Orphaned foxes learn to climb, dig burrows and hunt together. See cute Colorado family
After a family of adorable red fox kits were orphaned, they leaned on and learned from each other before they were released back into the wilderness — together.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife Southwest Region shared a series of photos and a video on X, formerly known at Twitter, showing how the creatures depended on each other during their time growing up in a wildlife rehabilitation facility.
“Anyone need a ‘pick me up’ story this afternoon? We got you,” the agency said in the Sept. 24 post. “We’ve got another wildlife rehab success story to share! It’s a unique one with this incredible family of red fox kits from the Dolores area. They spent the summer at CPW’s Frisco Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.”
A photo shows the four kits snuggled up together in a corner of their pen.
The agency didn’t provide information about what led to the kits becoming orphans, or if they were simply found that way. But it was important to keep them from getting too used to human contact.
“Rehab of the orphaned fox kits consisted of bottle feeding for a few days when they first arrived, but that was essentially the only human contact they had,” the agency said. “We kept them long enough to grow and become self sufficient hunters. They ate fruits, veggies and whole prey.”
A photo shows a curious baby fox peering inquisitively toward the camera above. Its face seems tiny compared to its massive ears.
“Whole prey varied from mice, rats, quail, rabbits and occasionally was supplemented with deer meat,” the agency said. “The rabbits started small and worked up to cottontail size, and the foxes worked on hunting them.”
Another photo shows one of the kits scurrying around the pen as it learns to hunt.
“Once placed in outdoor pens, the fox kits also developed natural skills such as digging burrows and climbing structures along with hunting,” the agency said. “Dens provided shelter and hiding cover. To minimize habituation, CPW staff do not talk near pens and use visual barriers to go unseen.”
Photos show the growing kits roaming around the outdoor pens. One of the burrows the kits dug into the dirt is visible.
“Now old enough to return to the wild, the kits were all released together recently into safe habitat not far from where they were first picked up,” the agency said.
Video shows one of the kits burst out of a wildlife cage before it pauses and looks back at its siblings.
“Watch as District Wildlife Manager Matt Sturdevant releases the first kit (the others took some convincing to come out),” the agency said. “The fox family knew just what to do once in their old home. They took off away from our human and disappeared out of sight.”
A photo shows one of the kits bounding away, blending in with the tall grass.
The agency highlighted the “incredible care and attention to detail that goes into all of these wildlife rehabs,” and shared “one more photo, because just look at that face.”
The agency shared another two photos from the very first day the facility took in the newborn kits in April. The kits were much smaller and fuzzier than when they were released into the wild about five months older.
This story was originally published September 26, 2024 at 7:35 AM with the headline "Orphaned foxes learn to climb, dig burrows and hunt together. See cute Colorado family."
