Vicki Fox > Guests > PEI Foxes > 2001 Journal 3Q

PEI Foxes - 2001 Journal : July to September

July 22

Haven't seen any foxes since before we left for Italy. Most depressing. However, Scott MacDonald (a biologist who used to be on the fox newsgroup) is visiting from Alberta and after making a careful examination of tracks around our farm, finds recent fox pup tracks, adult fox tracks, and - coyote tracks. He says the foxes are still here, but have drastically changed their habits. It's true - we haven't seen them since the evening of the day we discovered the fox pup that had been killed by a coyote. It is encouraging that they're still here. And more encouraging, they are leaving tracks behind the garden. So they are close to the house. The crows aren't so agressive since the foxes are gone. The racoons, however, are even eating our flowers. They seem to prefer yellow ones.

July 25

There's a sandy patch of soil behind our garden. I've been raking it each night and leaving food there. I find adult fox tracks along with juvenile tracks each morning - as well as cat tracks and raccoon. Also brand new scat by the brook yesterday and new scat on the new Anniversary Road today. Little by little, maybe????? Each time I find scat I leave some food there hoping someone will get the message. The bad news is I also found coyote scat on the Loop Road.

July 30

Oh happy day! Spotted a silver fox tonight. I called "kit kit" as I drove along in the golf cart without any real hope. There has been lots of new scat on the "raceway" just after the hutka and before the lane dips to the brook. I've been leaving food in a spot there which is always gone the next day. Also lots of fox tracks in the dirt along the lane. Anyway, I had just passed the hutka when a silver fox ran out of the potato patch, across the lane, and into the hedge row. I didn't see the head, but had a good view of the shoulders, back, hips, and lovely, lovely tail. The white tip was in start contrast to the black tail.

Scott MacDonald was out today and examined all the scat that has been left in the last few days. It's almost as if there is a scat war going on between the coyotes and the foxes. We found both kinds within yards of each other - and more new scat left each day. Further, Scott found scat no older than a week on the old log den. There was new scat in the lane by the log den. There are tracks of both species all over the place. Scott remarked he has seen more foxes in the daytime around the countryside than ever before. He has no scientific data for this, but his guess is that the coyotes have pushed the foxes to the point where there is no range left. Therefore, he wonders if the foxes have adjusted to the situation and are in the process of becoming diurnal and letting the coyotes have the night time hunting.

Scott also exhumed the pup we found killed on the Loop Road. The flesh had pretty well gone and he was able to piece the skull back together. He confirmed that from the bite marks it was definitely a coyote kill. Rather than killing it for food, Scott thinks it was probably killed to prevent it from being competition for a food source when it grew up. The pup would have been much easier to kill than an adult would have been. Now the last of the news. In examining tracks by the brook, Scott is fairly sure he spotted bobcat tracks. Supposedly there are no bobcats on the Island, but a man killed one not too far from here last year. There have been reports of bobcat sightings this year, so we may have a new predator to worry about.

July 31

Left food at noon today. Went back to check at 6:30 tonight and food gone and fresh scat left as a "thank you". Contact being re-established. (I hope)

Aug 4

No sightings, but lots of fresh scat. Scott killed a crow and we tossed it up by one of our food sites. The crow was gone the following morning. That day Tom found a dead crow by the mail box. Couldn't find a mark on it so have no idea how it died. He tossed it in the same place as the first crow - but this time it took 3 days for it to disappear. I've been raking the soft ground and lots of fox, raccoon, skunk, coyote, crow and house cat tracks. A wonderful new feeding site on the new Anniversary Road (a another road crossing the brook) and scat left daily. I just don't know WHEN they'll come out and let me see them. I'm going to get cross pretty soon. (Now that's a threat that struck fear in the hearts of my children.)

Sept 2

7:00 p.m. Saw a silver fox pup at my hutka. She squatted to "mark" so we know she's a female. Still in the gawky stage so we guessed no older than 6 to 7 months; definitely one of this year's litter. She heard the car and skaddled. We did a full tour of the woods and checked the food drops on our way out. Nothing had been touched. We're guessing the silver fox male we've spotted around here the past two years sired her. Lots of guessing, but absolutely thrilled to have a view.

