Mom Red Fox Catches a Muskrat as a Raccoon Lurks Near the Den

While Mom Fox, Sage, is out hunting mice, rabbits & moles at night, an intruder approaches the den. The pups hear and watch the intruder carefully from the safety of the den entrance until it gets too close.

Mom fox does not appear to bring quite as much food as when she had all seven pups, but every 2 hours or so, she shows up with a meal for the remaining three pups.

I noticed that at the same time a fisher was walking by the lake, just a minute from the den, the fox pups were outside playing. The fisher must have heard them; it was so close. Mom was not there; she was out hunting. The fisher could have attacked the pups, but didn't. I looked back at my footage to see the last time the fisher was at the den, and it was April 15th & 16th, when it stole a rabbit and a goose from the den.

Maybe the fisher does not go to the den because it is also raising young and does not want to risk an injury in a fight with mom fox? This makes me think that the fisher is not the reason why three pups are missing. My top guess is an owl, 🦉.

This footage is from May 20th-21st, with a few repeats of the fisher from April 15th & 16th.

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