We were out driving around a couple of evenings ago and saw a bunch of cars pulled to the side of the road and a photographer taking pictures.  I glanced over to see what everyone was looking at and at first thought they were watching prairie dogs, but it turned out to be a mom and five baby foxes.   They were living on the side of the road in a drainage ditch.  We pulled over and looked at them for a minute and got Jake out so he could see.  Last night we went back with our camera and video camera and sure enough they were still there.  It was really fun to watch them, they look like little kittens playing.   Here are a few photos and videos we got.

Colorado has red, grey, swift and kit foxes, I was pretty sure these were red foxes and confirmed it when we got home.  According to the Colorado Division of Wildlife, red foxes have become more common with increased irrigation used in farming.  Red foxes are fairly common around here, we have seen them walking along the side of the road on multiple occasions.  Kit foxes  and swift foxes are the two species that are rarest.  Kit foxes are listed as “state endangered” and live in the desert areas from Montrose to Grand Junction.  Swift foxes are are listed as “state special concern” which means they are not endangered but still low in numbers and live in the shortgrass prairies in eastern Colorado.  They also have a little blurb about how to live with foxes, including keeping your garbage tied up with something animal proof, which would have been good advice for someone in this neighborhood.

This first video is of the mom feeding her babies, we thought had gone hunting but came back with a hot dog bun, apparently she was raiding someones trash nearby. I can’t imagine going to put something in your trash and finding a fox in it.

This second one is a short one of the mom and baby.

And the third one is of the kits playing together, it’s longer but pretty cute!

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