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| If you visit the Point Defiance Zoo in the middle of the winter (like I did last January), there is a pretty good chance you will meet one of these arctic foxes (can be hard to miss too since they are right out in the open and right next door to where the polar bear exhibit is). One perk about going in the winter: the arctic foxes will be fluffy and white (like this guy is). If you go in the summer, they will be in their grayish summer coat (they almost look like a completely different fox species then). BTW, I meant to get footage of the arctic foxes at the Woodland Park Zoo as well, but I found out that they are no longer on display there (they have the animal ambassador Hudson, but they only show him at some of their animal ambassador shows). Not sure if or when the woodland park zoo plans to get new foxes on display, you are better off seeing arctic foxes at the Point Defiance Zoo for now. |
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| Check out this red fox I saw at Northwest Trek back in July. These guys are cute and can be quite the gem to get pictures of there. Sometimes they are out, sometimes they are not (they were quite active when I was there both in May and July). The foxes can be easy to miss, but if you hang around at their enclosure, you an usually see them poking their heads out and sometimes they will come out to say hi (though definitely more shy than the arctic foxes at the Point Defiance Zoo).
This has been an interesting year when it comes to foxes. I do have to admit that I now have newfound interest in foxes (seemed to start around the time I visited Illinois and Wisconsin last year) and they sure are darn cute too in my opinion. The first time, I saw a red fox, I was camping at Door County in Wisconsin (was probably in 3rd grade back then). Flash forward to 2016-2017, I definitely have some new stories and footage to share of them. Taking a look back over the last year, here are some highlights:
Latest red fox sightings (obviously arctic foxes don't exist in washington state besides the ones at Point Defiance Zoo, Woodland Park Zoo and the Olympic Game farm, and I am not sure if gray foxes exist in Washington State either, though I think Oregon gets both red and gray foxes):
- December 2016 marked my first time seeing a red fox in the wild since moving to Washington. Was driving up Robinhood Lane near Monroe (was taking the back way to my church for Awana) and saw what looked like a cross phase red fox along the side of the road (night time sighting too). Sighting was pretty short though, as he looked at me and ran off into the woods behind someones' house. Haven't seen any foxes through there since then, though i have noticed that the road has been getting more traffic lately, even at night, so I am sure that is keeping the foxes at bay.
 
Back in March (around easter season), crossmark started assigning me some jobs where I had to drive to some of the Walmarts in the Tacoma area (about a 2 hour drive from Snohomish, though it can be longer in traffic). The first time I had to visit the Walmart in Puyallup, I had to meet with a Hersheys rep at 8am, so I had to leave early and head down, and as I was heading south of the Auburn area, I saw what looked like a fox on the prowl (probably hunting mice in the field). I thought it was a coyote at first, but it was about half the size of a typical coyote and looked more fox like. Couldn't get too good of a look at him as I was driving and there was traffic on the freeway, but if I wasn't driving, I definitely would have snapped a photo of him.
Besides those 2 sightings, things got more interesting later this year. Trips to Northwest Trek and Point Defiance Zoo. Did you know that both Northwest Trek and Point Defiance Zoo have foxes? The point defiance zoo has arctic foxes and Northwest Trek has red foxes. Check out the videos I got of both of them:
In this video, you can see 2 arctic foxes almost really up close. Unlike the red foxes, arctic foxes are more definitely not as shy around people and will come up and watch the visitors as they come by (can be hard to miss when they are out too). I got this video in the summer and the foxes were in their greyish coats (though it did look like one of the foxes was already starting to turn white even in mid August).