Sep 3

We finally got some rain on Saturday. We had put down a load of shale by the brook so the rain made it nice and soft for tracks. There were coyote tracks there that were ENORMOUS. The stride when from 16" up to 30", and the straddle from 8 or 9" (where the stride was the smallest) up to about 4" at the maximum stride. This doesn't make sense I know but I had Tom look at it too. The tracks were up to 4" from back of pad to (but not including) toe nails. They ended at the brook. Tom climbed down and said you could see where something had slid down next to the culvert and a partial track was there, but it appeared that the critter must have gone into the water. But - no fresh coyote scat anywhere.

Sep 7

Fresh, very fresh (like a few minutes old) bobcat scat on the circle road. Had my pictures of tracks and scat with me and it was textbook!!

Sep 8

Joy, oh joy - Gypsy returns. I've periodically left tid bits at a new feeding site; a big rock at the top of the hill before the brook. From time to time there has been scat left, but the food is always gone. The past two nights the food has been gone before I could complete my circuit. I decided tonight I would park in the middle of the field to see what happens to the treats. A neighbor's cat? A coyote? A fox? After waiting 15 minutes, a dark red fox pup about 6 or 7 months old came thru the potato field. She looked at the car for several seconds and then proceeded to the rock. She studied the car again, and then jumped on the rock and thoroughly enjoyed the hot dog. She trotted back thru the potato field, coming a little closer to the car this time and seemed unconcerned.

The age old story . . . something told me to take the camera tonight but the battery was dead from lack of use. You can bet I'll have it with me, fully recharged, tomorrow night.

Fresh fox scat was left on the 'raceway' where I had seen the silver fox. I left Fruit Loops this afternoon. Tonight the Fruit Loops were gone and more fresh scat was left. Decided to call the silver fox Gilda. (For those who are too young, Rita Hayworth made a slinky black satin dress very famous in the movie Gilda.)

Sep 9

nothing! Sat for an hour with camera in hand and no fox(es). Finally came come when it was too dark to see the trees. It's been interesting that the past week has seen much activity by the hollow log den. Trails have developed all around it and heading toward the openings on the opposite side of the hollow log. The mound is covered with raspberry bushes. Fresh scat has been by the road twice this past week.

Sep 10

a red fox tail disappeared into the hedge row by my hutka. I don't know if it was adult or youngster - just saw the red and the white tip. That was the only sighting tonight. (sigh) I must have surprised something about 100 feet from the log den as there was a half-eaten mouse in the road. Yuk!

Sep 11

Happy news on a sad day. (terrorist attack on NY and Wash DC) Drove up to the new food rock (top of the hill before the brook) and there was Gypsy sitting in the middle of the potato field watching. I video'd for about 3 seconds as I was in a hurry to get the food bits down so I could get some "good" video. As I was turning the car around she moved into the headland of the potato field; the sun was shining on her and she looked lovely. I thought of taking some video then but decided against it as I'd get better later on. You guessed it, I waited and waited and waited and she never showed up. I left to return home and as I reached the bottom of the spruce trees I startled Gilda who was enjoying the tidbits at the food drop there. It took two hands on the car to cross the culvert and by that time she had run into the spruce trees. A darling wiggle to her rear end as she runs.

Sep 12

Driving to the log den for a food drop, I couldn't believe my eyes. A beautiful pheasant was sitting in the middle of the road. Stopped the car and got some video. Waited - it didn't move. So, drove to within 10 feet and got more video. It finally flew off. Went to the new big rock food drop, left food, and situated myself in the potato field to wait. Finally!!! Got lots and lots and lots of video of a new adult male fox. He is a gorgeous dark auburn with beautiful should high black stockings and a fully black tail with a lovely white tip. When he finished eating he lifted his leg and marked a potato plant, scrubbed his fanny along the dirt (sign of worms), and left a little scat. I was so thrilled with finally getting camera and fox together I taped it all. As I was driving home past the hutka, Gilda was seen diving into the hedge row. So, once again missed my chance.

Came home thrilled with the evening's adventure. Plugged the camera into the TV to show Tom and our guests the results of the video . . . only to find that somehow the camera had rewound and all of tonight's video was done over all the "baby pictures" of this June. To make it worse, I had never transferred them to VHS tape. If the national tradegy weren't such a horror, I'd be tempted to cry over losing all the baby pix. I'm soooo sorry. Meant to get them off to Mike last week but just been too busy.

