March 22, 2020: Fox Are Still On The Ice

I may be done on the ice for the winter but the fox still trust the ice enough to use it for a short cut to the other side of the lake.  One morning after a cool night, this healthy looking red fox came trotting across the lake and stopped at the shoreline.

Hmmm, do I want to go up here?

It seemed to know the ice at the shore is treacherous, as it decided not to go up on land there, but work its way along the shoreline.

It soon found an area where the gap from ice to land was small, and due to the cold overnight, the open water had a light skim of ice over it.

This looks better.

The fox studied the situation carefully.

Appearing solid, it carefully tiptoed over it, quickly bounding up onto dry land without so much as getting a toe wet.

One small step for foxkind

And soon it was on its way, probably back to its den to sleep the day away, hopefully with belly full of mice.

Most foxes have mated by now, so if this was a female she may need enough food to develop up to 12 pups - though more typically half that number, depending on food availability and other factors.  With a 50 day gestation period, the young are typically born in the April to May time frame.  Friends who live on the north end of Lake Wicwas had a fox den near their yard a couple of years ago and enjoyed watching the young pups play together in the early summer.  I've never had the opportunity to experience that, as foxes like warm, south facing slopes to build their dens, and we don't have that exposure near by.

In addition to cool nights we had a few light snowfalls, one that provided some tracks including this nice gray squirrel sample.

Gray squirrels are another fox delicacy.

Farther north the snow accumulated enough to refresh the mountains' coat of white.

The Lafayette Range is white again, as seen from the summit of Mt. Flume.

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And the fast track of storms blowing through have made for dynamic atmosphere conditions with interesting clouds and sunsets forming as warm and cold air masses bump into each other.

Three different layers of clouds formed as the temperature rose 20 degrees in a few hours. 

Fog on the ice, low clouds above the trees, high clouds on top.

The cool weather and snow slowed, but didn't stop, the process of the lakes returning to liquid form.  Cracks are opening in the ice with ice flows starting to break away.

Meredith Bay is opening up more each day, but it still has a ways to go.

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We enjoyed fine waterside dining with take-out lunch in our car overlooking the bay, and then went for a walk to a waterfall we haven't visited before in Plymouth.

Rainbow Falls in the Walter-Newton ConservatConserion Area in Plymouth.

With so many things closed down we're spending even more time outside with nature - it's nice that the forest is still open for business.

The Sky is still open too.

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If I see you on the trails, I promise I'll keep my distance.