I first spotted him as a bright blond spot on top of a distant rock outcrop. He was hiding from people and their domestic dogs as they passed by on the road under his location. I had seen this fox in the vicinity before so wasn't surprised by his presence. Actually I was looking for him.
As I watched him he was laying down behind some low tufts of grass watching the people and animals below. After they passed he sat up then got up and moved up the hill. After traveling several hundred feet he suddenly came to attention looking straight ahead and down a little, then did the little fox hop and nose dive into the vegetation in front of him. When I next saw him he was chewing something but at the distance he was from me I couldn't tell what it was. I lost track of him then as he moved behind rock outcrops and more vegetation.
In about a half hour I saw him again. He was coming down the hill from far to the right of where I had last seen him. As he got close to this point he stopped once more on the top of a small rock outcrop and laid down behind another clump of grass. As I waited and wondered about what he was doing, I noticed more people and dogs walking on the road that passes along the base of the hill. I should note that this is a favorite road of dog walkers, walkers, and people who never leave their cars but run their dogs on the road with general abandon. As a hiker in the area I need to keep a constant eye out for their droppings as most of the locals consider this area a dog toilet, and it saves cleaning up their own yards by running their dogs here.
But I digress!
As soon as the walkers passed by the fox got up and started down the hill again. Suddenly he stopped and ran quickly back to the top of the outcrop. He stayed just long enough to let a pickup truck pass by with a border collie streaking down the road in front of it. As soon as they passed the fox quickly trotted to this spot and I captured the image as he stopped to look over the ledge. From here the fox moved about fifteen feet to his right and laid down as if he were going to go to sleep. Now and then he would suddenly look back up the hill or up the face of the rock outcrop then lay back down. Then suddenly there were two foxes there. The first one didn't rise but held his reclining position and it appeared as though he were regurgitating his last catch and the other fox was re-chewing it. I was over 400 yards away looking through a 500mm lens so couldn't be sure.
The second fox then moved off down the hill and I lost track of it in the rock slide. I presume it was the first foxes mate and she returned to her den. Her color was much darker with less winter coat than his. The original fox resumed his nap and was still there when I left the area 30 or 40 minutes later.
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