Silver Phase Red fox Sighting on San Juan Island

A few weeks ago I did a post on the San Juan Island Red foxes and finally got around to posting the video on Youtube as well (in addition to the one I posted on Facebook)


There is a story behind this video.  One of my brother Justin's friends knew someone who visited San Juan Island and got closeup photos of the foxes there and she shared them with me, plus I have seen videos and pictures other people posted of them and I wanted to see the foxes there for myself.  So, one morning in October, i got my chance to visit the island.  Took the morning ferry there and spent a day on the island.  Initially, I visited the Whale Museum and had lunch in Friday Harbor, but eventually I made my way to the American Camp / South Beach area on the island and set out to see if I could get a sighting of the foxes there.  At first, nothing happened (saw some deer in the field though along with some small whales and seals in the puget sound), but I went hiking along a trail that connected south beach with the fort at American Camp (thought it would be worth exploring the area) and as I was heading up towards the trail, I encountered the foxes.  Many of the foxes I saw were in the field but I had binocular with me and was able to watch some of them in action.  One fox was watching me as I ventured up the trail too (there were several present at a time too).  Some of the foxes i saw would pop up within 50 yards from me (if that) right by the trail (the most memorable one was the silver fox that leaped out of the tall grass as I was heading down the hill, looked at me and ran off, tried to snap a photo of him, but I wasn't quick enough).  Eventually, my time on the island was getting short (you usually have to make reservations for the ferry service there, which does create some time restrictions unless if you plan to stay on the island overnight) and as I was heading towards my car, I saw this silver phase red fox (the one in the video).  He was slowly retreating toward some bushes near the parking lot (though he did seem to be somewhat curious about me) so I followed him up to the fence (keeping my distance to avoid spooking him too) and after I stopped, I took out my camera phone and got some pictures and a video of him.  The video is a little cheesy (would have liked to get a closer video of the fox), but I only had my windows phone and binoculars on me, so I had to make do with what I had (meant to bring my digital camera with me as well, but left it at home by accident), plus I didn't want to get too close or scare off the fox (considering that they can get spooked pretty easily as I found out with some of them).  It is also worth noting that this guy wasn't the only fox I saw.  I estimate I saw at least 8 different foxes in the American Camp and South Beach area on San Juan Island (the place is definitely loaded with them and it didn't seem to be too hard to have a sighting, let alone 8 sightings).

I didn't really know what to expect from the visit (for all I knew, I was going on a wild goose chase), and I didn't see any foxes when I visited Roche Harbor back in April (was there for a wedding that month, but didn't make it to the American Camp area due to time restraints, plus my dad was the one driving) so I had low expectations for the trip.  But I was pleasantly suprised to see them when I was there.  I will definitely consider revisiting San Juan Island again sometime next year (given the opportunity) and try and get more footage of the red foxes if I can.  May also revisit Mount Rainer again and try and get footage of the cascade red foxes too (didn't see any when I was there in September, but it might be worth a revisit someday and I could try and spend more time in the Paradise area where most of the fox sightings take place too). 

Have you thought about visiting the San Juan Islands?  You can visit the Washington State ferries website at http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/

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