Well... truthfully not really... We were staying at some very rustic cabins in the mountains above Glenwood Springs. I had heard there was a litter of kit foxes who "came around" from time to time. As we were nearly back from an ATV trip, I spotted 3 of the kits across the road a few yards from the cabin. I got off and planned to try to get a shot or two - had the rest of them go on in, because I figured the noise would bother the foxes.
To my dismay, they ghosted on up the road and were nearly out of sight when I heard myself give a little chirpy sound like I use to call the dogs over sometimes. To my surprise, they all 3 stopped and turned back around. One of them fixed his gaze on me and came trotting across the road towards me. I figured he'd stop when he got across and got close enough. He didn't. I was snapping pictures and walking backwards as fast as I could over unfamiliar terrain and heading back to the cabins. He followed at a right smart trot. Had I been more courageous I could have stood my ground, I suppose. I was after all, quite a bit bigger than him. And, really, I've never heard of a fox attacking a human.... Can you tell I was trying to keep the eyes in focus and move at the same time? Unfortunately, in trying to keep the eyes in focus, I kept seeing how sharp his little teeth looked.
Once I got to the drive way, he sat down on a rock and looked at me in complete disgust like "What?!? You called me over here... where's the food?" I found out shortly after that the kits were well fed by all the neighbors and therefore, technically, partially tame. Not a great idea in my book, but understandable because they are really cute - when they are babies.
They came around several times again, but didn't really pose much - probably because they were offended by my strange behavior. Several people in our group left wet shoes and socks on the porch to dry that evening and found them scattered all around the cabin yard the next morning - not damaged in any way - just scattered about. They probably had a great time doing that and laughing about the strange humans visiting that weekend.
Great story to go with your beautifully focused shot. His teeth do look rather sharp! I do agree with you that feeding wildlife - especially of the carnivorous variety, is not a good idea. Here in Australia, the feeding of semi-wild dingoes has led to the deaths of children.
Excellent capture and a great story to accompany it. We feed feral cats in our condo patio and this winter, in addition to the oppossums and occasional raccoons that wander in we had a red fox come in looking for food.. a very scruffy fox that looked very hungry. It's good that your neighbors feed the fox kits, at least we're all doing our part to help these poor creatures survive the harsh winter.
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