An interesting twist on the den life of foxes

Back in February I wrote the article, Shackin’ Up In the Winter, talking about the mating habits of our vulpine neighbors.  Those of you who follow my social media accounts have recently been enjoying some over-the-top adorable photographic evidence of the fruits of those behaviors!

A couple weeks ago I received a text from a friend with a wonderful surprise in the way of an invitation to photograph a den in a neighbor’s yard.  Without haste, I headed over with camera in tow to check out the layout, ambient lighting, and general photo-pertinent details of the area. I also met the homeowners who graciously invited me to capture images from inside the perimeter of their large yard (mind you, still keeping a safe distance). 

In speaking with the friend who initially invited me, as well as the homeowners, I learned that there are 7 kits in this litter.  That said, the family situation has an interesting twist that I was not aware of taking place in the fox world.  This litter is being cared for by 2 females in a behavior known as alloparenting.

This behavior is common among many herd and pack animals, with the community sharing the duties of raising the young.  I had not previously known that smaller, intimate families such as foxes practiced this as well.  Sometimes it happens with sister siblings, and other times, as is the case of this den, it is a mother and daughter from a previous litter.

In some cases, there is only one mother with the other female simply helping with the rearing. In the case of this den, it seems that both females were expecting. Five of the kits have a similar size and coat, while the other two are significantly smaller with darker coats, likely the offspring of the smaller daughter. 

While foxes are not monogamous for life, typically the father stays with the den to help with hunting and general parenting.  In this situation, while the homeowners have mentioned seeing the male, he doesn’t make regular appearances.  It seems the two mothers are doing quite well at sharing the den duties as well as the necessary endless hunting to feed 7 hungry little mouths.  It is unknown if he is the father of both sets of kits, as mixed parentage is common with alloparenting dens.

I have yet to capture any images of both females in a single image, as they understandably are not often together.  In fact, I’ve only personally seen both females present at the den on one occasion as they arrived from an early evening hunt to check in on the littles.  After dropping off an unknown dinner, a bit of nuzzling and snuggling, and herding the babies from straying too far, they both left again to resume their evening endeavors. 

Even in the case of that one evening, at no time were they in close enough proximity to each other to allow for a “group photo”.  While one was giving motherly love, the other was distant, keeping an eye out for danger as well as rounding up the littles straying too far from the den for Mom’s comforts and feelings of safety, all while furtively searching the yard for an easy vole or bird.

The photo shared here is the younger of the two mothers whom I only met after a few visits.  My friend and the homeowners both mentioned she seemed injured or ill (or both) in early sightings.  This may have simply been due to possibly being her first litter and needing some additional time to regain her strength after giving birth. 

She now seems to have recovered and shows signs of good health and energy.  In fact, when it comes to nursing, I’ve only seen the elder mother shun the littles when they attempt to suckle, where the younger mother seems to openly allow all seven at once as seen here. Once again, life in nature has shown me that there is always something wonderful to learn about life on this grand and amazing planet. I greatly look forward to watching this family grow over the next month or so before the kits leave!   If you want to follow along and have your heart crushingly melted with overwhelmingly adorable, floofy cuteness (and mayhem), check out James DeWalt Photography on Facebook, or JamesDeWalt8500 on Instagram!

Originally published in The Mountain-Ear