A Day on Merganser Lake

The fox was back and, boy, did it provide some photo opps. I saw it trotting along the trail behind my house again and watched it through the open windows of my sunroom. It paused briefly to look up at me, then continued a short way (about 30 feet) down the trail. It stopped for several seconds along the trail. At the time, I was simply taking photos and didn’t realize what it was doing.

Here’s where I should warn you that the story takes a bit of a gruesome turn, so stop here if the death of little critters upsets you. … You’ve been warned and, remember, it’s only nature running its natural course. (I’ll even add a ‘continue reading’ break here.) The fox then trotted down the trail in the direction from which it came.

Later, when I took a look at the photos on my computer I realized why the fox paused for so long. It was collecting the spoils of its day’s hunt. As you can see from the photos below, it had at least two chipmunks and just as many moles, if not more. There may be a mouse or two in there too. I assume it was heading back to a den down the trail. I’ve also heard that foxes like to hunt and will sometimes kill more than it needs, but since it’s spring, it was probably heading to a den. Maybe I’ll stumble across that one of these days.

Nature goes on.

Here’s the full sequence.

Here’s a close up of the quarry. Remember, I warned you a long time ago. Amazing hunter and great parent!