The post “Foxes – Creatures of the forest” is written by Kevin Winterhoff (Facebook | 500px | blog):
A quick glance. I look through the viewfinder, focus and press the shutter button. The fox jumps off – the only thing I see of him is a bushy tail, which quickly disappears in the undergrowth.
That ‘s what I love so much about this animal. He is shy. A consequence from centuries of hunting, at least in my home country of Germany. However, this is not necessarily the nature of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes). In hunting free areas, such as deserted places like Kamchatka, foxes are a lot more approachable.
Foxes have always been a symbol for intelligence and cunning behavior. Through his kinship to the dog, he is much closer to man than many other wild animals. It’s hard for me to explain why I love foxes so much. In general, wild animals are fond of me, which I have to search long and with what I have to deal with me a long time to get good photos.
In general, I am fond of animals that I really have to search for and which I have to stay focussed on for an extended period of time in order to get good photographs.
I started photographing foxes many years ago. Especially spring is a good time of the year to do so. If the foxes give birth in spring, chances are good to photograph young ones at the burrow. This helps to capture some very nice shots, which however only give a small insight of the experiences I had. The incredibly confidence of foxes is one thing, which you cannot show in a photograph. I’ve experienced however, that young foxes will come up to me as close as a few feet without me being camouflaged at all.
I experienced the same with adult foxes in hunting-free areas where they have nothing to fear. Feeling their confidence and being able to observe their intelligence for an extended amount of time is a real privilege. Photos can only partially show what such moments mean for the life of a wildlife photographer.
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