A Wonderful Wildlife Experience!

This is the red fox I encountered by chance as I was slowly driving the "Loop" road at the 
Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge last week.  I followed "her" for about 1/4 mile as
she trotted along side the roadway.  It was an amazing experience to watch this beautiful
animal at such a close range.  She was fearless of me.  I suspect her family has spent generations
in the wildlife refuge and have been safe from any human harassment so being close to my
vehicle and me didn’t seem to be an issue. (click to enlarge)

Last week, with a couple of photographer friends, I spent a few days on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.  We primarily go to the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge to photograph migrating waterfowl and other birds.  Chincoteague is primarily famous for its wild ponies that roam freely throughout the refuge.  This was my 16th year making this trip.  One of my other two friends who joined me has been going longer than that.  Another long time friend who made this annual photographic trek, sadly, died suddenly just over two years ago.  Coincidentally, before he passed away we picked up another friend who started going with us, so in the end, there are still three of us.  

I’m not much of a wildlife or bird photographer, but I enjoy the challenge.  I find bird photography the most difficult to master of all genrés I’ve tried.  On these trips we photograph migrating waterfowl, raptors, wading and well as shore birds.  Sometimes we encounter other kinds of wildlife.  In the past I’ve photographed otters, raccoons and sika deer.  That is what this post is about—my chance and serendipitous encounter with a red fox.

My two friends and I were (separately, as photography is mostly a solo endeavor) moseying around the Chincoteague National Wildlife refuge looking for various kinds of feathered friends to photograph.  There is a one lane loop road that opens at 3:00 p.m. each afternoon that is about 2 miles in circumference.  Part of the road is surrounded by ponds and wetlands and about a third is forested.  As I entered the forested section and rounded a bend, I spotted a red fox to the left of the roadway just a few yards ahead of me.

This is an aerial map of the Chincoteague NWR.  The circled area is the "Loop" within which used to be
a gigantic pond full of waterfowl.  The pond is now mostly grassy so not many waterfowl rest there on their way south, unfortunately.   The nearest part of the Loop to the ocean is a small curvy
road that is surrounded by woodland.  The arrow is the point at which I first encountered the fox
and the white lettered area about 1/4 mile farther up the road is where the fox decided to go deep
into the woods. (click to enlarge)

The image below is shows where I first encountered the fox.  She trotted up the road just ahead of my vehicle and, on occasion, right next to my driver's door.  She was unfazed by my presence.  I was driving along at about 5 mph holding my camera with one hand and photographing the fox.

I'll call this fox a vixen (female) as during the encounter she squatted to urinate.  From what I have
read it is very difficult to tell male from female and squatting to urinate is not always a sure
way to distinguish between the genders, but I am making that assumption. (click to enlarge)

On occasion she would slow and be next to my door and look at me.  I kept clicking away hoping
to get a good composition and keep sharp focus during our ongoing movement. (click to enlarge)

A few times as she trotted ahead of me, she would stop and turn and look at me.  I would stop and
she would then cross the road in front of me.  At this point she crossed into a brushy and wooded
area.  There she stopped and was looking around for about 15 seconds before she moved along.
(click to enlarge)

There was a point in time where she stopped by a swampy area, had her ears up and was looking
forward.  I think she heard a rodent or such as she was on the hunt during our encounter.  At that
point she was behind me and I was able to exit my vehicle and photograph her at eye level.
That is where I was when I made the photo at the top of this post.  (click to enlarge)

Here is where she decided to go into the woodland.  As she was trotting away she stopped, turned
around one last time and looked a me.  She was posing or maybe saying goodbye. lol.
 (click to enlarge)

I found it exhilarating to be so fortunate to watch this fox in her (kind of) natural habitat seemingly undisturbed by my presence.  Watching her look and listen for prey while hunting was a real treat.  This encounter reminds me of just how glorious nature is and how being in nature uplifts my spirits.

Join me over at my website, https://www.dennismook.com.  

Thanks for looking. Enjoy!  

Dennis A. Mook  

All content on this blog is © 2013-2023 Dennis A. Mook. All Rights Reserved. Feel free to point to this blog from your website with full attribution. Permission may be granted for commercial use. Please contact Mr. Mook to discuss permission to reproduce the blog posts and/or images.