Vicki Fox > Guests > PEI Foxes > Vacation

My September 1996 vacation to PEI

On to Maine and the Maritime Provinces of Canada.

Why a Web Site?

Several e-mail friends have expressed interest in my fox "hunting" vacation. Of course, my "weapon" was a 35 mm camera. This was also my first chance to explore Maine and the Maritime Provinces of Canada.

Because all my e-mail friends have WWW access, I thought it would be easier to write my vacation summary and post some pictures as a Web site. This will allow you, my friends, to read this at your leisure rather than reading (ignoring) a long e-mail document.

You can learn even more about the my fox eperiences by reading Janet Wright's journal entries -- go to PEI 1996 Journal.

I want to thank Janet and Tom Wright for inviting me to visit their farm on Prince Edward Island.

The Vacation Journal

Wed, 4 Sep

I flew into Portland, Maine, arriving in the early afternoon. I drove to Freeport (home of LLBean). I did some walking around town and shopping. Didn't buy anything -- I don't have much need for winter clothes in Florida. Weather was warm and nice.

Thr, 5 Sep

Drove from Freeport to Quebec City. This is a long drive. I stopped at the Maine Wildlife Rehabilitation Center and saw some of the critters (fox, bears, skunks, raccoons, coyote, and others). I felt the most for the poor coyote -- he was a new arrival and was clearly recovering from some wounds. This is a center open to the public where they help heal wounded or orphaned critters for eventual release back into the wild. I drove to Capital City (Augusta) and toured the Maine State Museum. Interesting stuff. Then back on the road for a six hour drive into Quebec City. The route I took is a rarely used path into Canada. I actually had to wait at the border for the agent to come out to the booth. The agent was "sleeping" in the office. There was no traffic on this road for a good part of it. Great scenery. I got lost in Quebec but eventually found the hotel (all the fun of matching English road names on the map with the French road signs).

Fri, 6 Sep

I did the tourist thing around Quebec. They speak French in Quebec and all the signs are in French. However, I found most people very friendly and helpful. I probably walked about 4 miles up and down the hills of the town. Very pretty town. I then went to their big shopping mall where I found a nice plush Babs Bunny. Le sigh, no plush foxes yet.

Old Quebec city as viewed from the 27th floor of the government administration building.	A wall surrounds Old Quebec city. My hotel, which was about a block away from where I took this picture, in within Old Quebec. This is one of the seven or eight gates into the old city.

Sat, 7 Sep

The longest drive. Drove from Quebec to Fredericton, New Brunswick. I was travelling from 6am to 4pm. I stopped at a Dunkin Donuts in a little coastal town for breakfast. No one knew English, but I was able to order using jesters and sign language. Sorta fun. Followed the St Lawerence for about 100 miles before taking the turn into New Brunswick. Great drive through the Northern part of the Appalacian mtns. I stopped at several small towns on the way. When I got into Fredericton, checked into the hotel and took a quick nap, it was too late to do much sightseeing in the town. Nice little town, considering it is the capital of NB -- I would have expected a bigger town.

Sun, 8 Sep

On to Prince Edward Island. Drove from Fredericton to Cape Toramine to catch the ferry over to PEI. This drive was more frustrating since it was Sunday morning and it seemed every fisherman or "Sunday driver" was on the road. I was only able to drive about 10 km under the speed limit for about half of the trip. This really cut into my ability to do sightseeing along the way -- I needed to be on PEI before 5pm and I knew the ferry crossing would take at most 2 hours. There was a little tourist theme park in Moncton, NB, that I stopped at. It was interesting and seemed strange in this part of NB. I did make the ferry on time and did get to PEI before 5pm. I checked into this old B&B in Victoria, PEI. The B&B is about three miles from the friends that I am visiting. After checking in, I drive over to my friends. They serve a nice beef stew for dinner. Afterwhich we hop in the car and drive out onto the farm lands to see the foxes. We arrive at the foxes favourite area for the evening, stop the car, and watch. Janet gets out of the car and throws some vegitables and dry cat food onto a mound near the trees. Soon, one of the young foxes comes out and stares at us. Eventually it comes over and eats the food. Joy!

Blaze near the trees where she and her siblings are often found.	This picture was taken from behind the Wright's house looking back onto their farm. Biscuit is next to the garden.

Mon, 9 Sep

I travel to Charlettetown, PEI (the capital city and the birthplace of Canada). I tour the city and the University of PEI. That evening I return to my friends house for another nice dinner and "fox hunt". This time the first fox is joined by two siblings. They have gotten used to us and are a little more brave, but they still stay away (at least 30 feet away).

Tue, 10 Sep

I travel to Summerside, PEI. Summerside is known as the birthplace of the fur farming industry. The black silver fox was the first fur-bearer to be "domesticated" to the extent that it can be raised on a farm. This was a surprise to the fur industry, since they thought the mink would be the first fur-bearer to be "domesticated" in this way. Anyway, there is a lot of sites and monuments to the silver fox and the silver fox industry -- an industry that was only profitable from 1903 to 1933. I think a fox hide looks better on the fox! Back to the Wright's house in time for the evening "fox hunt". This time, the foxes are a little more brave and come to within 20 feet. Unfortunately, it was very late and none of my pictures came out.

Wed, 11 Sep

I travel to Cavandish, PEI. This is the area made popular by the "Anne of Green Gables" novels. The farm house and property owned by a relative of the author and used as the setting for the novels has been set aside as a national park. Funny, more people visit the sites associated with an author and the settings used in a series of novels than visit the monuments and meeting hall associated with the birth of Canada (in Charlettetown). The northern shore is really neat. There are very high sand dunes, which are home to a large number of foxes. I was excited when I found a very clear set of fox tracks in the sand -- they matched exactly what all the guidebooks show. Joy! That evening, I visit the Wright's for the last time. This time, they invite another friend, Scott MacDonald, over for the "fox hunt" and dinner. Scott is a zoologist who worked at the University. He likes to visit and keep track of the foxes. Also, on an earlier visit, he discovered and actually encountered a coyote on the Wright's farm. So, the Wright's invite him over every so often to scout the farm to report on whether he thinks the coyotes are moving onto the property. Coyotes are a big pest on the island and they are known to displace foxes. Janet wants the foxes. So on our "fox hunt" that night, we were greeted by the foxes, one of which came to within 5 feet. Joy. Also, we saw no evidence of coyotes.

Two foxes are a little more brave and come closer.	A sign found on the PEI northshore national park. The fun part was after reading about how foxes like living on the sand dunes, just a few feet away I found a textbook example of fox prints in the sand. This was so cool!

Thr, 12 Sep

The longest drive. I leave PEI around 6am and catch the first ferry to NB. I'm driving all the way to Ellsworth, ME. Ellsworth is the gateway city to Bar Harbor and Acadia NP. I stop in St John, NB to see the famous reversing falls. The tidal change is such that the rapids in the river at this location change direction twice a day. Unfortunately, when I arrive in Ellsworth, a cold front arrived at the same time. Up until this point I have had nearly perfect weather -- upper 70's or low 80's, partly cloudy or clear skies, and comfortable evenings requiring just a light jacket. Now, in Ellsworth I'm greeted by cloudy and intermittent rain. Oh well.

Rain! Visibility is low. However, I still drive through Acadia NP and visit Bar Harbor. I cannot see much and I'm getting wet. However, what little I did see was very pretty. I then drive back to Portland. It rained the entire day.

Sat, 14 Sep

Back home. I caught an early flight home.

Summary

I had fun.

Reversing Falls near St Johns, New Brunswick.	Some of the foxy items I found while on vacation.