Another year, another pair of fox kits for the Michigan in Pictures family! Last year I christened a pair Oliver & Charlotte based on Michigan’s most popular baby names. Both Oliver & Charlotte have been dethroned, so please put your hands together for Noah & Amelia (#2 & #4 in the US respectively).
TP took this photo on Sunday. See more on his Flickr!
More foxes on Michigan in Pictures.
Red Fox Pups (Vulpes vulpes) by John Dykstra
The Social Security Administration has shared the 100 most popular baby names for each state in 2020 to their online list. For Michigan in 2020, the most popular male name was Oliver & with Charlotte as our most popular female name. Amelia, Olivia, Eva & Emma completed the top five girl’s names while Noah, Liam, Henry & Elijah rounded out the top boy names.
The lists go back to 1960 when David & Mary led the way.
While John didn’t report the actual names of these two when he shared the photo back in 2009, the little guy on the left is definitely an Oliver! See more in John’s Michigan gallery on Flickr.
Love this shot of two fox kits!! Julie observes “Blessed are the curious for they shall have adventures…” and we have to agree!
See more in Julie’s Wildlife gallery & stay curious people!!
Fox Trio by TP Mann Photography
Back on June 1st, I shared a photo of two fox kits by TP Mann. As you can see, they’ve grown! He writes:
On a beautiful breezy summer evening I was able to watch these young foxes out by their den. A group of birds over and behind me were getting the full attention of this trio along with the old man and the camera.
See more & lots of other great photography on his Flickr!
Taking in the Surroundings by TP Mann
I know I’m running the risk of becoming an adorable animals photo blog, but darn are these little foxes cute! Here’s a little about baby foxes and what to do if you encounter one from Friends of Wildlife in Ann Arbor:
There are two species of fox in Michigan, the Red and the Gray. The Red prefer meadow areas and the Gray favor woods.
As with most wildlife, the kits are born in early spring. The vixen (female fox) chooses a hollow log, an empty woodchuck hole or a roadside culvert for the nursery. This nest site provides her young protection from predators, especially coyotes. The male fox helps with the rearing by bringing the vixen food while she nurses their young and keeps the kits warm. Then later in the kits development both parents teach them how to forage for food.
The foxes diet consists mainly of small rodents, moles and bugs. The benefits that foxes afford farmland, orchards and the general public is their consumption of these invasive pests. It is an absolute miss conception that fox eat cats, dogs or small children.They are very curious creatures but avoid contact with domestic animals and humans.
When fox kits are first born, their eyes and ears are closed, they remain secluded in their den with their mother. As they develop, at about one month, they start venturing out to play, attacking twigs, leaves and their siblings, but never far from the protection of the den.
If you do find an infant fox, please contact them for further instructions and see their website for information about other species!
See more in TP’s Sites Along the Breezeway photo album.
Fox Kit, photo by David Marvin
Spring is also baby animal season in Michigan, so here’s a little about baby foxes and what to do if you encounter one from Friends of Wildlife in Ann Arbor:
There are two species of fox in Michigan, the Red and the Gray. The Red prefer meadow areas and the Gray favor woods.
As with most wildlife, the kits are born in early spring. The vixen (female fox) chooses a hollow log, an empty woodchuck hole or a roadside culvert for the nursery. This nest site provides her young protection from predators, especially coyotes. The male fox helps with the rearing by bringing the vixen food while she nurses their young and keeps the kits warm. Then later in the kits development both parents teach them how to forage for food.
The foxes diet consists mainly of small rodents, moles and bugs. The benefits that foxes afford farmland, orchards and the general public is their consumption of these invasive pests. It is an absolute miss conception that fox eat cats, dogs or small children.They are very curious creatures but avoid contact with domestic animals and humans.
When fox kits are first born, their eyes and ears are closed, they remain secluded in their den with their mother. As they develop, at about one month, they start venturing out to play, attacking twigs, leaves and their siblings, but never far from the protection of the den.
If you do find an infant fox, please contact them for further instructions and see their website for information about other species!
View the photo background bigtacular and see more including some shots of these kiddos walking around in David’s slideshow.
PS: David has a video too. He writes: “Please note that the video was taken from quiet a distance away with a high power lens so as to avoid as much human contact with the kits.”
Fox Crossing, photo by Mark Miller
What an incredible catch by Mark!
View his photo bigger and see more of this little lady in his slideshow.
PS: More about red fox in Michigan from Michigan in Pictures.
Michigan in Pictures 