama, papa, and a single kit - moved into one of our dens. The mother fox, Dolly, had been visiting the backyard and for quite some time, and we could tell that she was nursing. We'd been hoping that she would bring her family closer and so we were delighted to see her carry a kit in past the water bowl one day in late May.
This video is the first episode in our story of Dolly, her mate Broken Ear, and their little one, Frances during their 2.5-week stay in the magic tree den. As I write this, I don't know how many episodes there will be - we have about 350 hours of great video. (Don't worry, we won't attempt to inflict it all on you, but Dan's edited highlights are still a couple of hours long, so we have some serious cutting to do.)
In this first part, we see Dolly carry Frances - then probably 5 or 6 weeks old - along the trail and into the den. She spent an hour or so settling in and reassuring Frances that her new home was safe and comfortable, and then she took her back outside for a little tour of the playpen area.
Dolly is the most attentive and loving mama fox we've ever had the privilege of spying on with our cameras. She is patient, playful, and very involved. Broken Ear was a good father, too. He was a little battle-weary at the time they moved in, and didn't much want to play, but he and Dolly split guard duty and food gathering, and very clearly (to us) brought up Frances together.
I am writing this in June 2024, and Dolly - with a new mate, Pale Fox (we believe that Broken Ear has died) - is back in the magic tree den with 3 kits. Frances is still around and has a family of her own (we can see that she is nursing). She doesn't visit our backyard very often, but when she does she is immediately identifiable because she inherited her mother's long, elegant tail. We look forward to meeting her kits one day.
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Watching Francis was such a treat
I love foxes, so precious.
Beautiful animals and footage, thanks!
Thank you very much for this great video. This is a wonderful contribution to the world.
Thank you for your very kind words. We are working on the subsequent episodes of the story - we have hours and hours of great video clips and Dan is having fun organizing and narrating them.
better then Disney..thanks
Thank you very much.
Thank you for this back story of dolly and Frances. Y’all’s channel is awesome
That's very kind, EatSimpleFoods!
Thank you.
There will be more episodes soon, Geraldine.
OMG what a fantastic video.
Thank you so much, nAnimalsinthewild. Dan is working on the next installments and we will publish them as soon as we can.
Awesome video, love it
Thank you!
That pup is going to be one cunning fox with one on one teaching
Thank you for this amazing video. I love Frances so much same as Dolly and BE
More episodes to come, Itzy. Frances was in the yard yesterday (Monday). It was great to see her.
A series about Frances, Dolly and BE! 😃😍I am grabbing my popcorn, let´s go!
It might take a little while for us to publish the next one as we're going to be away for a week, but Dan is editing whenever he has time.
Watching this family grow totally changed my perspective on life, thank you for sharing and continuing to share! Seeing the bond between the three of them was once in a life time experience from a perspective no one really gets to see it was beyond amazing!
Thank you, Dooky! What an inspiring comment. Dolly, Broken Ear, and Frances truly were a wonderful family to watch. We're now watching Dolly with her new mate, Pale Fox, and their 3 big kits. Great parents and the kits are a real handful.
@@TexasBackyardWildlifedid you make that den for them?
Sorry for my very late response, @kimsmith6469. Yes, we did make the den.
I love this Dan! Thank you both for letting us riminess. Frances brought us such joy to watch, watching her grow and play. BE was a great dad, he will be missed. Dan & Jane you have done it again, bringing us such wonderful sights. Thank you! 🥰😍💞 🦊🦊
Hiya Sonya. I don't log on as much as I used to, but I'm still out here!
@@alanatolstad4824 I have missed you this year. You should drop in once in a while and say hi :)
@@SonyaBlade68 I do, but it's been hit and miss since I retired last year.
It's our pleasure, Sonya. Thank you so much for your kind comment!
Very good to see you, Alana.
I miss my mom (Foxy), dad (Mr. Fox), and 4 kits from last year!! One of the babies got hit on the highway so I buried it in my flower bed next to the den they spent their first Spring in!
Oh no! What a tragedy! We haven't lost a fox to a car accident in about 3 years (the superstitious part of me hates to tempt fate by even saying that). The world needs more gray foxes, and it's terrible to lose one you've grown to know.
🎶Memories 🎶 Maroon 5
Very good! I saw Frances in the yard yesterday. She is a little beauty. It was great to see her.
Great video, I'm just sad there was only one puppy, I learned that they become too attached to their mother since only children get all their mum's attention. But how did you even get them to use the den after installing the camera and spotlight? Don't they feel intimidated by the human smell or artificial light??
We still see Frances, the little pup. She lives to the west of us somewhere and has a family of her own this year.
Good question about the den lights: Years ago, we put a light into one of our other dens, just to see if anyone seemed to mind, and we realized that the animals seemed to prefer it. We now have 3 dens with lights and 2 without, and the lighted dens get way more business than the dark ones. We suspect that the animals feel safer in spaces with light because they can see - it's easy to make sure there's no one else inside, no snakes, no other threats.
Such a boring life y'all lead! All I have here are birds at the feeders and a random chipmunk, as well as a pile of bear scat …
You have bears? We often joke that if we had bears or mountain lions in our yard our neighbors dog would stop coming over to poo by the water bowl. A girl can dream...
@@TexasBackyardWildlife We HAD bears because our neighbor had his trash cans in his backyard. They would come in nightly to tip them over and dine on whatever was in there. So he built a fenced in area for the cans. We have plenty of elk, deer and raccoons, but alas, no more bears!