Yesterday, I looked out our kitchen window and saw two red fox, wrestling on a remnant patch of snow. Since we have hosted an adult female on our Littleton farm for several years, I assume she has found a mate and that we can expect a gang of kits by May.
Red fox usually mate in February and kits are born in the den by early April. Requiring close protection for several weeks, they generally will not emerge from the den for a month. By then, they are partly feeding on kills brought back by the male but are still nursing. Since mom has decimated our cottontail population, dad may have to wander a bit to feed the family.
The youngsters' "cute phase" lasts for a couple months; by mid summer, they take on a gangly, teenage frame and are far more skittish. I look forward to watching the kits romp about the farm; none will likely survive more than 4-5 years but the females may have kits of their own by next year.