Sep 14

Went out for dinner last night so left food early and not present to video any visitors. Tonight I left tid bits and no sooner got parked and the video camera ready when the adult dark auburn male showed up. What a noble looking creature. I have named him Gus. The only thing that bothers me a little is that when he finished eating he did a tiny dip of his hips - in a mili-second squat as if he were marking. Now I have the video from two nights ago showing him lifting his leg. So either I have correctly see the 'marking mini-squat' tonight or misintrepreted the leg lift the other night. Therefore, if at a later point Gus becomes Gussie, you're forwarned. He loves to pose as if he knows how handsome he is. He trotted along a potato row when he could find no more Fruit Loops or hot dog pieces to eat at the rock. I was parked in a swale of the headland of the potato field. As I got back on the lane I looked at where I had been parked and there he sat, in my spot, unconcernedly cleaning himself as he watched me drive off.

Got to the bottom of the spruce trees hoping that because I was much earlier I might get some footage of Gilda. The food was gone and so was any critter that had eaten it. Tomorrow I may spend the time watching for her.

Sep 15

My houseguests came on the fox hunt with me. We were yakking and talking as I drove up the lane by the hutka. There in front of us, running down the lane away from us, was Gilda. I had to grab the camera, get it on, etc. and don't know if I got video of her or not. At least my guests got to see her and they agree she's a beauty.

Left the food on the rock and barely got the car in position to watch when Gus showed up. He had obviously been waiting in the hedge row. This is very encouraging that he knows the sound of the Toyota (not the old green one, but the new Rav4) and recognizes it means food bits. He posed nicely for distant picture taking. (I had parked about 50 feet away).

Sep 16

Left bits of a pancake, some bran muffin, a few Fruit Loops, and a pork chop bone at the big stone. Noticed fresh scat on the stone, left sometime within the past 24 hours. Gus came about 5 minutes after I had parked. It was interesting to watch him eat. He ate everything else after sniffing the pork chop bone, leaving it for last. Obviously a smart fox; he wasn't going to run off with the bone first thing to cache it and take a chance on someone else eating the other treats. He kept pricking his ears and looking down toward the brook. His behavior certainly indicated another fox in the area. Kept my fingers crossed, but Gilda didn't appear. After cleaning up the crumbs from the rock, Gus picked up the pork chop bone and trotted off through the potato field. When got was adjacent to the car he stopped and looked at us, posed for a moment, and then trotted on. I had parked closer tonight; each night I inch closer.

Sep 17

Tonight was a hat trick! Several days ago I decided to discontinue leaving tidbits at the hutka and Sunset Ridge because the crows were back. As the Toyota passed the hutka tonight on the way to the big rock, a fox crashed thru the hedgerow and ran into the field toward Sunset Ridge. I immediately wheeled the car around and thru the space behind the hutka. The fox had stopped by SS Ridge and I got some video. It looked like Gypsy but I wasn't sure. I threw some dog food on the porch of the hutka and slowly drove closer to SS Ridge. The fox ran into the middle of the field keeping about 60 feet between us. I left a hand full of pork roast trimmings at SS Ridge along with some Fruit Loops and a little bran muffin. I stayed there for a while videoing. By now I had determined the fox was either Gypsy or Gum Drop. I'm 80% sure it was Gypsy - the darker of the two. She sat in the field watching me, waiting for me to leave. Absolutely no fear which makes her behavior like Gypsy's as a young pup. I continued to video so finally she put her head down and just waiting. All I could see at this point were her ears sticking up above the straw stubble. Not wanting her to get disgusted and leave, I decided to leave the area to her. I drove down the lane past the hutka toward the big rock. There, about 20 feet in front of me, was Gus running toward the rock. Evidentally my delay with Gypsy caused him frustration and he was coming to see what happened to his dinner. He jumped into the hedge row behind the rock as I left pork trimmings, oatmeal cookie, and Fruit Loops. No sooner had I parked (in my usual area only several feet closer tonight) than he was on the rock eating the treats. What a gorgeous creature he is. After eating he sat next to the rock and cleaned himself. He kept looking over at us just to check, but seemed totally unconcerned.

Driving back home I checked the food drop at the bottom of the spruce trees just in time to see Gilda disappearing into the brush. Once again there wasn't time to get my camera. My neighbor, who accompanied me, couldn't get over how pretty she was. One of these days I'll quit fumbling for the camera and JUST WATCH, and perhaps I can get a good view of her. Another note on our wildlife - doing a scat check deep in the woods today (to see what and who is dispersing and traveling thru) I came across a pair of pheasants. Don't know if one of them was the same one I saw the other night (several fields away) or they, too, are passing thru. What stupid birds they are. I got to within 10 feet again with my golf cart. Even then they didn't fly away, but casually walked into the brush.

