Foxes

When mom’s away, the kits will play! To me, there is no better experience than to spend time with the wildlife that call Devil’s Lake State Park home.

Normally, when we see red foxes in the park, or any larger wildlife for that matter, it’s through the lens of our “critter cams“. (These are the trail cameras we have placed out in the backcountry of Devil’s Lake State Park.) So it’s a rare occasion to get to sit down and watch these little foxes “live”.

Red foxes are amazing survivors. They live all around the planet and can handle almost any habitat. In fact, it’s because they are so well adapted and accepting of human environments that we get the chance to watch this family grow.

In the wild, red foxes will eat rodents, rabbits, birds, and other small game. It is their fondness for rodents that make them our friend when it comes to controlling lyme disease!

Being so adaptable, they will also take advantage of human garbage. It’s easy pickin’ at a busy park and campground like Devil’s Lake State Park where this family of at least 6 should have no problem finding food!

Here are some more photos of the kids.. (Or kits!)

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What an amazing sight! As I often repeat in this blog, Devil’s Lake State Park is much more than a big beach, 3 popular trails, and campground. It’s not just a bottomless cash machine where parking lots are king. It’s beauty, both obvious and subtle. It’s history. It’s conservation. It’s nature. It’s a shrinking community of wildlife the midst of a global mass extinction crisis. Each deserving respect and protection.

My hope is that as the Wisconsin DNR develops a new master plan for the park over the coming year, that we take stock of the changes over the last 20 years and that the park’s natural environment, and wildlife particularly, will finally get some respect and protection before moments like this are lost forever.

*For the safety of the wildlife, we will often share our discoveries, but may not share the exact location.