THE STORY OF A LITTLE FOX NAMED JAR HEAD.

ONE DAY A SMALL GRAY FOX PERCHED HERSELF ON A DOWNED TREE BEHIND MY HOME.

FOR TWO DAYS SHE SAT ON  THE TREE NO MATTER WHAT TIME OF DAY IT WAS. SHE WAS A VERY PATIENT FOX AND HAD SOMETHING ON HER MIND...

ON THE 2ND DAY i STOOD IN FRONT OF HER AND OUR EYES MET. SO I ASKED HER POINT BLANK " LITTLE FOX" WHY ARE YOU HERE AND  JUST WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU?

THEN A FEW MOMENTS LATER I CAUGHT SOMETHING OUT OF THE CORNER OF MY EYE MOVING AROUND IN THE GRASS.

AT FIRST I THOUGHT IT WAS AN ARMADILLO BECAUSE OF THE AWKWARDNESS OF IT'S MOVEMENT BUT ON CLOSER OBSERVATION I NOTICED IT WAS A LITTLE BABY FOX ....WITH A JAR ON IT'S HEAD!

 OMG I thought out loud and  my heart sank.I could hardly believe my own eyes! He looked like a space fox ready for take off and begin to think how can I help this wild little critter get that jar off his head. However the bigger problem was just  HOW was I going to catch him!

IT BECAME CLEAR to me at that point THAT THE MOTHER FOX HAD BEEN ASKING FOR INTERVENTION FOR HER KIT AS THERE WAS NO WAY SHE COULD HELP HIM HERSELF. AS ELUSIVE AND SHY AS FOX ARE, SHE PUT HERSELF, IN BROAD DAYLIGHT , TWENTY FEET FROM MY BACK DOOR, TO SUMMON THE HELP SHE NEEDED FROM A HUMAN BEING...WITH HANDS!

TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT LITTLE JAR HEAD WAS RESCUED THE NEXT DAY WITH THE HELP OF SOME ANIMAL LOVING NEIGHBORS, AND AN AMAZING MAN WHO HAD NO FEAR OF FOXES...

It was a plastic jar so we were lucky that we could cut it off with a pair of scissors.

Though it was July and I am sure that little guy had been in trouble for a couple of days

He appeared to be healthy and  calm.   Frank the man who caught him held him while I cut the jar off his head head. 

He was so cute. After the jar was removed I petted his head a few times noticing how beautiful his gray coat was, Then Frank carried him outside and let him go back to his mother.  It was a happy moment for all.

The next morning I saw the mother for running across the yard with a bird it her mouth and I knew it was for little jar head.

SO BEGAN MY WONDERFUL ADVENTURE WITH THE GRAY FOXES WHO

TAUGHT ME MANY THINGS

THEY LIVED AND GREWW UP IN MY BACK YARD AND THEY SEEMED TO THINK OF MY AS PART OF THEIR ENVIRONMENT.

THE BEAUTIFUL LANGUAGE OF FOXES

This is one of my favorite videos that I took in Aug 2010. The kits were almost grown and soon after this slowly but surely all the foxes disapeared. I put food and water out every day but they did not come back. I was so hoping to have a third litter on the property in 2011. However, because of the dry weather that year the foxes went away to find a better place to live.
Unfortunatly for myself, I too had to move from Micanopy in Jan. 20112.  Right before I left, I saw freshly dug fox holes all around the property. Some of the holes no more than 30 feet from the house.  The hardest part of having to move was that I would never get to see the foxes again. I am settled in New Orleans but I honestly still think about the foxes everyday.
Two weeks ago, around Feb. 15th my neighbor Lynn, in Micanopy, told me that her neighbor saw a fox on his property around his chicken coup... however, he said that he did not mind loosing a couple of chickens to the foxes.... so everyone who has learned about the Jar Head story sees foxes in a new and accepting light. This makes me happy.
Please go back to older post to see more videos that I took in 2010. 
Thanks for reading my blog. I still want to hear from anyone that has a fox story themselves!
Sandra

Today's video is my all time favorite. There are moments in this video when the adult foxes move in complete tandem with one another as though it was a beautifully  choreographed  dance and they were responding on cue! .
 You can see them communicating with one another in a silent language only they understand. You can't help but notice it. In my opinion it is simply breadth taking and fills my heart with an incredible sense of joy and emotion you want to hang onto but can't.  Those moments are rare and special so I must say I have watched this particular video over and over when I need a little boost of joy to my day.

  There are all kinds of activities going on in the tree line where the young foxes hold back as long as they can.  Shyanne the grandma of the group plays the game with the young foxes where she gets a piece of food in her mouth and teases them with it.
I have watched them do this over and over and the intention of the adult foX is for the
little fox to win.  At one point in this video you will see Shyanne teasing  a little fox  and once she drops the food for the little one to get, she goes over with another piece and drops it at the little foxes feet, making sure she got her share.

The music I have chosen for this video couldn't have been better as the tempo and the
spiritual quality of the music matches that of the beautiful gray foxes.
I would like to recommend that you watch this in full screen if your computer allows and also watch it more than once. After a youtube plays a lot of little videos to choose from shows up at the bottom. Please ignore this as all of those videos are not mine and might not be friendly to foxes.  Stay on this page and go to the next blog post below to play that video. Thanks for for visiting my Micanopy Fox Blog and come back soon.

Sandra