Sep 18

It appears as if I have 3 ranges - or 3 different foxes at 3 different feeding sites. The bottom of the spruce trees (Gilda?), Sunset Ridge (Gypsy) and the big rock (Gus). By the time I get to the big rock to leave things the tidbits at the other areas are gone. However, fresh scat was left in its place. Got a little video of Gus tonight but made haste for the other areas to catch a view - but too late.

Sep 24

My neighbors did the "fox hunt/food drop" while I was in Chicago. They saw Gilda several times on the big rock, along with Gus. They also saw another fox in the field several times. Tonight we got our signals crossed and my neighbors went out with fresh chicken carcasses and I went out with rib bones. They didn't know I was back yet. We both decided to watch. Gus, true to form, came to the big rock. My husband was out of the car and tho he has half a field away, it bothered Gus, so he retreated to the hedge row. (Gus - not my husband) I decided to leave and see if I could catch Gilda on some video. On my way back down to the bottom of the spruce trees I saw Gypsy trotting across the field heading toward Sunset Ridge. Got some good video of her. continued on to the bottom of the spruce trees and my heart raced when I saw something black nibbling away. It had no fear of me which made me think it couldn't be Gilda. I got closer and saw that it was Felis domesticus - a black and white very well fed cat. I shoo'd it away and headed back to the rock to pick up Tom. As I was passing the hutka, Gypsy was at SS Ridge polishing off the chicken. She posed nicely for me. I got to the rock and my neighbors were gone, as was Tom. I figured they had given him a ride. I went to check the old log den and surprised Gus as he was coming back to the big rock. He leaped and turned mid-air and ran for cover, tail waving proudly. No sign of Gilda anywhere. Also no sign of Tom. Came back home and found him and my neighbors talking in the yard. A bob cat was spotted several houses away, and Tom found muddy tracks on our deck that matched our picture of bob cat tracks.

Sep 25

Our oldest son Bob is visiting from California. He went along on the fox hunt tonight. As we were coming up to the hutka we saw Gypsy crossing the field by Sunset Ridge. She had a mouse in her mouth. She would stop and look at us, trot a few more yards, stop and look at us, go a few yards more, etc. Giving her human motives, it looked as if she wanted to cache the mouse but didn't want us to see where. On to the old log den to leave tid bits and Bob said "Look - there's a black fox". Gilda was in the brush, very difficult to see. I grabbed the camera and got some video, but not very good. Mostly of her ears sticking up from the weeds. Moving on the the big rock, Gus made us wait for 10 minutes before he made an appearance. Tho while we were leaving the food he was sitting in the clearing down by the brook looking up the hill at us. After eating he trotted up toward the car, took a good look, and then went into the potato field. He had a couple of spare rib bones in his mouth. I do hope he doesn't plan on caching them in the potato field as that one is scheduled to be dug tomorrow. I wonder how many caches foxes lose to potato digging.

INFORMATION FROM Simon Gadbois re: squat versus leg lift

In canids, except domestic dogs, the "style" of urination is more a manifestation of social status than of gender. In wolves and coyotes for example, if you are dominant (male OR female) you urinate "high" (includes "raised leg urination" or rlu's and "standing urinations" or "su's") and if you are subordinate (again, male or female), you urinate as low as possible (squat urination, low squat urination, etc...). So it has the same function as other social "displays" or social body language (e.g., tucked tail, arched back, etc.) AND it serves a more specific purpose: if are dominant, you want to advertise it, "spray" around as much as you can your little pheromones, but if you are subordinate, you want to make sure you are not provoking the sensitivities of more dominant individuals so you pee low and usually much less. Very dominant wolves will sometimes climb backward on a rock to get their urine as high as possible sending the message "a big, tall, large wolf was here". So, in wolves or foxes, the principles exposed above apply to territory advertising as well.

Only because of domestication, in dogs, do we see females systematically "subordinate" in urination style (female dogs bred for submissive behaviour in most cultures) and males "dominant".

In foxes, not as social as coyotes or wolves, you may see a bit of a gender bias, but essentially, within a litter, you could see patterns like described above or even for territory demarcation, depending on the context, the substrate, etc.

