There are a couple of red foxes who have decided that my back yard is the honeymoon suite of the neighborhood... My dogs are all barking because the foxes are making this kind of yipping noise, almost meowing. We tried turning on the light, yelling at them to go away, and we even took pictures, but other than moving out of the circle of light, they are determined to stay here to court. And I can hear dogs barking all over the neighborhood! There might be a couple of other males after this one female.

I don't dare let the dogs out, we have had rabid foxes in the past.

It is actually pretty interesting to watch the behavior. And they are gorgeous animals. But it's almost 2:00 in the morning!

They're probably courting.

Years ago, I used to take my dogs over to Indian Meadows to run them, and I'd see a pair of foxes in March. The male was a darker red, almost a brown color, and the female was a lighter red. In May, the mother fox would be seen taking mice and rodents to her den, (I couldn't find the den, she had hidden it so well) and in summer, the kits occasionally would be kapering about.

I envy you actually. Keep watch this summer in the early morning or evening, as you may get to see the fox babies.

Could also be coyotes. There are a lot of those in the area, and occasionally see them. I heard some this morning.

Last summer we had a family of of red foxes living in the area. Two adults and three babies. I must say they are beautiful! The five of them sat in the neighbors yard watching the dogs play. They caused us no trouble. Their "talking" sounds very much like a cat. Thats what called my attention to them. It was a great experience. We see them every know and again running into the woods.

Actually, it isn't mating season. The kits are born January or February, so mating season is in the fall. I have had a den of foxes 10 feet from my kennel for years. A couple of those years, we had two dens within a stone's throw.

I got fed up with all the carrion they drag home for the kits to eat, so I talked to the DNR about when best to bulldoze the den without killing them--just want them to relocate. We cleared out both dens a couple of Octobers ago, so they just moved to the edge of the timber and set up house again.

Lots of traffic, talking, etc. and the lovely, skunk-like smell when they wander through the yard.

MK

My previous post was wrong...red fox mates jan-march, so babies can be born as early as feb.

MK

Definitely red foxes - have the pictures to prove it! My first thought was also coyotes. And I'm pretty sure that up here (we still have about a foot of snow on the ground) that they are courting. We saw baby foxes last summer - now would be about the right time for mating. Do you think the foxes can keep the skunks away?

I have foxes, skunks, groundhogs, turkeys and an occasional coyote. Had a bobcat for years, but haven't heard it the last couple of springs.

I don't think skunks bother foxes at all but coyotes do. If there are coyotes around, the foxes move in closer to humans so the coyotes won't come after them.

MK

we have them here aswell .. they every now and then use my chicken pen as a "take-away" restaurant ..
thats what happens when living in rural area .. we dont mind .. dont have them removed/or shot ... etc .. as they were here before we moved in( our 250 years old farmhouse was abondonned for about 7 years) we love to see the young ones running around in fields .. the deers, the owls that have their home in our barnes,the marters .. etc ..
dont need to chase them all away .. be happy just being a part of nature ....live and let live is our motto!

Oh wow..that is so neat you've got photos! I'll bet you get to see the babies again this year--wow! :)

One year the resident fox had five kits. She would bring them out in the evening to play on the drive, right in front of the garage door and outside the kitchen window. She would give them a snake or dead mouse to play with.

We have video of them--hubby walked out the front door an filmed for several minutes before she sounded the alarm.

That same year, I opened the front door to find a kit sitting on the front step. Three of my cats were sitting along the walk to the front door. The kit looked at me and trotted back down the walk and past all the cats.

MK

Aren't they amazing? It's so interesting studying the natural history around us.