Red fox May 2017
Red Fox July 2017
In case if you missed it, here are two videos I got of the red foxes at Northwest Trek. They can be easy to miss and the woods in their enclosure do give them plenty of cover when they don't want to be seen, though you can usually see at least one of them poking their heads out near the back of their enclosure, and if you are patient and hang around their enclosure for say 30 minutes or so, they can come out to say hi, like this guy did. Interestingly, videos of the red foxes at Northwest Trek are hard to find on Youtube, but I managed to get video footage of at least one of them. When I first saw this fox, he was sleeping out in the open (see https://youtu.be/Zcj6kQSHy8o for that video), but eventually he woke up and you could see him running around his enclosure and watching the visitors as they go by. BTW, I liked how the fox reacted to me when I said, "I will call you Tails the fox" (pun on the character from Sonic the Hedghog, though I think one of the foxes' names is actually Jack, though the park has 2 foxes on display, so I am not sure which one is Jack) . I meant to get footage of them in October as well (ended up going to Northwest Trek 4 different times this year), but they weren't out (according to the zookeeper, they were hiding in their dens, though I was able to see one of them poking her head out of one of the dens), otherwise I would have gotting pictures or video of them that time too (they can be tricky to spot, though personally I tend to find them easier to spot than say the coyotes and cougars there, especially if you go on a day when it is nice and sunny out as opposed to a day when it is cool, rainy and/or overcast out). Will probably take another trip to Northwest Trek again next year sometime, not sure when though, though probably not as often as I did this year. Will probably go again in the spring sometime. Interestingly, last time I was at Northwest Trek, the zookeepr kept referring to one of the foxes as a "she" as in vixen fox and she was spending more time in her den. Could the park be anticipating fox kits in the near future? I didn't ask, but the fact that one of the foxes is a vixen and that she is spending more time in her den could be a sign that the fox may give birth to kits. I won't know for sure, but if I see new fox kits there next year, then that will be interesting to see.
More pictures of the red foxes there:
Here is a timelapse video I got of one of the arctic foxes at Point Defiance Zoo. You could see this guy running around his enclosure and pausing to check out the visitors too. Go pros have their pros and cons at zoos. Good way to get high definition footage of animals and closeups too, but they do have their limitations too. For example, they are better for close range pictures than longer range and plus you never really know how pictures turn out till you you review them when you get home (and some pictures can turn out out of focus or lousy too as I found out, plus I did get some sun glare in some of my videos). Digital camera tend to be more useful in zoos that way (plus it is easier to zoom in on animals at medium range like I did with the arctic foxes in August). 
Isn't this guy a beauty. The arctic foxes are definitely cuter when they are in their white coats than they are in their summer coats. The Point Defiance zoo actually has 2 arctic foxes and sometimes you can see both of them running around in their enclosure
Here is another picture of the arctic foxes in their white coats. They are definitely smaller than you would think (about half the size of a red fox) but are pretty recognizable when you see one. On a side note, I can't say I have personally seen an arctic fox in the wild (besides what other people post), but then I can't say I have ever been to the arctic circle either (though I have been to Southeast Alaska on 2 different cruises, though the 7 day cruises usually turn around in the Skagway / Haines area). Maybe someday, I could consider such a trip (do like the idea of doing a road trip up the Alaskan highway along with either the Dempster or Dalton highway), but I understand that it is a reallly long road trip and it would deflinitely require lots of time off, planning and preparation too. On a side note, I have heard about a cruse line that goes long the northside of Alaska (http://www.crystalcruises.com/northwest-passage-cruise) and goes right through the Arctic Ocean (starts in Anchorage and comes out near New York). Might consider doing that cruise someday, though I have heard that they are pretty expensive to go on (definitely don't have the kind of money needed to do that cruise), but maybe I could save up and do it someday given the opportunity. Though I imagine arctic foxes have got to be a cool sight to see in Alaska. Sadly I have heard that they are slowly being pushed out by red foxes as a result of global warming. Hopefully more will be done to ensure that they don't go extinct. BTW, I like this video below:
In the video above, filmed by BBC America, it shows an arctic fox sneaking around at some oil refinery in Deadhorse Alaska, all the while avoiding a red fox that seems to be "guarding" the refinery (more like sleeping on the job) and eating some food scraps left over. I definitely envy those workers a bit considering that both of the foxes are probably regulars there and I am sure that the workers get a kick out of seeing them on a regular basis (I'd probably snap photos of them when I have the chance if I was one of the workers there). In my neighborhood, foxes usually come in the form of coyotes too (definitely more likely to see coyotes in the wild where I live than red foxes). Coyotes are kinda like foxes in a way, but definitely bigger, more wolf like and are known to howl at night (much like wolves too).
