This shot was taken quite at the beginning of my wildlife photography “journey”. I always enjoyed nature, but usually only photographed my dog, until I observed foxes for an essay I wrote for biology lessons in school and decided I want to try to photograph and learn even more about foxes.
The photo was taken in a nature reserve. They don’t get hunted there and therefore are seen during the day as well. Something I found true with all areas with low hunting pressure that I’ve been to so far.
I’m not the biggest fan of camouflaging. While I do use it occasionally, the best way I have found to photograph them, especially young ones, is just being present. If you put in the time, I found that the foxes usually get either curious or see you as something natural, not dangerous. Either way, they come close eventually. I had several foxes nipping at my shoes already like this, as well as foxes catching mice just a couple meters away from me!
This was my tactic with these foxes too. Like this, I could follow and document them for several months while they grew up. Their den lied in a sandy valley. Sometimes I found one or two sleeping in that area during the day, but when dawn set, they met up at this spot, got really active and often played a lot together, just like in the image.
The time with them taught me a lot about their social behavior. I saw them fight, hunt, sleep, groom – and of course play, which is always my favorite to watch! You really have to giggle a lot watching foxes play with their quirky personalities.
Since then, I had been photographing and following fox cubs every spring/summer and had much more amazing encounters with foxes and also other wildlife. 🙂
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