Our Fox Neighbors: Jag and Gem 2018

Still photo of Jag from a video taken on March 29, 2018

The foxes knew us long before we had any inkling of them. They quietly surveyed us, and discreetly roamed around the land we shared in common, without us ever knowing of their existence. All this changed dramatically, at least for us, during the summer of 2017. Denny installed a game camera at our garden. We then became aware of their existence. And after observing thousands of videos, we began to piece together the minutiae of their lives. After watching enough films, we came to recognize and appreciate the distinct personalities of the mister and missus. I named the male fox Jag, and the female Gem, so that Denny and I would have an easy way to talk and write about them.

Jag does a happy dance with a garden rodent, while Gem looks on in the foreground.

When the snow fell, it enabled us to track them. We had searched the property for fox dens, but eventually discovered that like vagabonds, they preferred the shelter of abandoned buildings. We began to think of the space under the unfinished barn at our garden as their main cottage. And the spaces under other sheds around the village we referred to as their vacation homes.

Jag and Gem have distinct personalities. Jag is an extrovert and quite daring. Sometimes he disappears for a week or so at a time, and we worry about him. We've seen him cross the busy main road in broad daylight. One day he walked very close by us, when we were gardening. Other neighbors give accounts of sightings of him.

Jag catching some sun and breathing in the good scents of the morning at their main abode.

Jag talks a lot. He is usually quite vocal whenever he brings back a good tasty meal. Possible translation: “Hey, come check out this delicious, tender rodent I just nailed. He almost got away, but then I landed him at the last second.” On occasion he gets upset and vocalizes, perhaps about another fox intruder?

Sometimes other animals passed by their home, like this skunk that Jag checked out. But you don’t mess around with skunks!

For awhile they had another tenant move into their main abode, prompting Denny to refer to their home as a condo. We pondered how they managed to divide up and make peace with their shared living space.

Woody, the new tenant, was a strict vegetarian. And unfortunately he began dining on our garden vegetables. He soon discovered that our garden restaurant catered only to its meat eating customers, especially those who dined daily on moles, voles, mice, or rats. We then sadly had to assist Woody in regards to relocation efforts. We gave him a one way bus ticket out of town. We no longer know of his whereabouts.

For months we eagerly anticipated and looked for any sign of offspring. We were thrilled when on May 22, 2018 the young ones finally emerged!

For the first week or two, the kits appeared multiple times a day, and did not know enough to be afraid. We were able to hide very close to their main entrance and observe the babies from just a few feet away. It was a mixed blessing once they learned to be wary. They would dart under the building when we made the least little sound or movement. But we were relieved that they were less vulnerable to predation. We were still able to regularly observe them, albeit from a further distance.

Gem is a wary, cautious and sweet introvert, when compared to her partner, Jag. Like any good mom, she stays close to the kits when they are young.

Unexpectedly, about three weeks later, the whole family disappeared. It took us awhile to track them down. Turns out that they had simply moved across the river to one of their vacation homes. (I wish we could have watched how they got the young across the water!) So Denny relocated the camera and we watched videos of the kits playing at their new abode. They seemed more vulnerable there, as they were closer to other people and traffic. But our friend Chris was thrilled. She had a front row view of them from her office window.

But then a week or so later, the foxes moved again. Eventually we surmised that they stopped living under any particular dwelling. They appeared almost daily at the garden, because the garden and field are primary hunting grounds. Denny moved the camera back to their main abode. But now the camera faces out away from the building, instead of towards it, because they don’t go underneath it anymore.

As the kits got older Denny finally began to distinguish between them. He named them Wavy Tail Left, Wavy Tail Right, and No Wavy Tail. We had read that kits will relocate to a new territory, so we didn't expect them to stick around long enough to give them more endearing names. Denny thought that two of the kits were female and one was male.

Once the kits were fully grown they no longer appeared in the daylight. Then late in the fall we began seeing signs that the relationship between parent and offspring was changing. Jag was a great father. We observed many videos of him bringing back food for his offspring. But now in the following video, we see him chasing one of his young away. And in the video beside it, it looks as if Gem is going to chase off the young one, but she ends up grooming her offspring instead.

As winter weather settles in, Jag and Gem are sheltering under the building again. Their offspring are sheltering elsewhere. We hope that they survive the winter. And we eagerly await the birth of another family this upcoming spring. Next year I will post a sequel.

Subscribe to my site if you would like to be kept notified of any new posts.

For more videos check out Denny's youtube site

Update: Unfortunately, Jag did not survive the winter. He had a tragic demise due to callous human actions. His death was witnessed by a friend of ours and was upsetting to hear about. Perhaps the friend will write about it and I will post it here. Though Gem and some offspring stop by, there has not been another litter raised here.

Related Links: