My obsession with foxes began in Ireland. One morning I opened the window and there it was, a fox under my window… a very brief sight of an urban fox followed by other two in a very short time… And then I discovered two photographers on Instagram that take beautiful portraits of these wild animals… And I continued to fall in love with these furry beasts. When I arrived to Switzerland I read that there are more than 1200 foxes living in Zurich! At the beginning I was super excited with the idea of finding one and photograph it, but the time didn’t come as fast as I would like… Yes, I saw a fox while hiking near Zurich. And another one while I was visiting the Botanical Gardens, but I was never prepared! I didn’t have the proper lens or I didn’t even have my camera with me…

Well, I was getting a bit eager and I was missing photographing wildlife (I admit that I miss so much the fallow deer from Phoenix Park in Dublin) so I recently cheated. A few days ago it was a bit cloudy and we were at home doing nothing. So we decided to go to Zürich Wildpark Langenberg, a small zoo and protected area founded in 1869 and home to some native or formerly native animals in Switzerland (like red fox, red deer, brown bear, wolves, marmots…). And there I found what I was dreaming of: a fox family!! There is an adult pair of foxes who recently had a litter of four fox kittens.

When we arrived, the fox family was hidden in one of the dens, so we decided to explore the rest of the park and come back later to the fox area. It was a good idea! After seeing the bears, the red deer, the elks, we came back and we saw a little furry thing peeping through one of the den’s entrances. And after a while, a second little furry head appeared… and a third! Soon the fox dad appeared too and started playing around the area with its four kittens. And then fox mum too! It was really nice to see the whole family running, jumping and playing all around…

I know, going to zoos or places like this park is not like seeing these animals in the wild. But here in Wildpark Langenberg the foxes live almost as if they were free, and it’s a nice place where I can learn how these animals behave before trying to find them in the wilderness. I hope the day I find them in the nature comes soon!!

For now, I leave you with some photos of this cute family and some others I took in Langenberg. I hope you like them!

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Red fox. Canon EOS 1200d 250mm f/5.6 1/200sec. ISO400
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Fox kitten. Canon EOS 1200d 250mm f/5.6 1/400sec. ISO400
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Siblings. Canon EOS 1200d 250mm f/5.6 1/400sec. ISO400
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Little explorer. Canon EOS 1200d 250mm f/5.6 1/400sec. ISO400
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Red fox. Canon EOS 1200d 250mm f/5.6 1/160sec. ISO400
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Fox family. Canon EOS 1200d 250mm f/5.6 1/400sec. ISO400
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The vixen. Canon EOS 1200d 250mm f/5.6 1/320sec. ISO400
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Fox dad. Canon EOS 1200d 250mm f/5.6 1/500sec. ISO400
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Red deer. Canon EOS 1200d 250mm f/5.6 1/160sec. ISO100
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Brown bear. Canon EOS 1200d 200mm f/5.6 1/200sec. ISO100
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Brown bear. Canon EOS 1200d 200mm f/5.6 1/100sec. ISO100
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Alpine Ibex wrestling. Canon EOS 1200d 117mm f/5 1/160sec. ISO100

 

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