Red Fox and the Hare

For all of the time we have lived in the Fox River Valley, we’ve never had the pleasure of seeing a red fox on our property. That is until last February, and it was an encounter to remember.

On a soft, snow February afternoon while giving the fresh snow a quick glance out the window, a red blur and a brown blur caught my eye as they sped across the yard, from the back of our property to the side of our house. By the time I was able to get in position to another window to see what had happened, the red fox had bagged its prey. But not before the hare had put up a fight.

I had to run downstairs to grab the gear, and once I had focused on the scene, I could see several drops of blood in the snow. And the fox had blood all over the left side of its head. But the fox had made a bloodless kill, and it took me a minute to figure out what was going on.

Somewhere between when I spotted the two in a chase and when it was over, the rabbit had taken a large chunk out of the fox’s left ear. That’s where the blood was coming from.

As I shot a few frames of the fox, it was taking its sweet time. It seemed to take a while for it to gather itself, and I’m not sure if it was because of the ear wound, or if it couldn’t believe it had just bagged a very big feast and was wondering how in the heck it was going to get it back to its den.

First, it dragged the hare down the hill a bit, and then it sat on its haunches trying to figure things out. Then it dragged it a little bit more, then sat down again. Finally it got a good hold on the hare, and it started to trot back toward the prairie and to its den.

Before it made the grand getaway, I was able to catch a frame of the fox when it stopped to take a look at me before it continued its proud trot back into the prairie.

We were a little worried about the fella, but it turned out to be okay as we saw it catch another hare about a month later. If you happen to see a red fox with one and half ears, you know what happened!


Category: MammalsTags:

Related posts

Bald Eagle in Flight

Blog Post

Blog Post

Sandhill Cranes on a hill

Blog Post

Blog Post

Ruby-throated Hummingbird hovering over flowers

Blog Post

Blog Post

Sandhill Cranes and Whooping Crane

Blog Post

Blog Post

Trumpeter Swans in Flight

Blog Post

Blog Post

Bumblebee among the flowers

Blog Post

Blog Post

Short-eared Owl on the hunt during sunset

Blog Post

Blog Post