Here is the other arctic fox, sleeping on the job. Doesn't it look like this guy is already starting to turn white? He is probably completely white by now, but it definitely looked like he was starting to grow out his white fur, unlike the other guy who was still grayish brown. Not when the arctic foxes usually start turning white, but I suspect they start turning as early as October or November if I had to guess. I bet the foxes find winter to be pretty mild around here than it is up in the arctic (unlike there, it rarely gets below 0 degrees farenheight, usually in the 30s-40s range unless if there is a cold snap or arctic blast going on).
 
Here is my friend Daniel getting a picture with one of the arctic foxes. Tried to get the fox in the background while taking the picture.
Besides going to Northwest Trek and Point Defiance Zoo, I was curious about the wild red fox population here in Washington and am aware of 2 places where foxes are supposed to be common: the cascade red foxes at Mount Rainer and the foxes on San Juan Island. I checked out Mount Rainer back in September, but I didn't see any foxes that time (though I suspect that I might have better luck seeing them if I spend more time at the Paradise area and go hiking in the meadows there, though I would have to test that theory sometime). I visited San Juan Island twice: the first time for a family friend's wedding at Roche Harobor and later just for fun and visiting the American Camp area. The first time I visited San Juan Island turned out to be a bust as far as foxes are concerned (kept my eyes peeled, but didn't see any that time). I went there again in October and after exploring the island for a bit, eventually I made it to the South Beach and American camp areas near the southern end of the island and that time around, I did see the foxes (probably saw at least 8 different foxes in the field that day). These sightings were definitely unprecedented in my opinion usually foxes are not easy to spot and usually there is only one out at a time when you see them, but at the American Camp / South Beach area, I saw a bunch of them (I estimate at least 8 of them) in the field. Some I was able to see with my binoculars in the field, though some would come up close to the trail, interestingly one fox was watching me as I was going up the hill. Interestingly, the foxes were small enough that they can actually blend in the tall grass there and sometimes they can come up right by the trail and you can see them at really close range at times (though usually they run away as soon as they see you). Towards the end of my visit, I managed to get footage of one of them scurrying towards some bushes. My only regret in the trip: not bringing my digital camera. I meant to bring it, but I accidently left it at home. Will definitely consider a follow up trip sometime next year and try and get more footage of the foxes there (maybe I could even have a picinic on the beach there too).
By the way, if you want to see closer shots of the foxes on San Juan Island, there are other videos you can check out, like this one posted by another youtuber:
Besides all those, I definitely got a kick out of watching some web cams at www.simonkingwildlife.com, usually the fox family cam and the badger fox feeder cam. I don't own the website or any of the web cams, but it is a website based out of England and has various web cams you can watch and every so often you are likely to see foxes make appearances. Sometimes sightings are short, others can last for several minutes at a time. I can't promise you will have sightings every time (they can be hit and miss in my opinion), but when they do appear, be sure to get screen shots of them (alternatively, it is possible to get video of sightings using Google's screen castify widget). I go over the cams more in some of my other posts, like this one (http://rjanimalvideos.blogspot.com/2017/11/latest-sightings-on-fox-web-cams-at.html) and here (http://rjanimalvideos.blogspot.com/2017/10/top-34-fox-and-badger-sightings-on.html), but here are 2 sightings you might like:
I won't post every sighting I have had of the foxes here, but will still try and share sightings I have from time to time.