Sep 26

Out for dinner. Didn't return until after dark, but decided to do a fast circuit of fox food sites to leave some milk bone and bread. As we were coming up the reopened lane we saw Gilda. She quickly ran into the spruce trees, but left her tail sticking out for a few seconds before she pulled it in after her. Didn't bother to take the camera since it was so dark. The encouraging thing is it appeared she was waiting for the 'catering truck' - or at least heard it coming and came out to investigate. No other sightings.

Sep 27

Bob and I went out at the usual time with a very elegant and balanced dinner for the foxes. Steak trimmings, french fries, califlour, carrots, and broccoli. Gypsy was waiting at the bottom of the spruce trees as we drove up. She moved off as we neared the food drop site, but remained about 80 feet away, relaxed in the wheat stubble as she watched us leave the food. We left and did the rest of the drops. Waited by the big rock for nearly 15 minutes for Gus to show up but as dusk got darker and I feared photos wouldn't be good, we left without seeing him. Drove around by the log den to see if there was any action but the food was still there. Strangely, when checking the first food site at the bottom of the spruce trees where we saw Gypsy, the food was still there. I wonder why she didn't come right over as soon as we left and feast.

Sep 28

Parked on the hill overlooking the log den this time. After a 30 minute wait a light colored fox came out and looked around before ducking back into the brush. It looked lighter than Gypsy and perhaps older. Not sure. Gus came along, sniffed at the food, stared at the spot where the other fox came out. Stood there staring for at least 3 minutes. Since we had the windows closed in the car, don't know if he made any sound or not. Suddenly the previous fox burst forth crawling up to Gus with its belly scraping the ground and with its tail going 60 miles an hour. I was afraid it whip the fox right around. Anyway, it stayed down in the belly scrub position, it's tail going, and did a kissy kiss with Gus. The new fox jumped around and then settled down to eat, shoulder to shoulder with Gus. It then did the tail drape, with its tail draped over Gus' shoulders. After eating the new fox jumped over Gus, did another belly scrub, jumped on top of Gus, more tail wagging and belly scrub. Gus started looking in the opposite direction - the direction of the big rock - and eventually trotted off leaving the new fox to glean what was left of the food drop. The new fox has light colored hips very similar to Gus'. I wondered if it was Gum Drop. Gum Drop was much more shy than Gypsy and lighter in color. However, the new fox looked bigger than Gypsy. I don't know if it was Gus' mate or offspring. Anyway, a wonderful fascinating encounter. That was the good news. The bad news is the battery on my video camera went dead. It's recharging now so lets hope I have similar viewing tomorrow night. On our way back we passed Gus in the field. He stayed about 20 feet from the car.

Sep 29

Didn't get to see the display that we saw last night, but at least solved some mysteries. Gum Drop exists. Her fanny is exactly like Gus'. The same wide light colored band around the hips. Even similar light patches on the shoulders. However, where Gus is a dark auburn, Gum Drop is lighter in color. Also, her tail isn't as full. The white brush at the end of Gus' tail is close to 3", where Gum Drop has a 'thinner' tail and a white brush that looks more like an artist's brush. In reviewing the entire video, I see that it was Gum Drop at the big rock 2 nights ago. It was also Gum Drop belly scrubbing to Gus last night. Tonight we parked on the hill overlooking the log den. On the way up we saw Gypsy who patiently walked to the food drop site, saw there was nothing there, heard the car, moved to one side so we could make the drop, waited until we moved off, and then moved in to eat. Watching the log den, Gilda made an appearance but quickly disappeared before I could get the camera turned on. Bob got a good view while I was getting the camera in hand. He says she is gorgeous. I think I should have named her Garbo. Gus came to the food drop via the field, passing the car within 3 feet. He ate for a bit and took a chicken back off to cache. While he was gone, Gum Drop appeared from behind us, passing the car on the other side within 15 feet. We kept saying to ourselves "how did Gus get all the way around us in a few seconds." Finally, we realized it was a different fox, tho with very similar markings but a smaller tail. I'm assuming it's Gum Drop because of the Gypsy/Gum Drop siblings she was the lighter of the two. Gum Drop went off "stage left" with a chicken leg bone as Gus entered "stage right", pausing mid stride to lift his leg and urinate on top of some Goldenrod. As we were returning to the house, Gypsy picked us up at Sunset Ridge and ran next to us for several yards. Wow - you really need your wits about you watching this bunch.