We are spending a lot of time fox-watching these days. Our resident red fox couple had 9 (!) babies this year. They are about 8 weeks old now and are rowdy, playful, curious critters… and they have made a den under our shed in our back yard. Total mayhem. They are practicing stalking and pouncing (on each other) and spend a lot of time tossing around play “prey” of sticks and leaves and an old squirrel tail (ew). They also bury their invented toys, then dig them up again, then rebury them. And they get the zoomies and run around like miniature maniacs. Our flower beds are pretty much toast. But we don’t mind. The parents are attentive and incredibly patient, even when all 9 kits are being super annoying… biting, tugging on their tails, etc. We know the odds of all 9 kits surviving are slim, so we are trying not to get attached. But they are too adorable for words. We are smitten in spite of ourselves.