Finally, I liked some footage I have seen from a zoo known as Fox Village in Japan, like this video below. Arent' the foxes cute there? Never seen any zoos quite like that place myself either. Northwest Trek, for example only has 2 red foxes as far as I can tell and are definitely more shy than the ones at fox village. By the way, I am aware that there are people that have mixed feelings about fox village and how the foxes are treated there, but hey it is a zoo/sancutary for foxes, and I have personally never seen a place quite like it. Definitely a must see for fox enthusiasts anywhere, not that I have ever been there, but would definitely consider visiting it if I had the opportunity (never been to Japan in general either). In my defense on the criticisms on fox village: I have never been there before and wouldn't know much about the zoo besides what people post about it. It is not my place to judge unless if see it first hand. Definitely looks interesting and might be worth checking out someday though.
Well, that is all for this year. The experiences I have had with foxes this year (especially the second trip to San Juan Island) defintiely dwarfs the time I saw the fox in Door County many years ago and I am sure I will encounter them again in the years to come. I have also learned more about them over the last year too.
Some fun facts about red foxes:
- Did you know that foxes are primarily nocturnal (most active between dusk and dawn)? You would think they are day time animals (given the many pictures of them in the day time), but it seems like you are more likely to encounter foxes at night than you are in the day in most areas (though the ones I saw on San Juan Island were out even in the early afternoon, so some can be seen any time in the day too).
- Although some people may think foxes are dangerous to humans, it seems like fox attacks on humans are rare and usually they are more likely to run away from humans than to attack them. Of course, they can become aggressive if you corner one and I have heard that they can become dangerous when rabid, though I haven't encountered any rabid foxes myself. Coyotes are definitely more intimidating than foxes are in my opinion (saw some coyotes up close near Lake Stevens once). The ones I saw on San Juan Island were pretty shy and usuaually keep their distance. Even when they do come up close, they usually run away as soon as they see you.
- One favorite food of foxes: mice (though sometimes they will also eat squirrels and rabbits). I like how they will pounce in the snow when hunting mice.
- Two good place to look for foxes in Washington State: Mount Rainer (particularly the Sunrise and Paradise areas) and San Juan Island.
- Oregon apparently has their own version of the cascade red fox (the sierra nevada red foxes). Never seen the sierra kinds myself, but it has got to be interesting being one of the people researching them. Would have to spend more time in the Oregon Cascades if I want to see them for myself.
- The ones in the pacific northwest don't always come in the form of the traditional red and white kinds. There are also silver and cross versions too.
- Apparently, they do hunt arctic foxes in the arctic sometimes. You would think they would get along just fine (like the ones in zoos do), but in the wild red foxes are known to kill arctic foxes sometimes.
- Apparently London England is a good place to see foxes too (good place to see urban kinds). Not sure if Seattle or Portland get urban foxes, but I wouldn't be suprised if they do.
Plans for next year:
I am planning to go to Point Defiance Zoo again this winter and try and get more footage of the arctic foxes while they are still white. I want to do the zoo lights this year, but my work schedule is pretty busy. If I don't make it this month, I will probably go in Janurary sometime. Will probably visit northwest trek again sometime next year as well. Part of me wants to visit Northwest Trek in the winter, but that will probably have to be something for next year sometime. Will probably try and visit San Juan Island again and spend more time at the American camp area (will try and get more footage of the foxes there too), not sure when though. May try and visit Mount Rainer again sometime in the summer too and spend more time at the Paradise area. Will probably visit woodland park zoo again too sometime. Other than that, I will definitely continue to monitor my trail cam results and share them over time. Also with my trail cam, I will try and bring it with me next time I go camping or visit the Bend area (see what kinds of animals I can spot with my camera when camping). Will still watch the web cams too on Simon King Wildlife and share more sightings I have too.
Do you have any experiences with foxes this year? Feel free to share your experience below.
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