Good News on the foxes Venus and Jupiter

Venus

 2024-03-08

In mid March, Venus was released back into the wild! She has been completely cured of her mange and has regained use of her hind legs after months of excellent care and hard work by her rehabilitators. Now starts a new chapter in her life as a healthy young fox! 

Here is a short video of her release: 

 

Jupiter

More good news!  Jupiter, Venus' brother, was sighted on April 9th looking in good health and running with ease.  He has survived the winter and although his mange is not 100% cured, he is in good shape considering.

You can see the transformation of these two kits by checking out these previous posts:

Venus and Jupiter

Update on Venus in November

New Update on Venus

Today, November 16th, I contacted the shelter that took in the little fox, Venus, for another update.  Here is what I received:

Hi Doris!!!

Venus is doing fine, her skin and fur are a lot better, she can now stand on her back legs and she is starting to walk ... one of her back legs is worse than the other, so it is going to take time but I am pretty sure that she is going to recover at least 75%.  Here is a picture of her beautiful face!

Marie-Claude 

November 16th

Compare this to how she looked over the last few months!

July 11th

 (this may be a sibling but they were all in the same terrible condition)

September 30th

 (just arriving at the shelter)

October 16th

Further update of December 18, 2023:

Hello Doris!!

Venus is doing so great!!!!  She is not anymore in the care place; she is now in the "refuge" where she is walking and she started to run!!!!  Her fur is beautiful!!! She does not want me to touch her anymore which means she is going to be able to get back to the wild in the Spring!!!

Marie-Claude

Update On Venus

I contacted the shelter that took in Venus and got this reply on October 16th:

Hi Doris!!

Her skin is a LOT better!!! At the end of the week she is not going to be contagious anymore [referring to the mange] and we are going to start her physiotherapy for her to get back her muscles in the back legs ... she is a lot too skinny, so for sure is going to be with us for the winter ...  That's the news for now, thank you for helping her.

Marie-Claude Poirier

I then asked for a photo and received this:

The most positive thing to me is that her eyes are wide open!  With the elimination of all her parasites, I'm sure she is feeling much better and hopefully her appetite will improve soon.

Then there was a big surprise in store for me when I returned to the area to try to get a glimpse of Jupiter!  A third fox kit has appeared!!  I call him "Saturn".

That's Jupiter in front (with a redder coat) and Saturn behind (with a straw-colored coat).

Back in July, I was talking to a woman who lives in the area and she said there were three baby foxes.  I only ever saw two together.  We both presumed that the third one had died.  I'm really glad to see that they all lived.  I will be monitoring both these kits and hope they stay in the area in case they need emergency care.

Jupiter

 

I was glad to get a sighting of Jupiter today!  He is, of course, in bad shape from his mange but is still able to get around and his coat is getting thicker.

I am still hopeful that we can capture him (like we did with his sister Venus) so that he can be treated and brought to good health.

This video shows that he can walk and even trot although a close look (especially in other videos) shows that he is favoring his left hind leg.

Woodchuck and Fox videos

Although it was a bright, sunny day yesterday, it was quite cold and there was a brisk wind. Undeterred however were several Woodchucks who came venturing out of their dens after a long hibernation.

Here are two videos taken a couple of years ago. Both are very short. In the first one a young fox is disturbed by the presence of a cat and barks at it several times. Both animals were in the Mount Royal Cemetery eating some offerings from a cemetery visitor.

Slideshow for blog

Here are three fox photographs (only one shows here) that I am posting in an effort to then use them as a slide show! Yay, it worked! You can see it below on the right. However, there must be a better way.

Foxes return to Mount Royal

I was very pleased to find three (!!) foxes on Mount Royal yesterday. Two were together (and had been sighted by another fox enthusiast last week-end) so I am thinking that they are probably a mated pair.

Fox sightings have been very scarce for over a year now so these were a welcome sight.

One was kind enough to settle down for a snooze and allowed me to get these photos. I like the way his fur matches the fallen leaves. In the second shot you can see he still has one eye on me!

At last a fox!

Well, 5 1/2 hours of wandering about on Mount Royal paid off on Saturday with a sighting of a fox! And then, as if in a generous gesture for my many months without a fox fix, it curled up under a tree for a photo shoot!

I enjoy it when my subjects seem at ease with me snapping away at them. I do think many of these animals have come to adopt a certain blasé attitude towards the various camera-toting humans roaming the area.

Encounter in the woods

I just have to do a second post today!

I decided to go out this afternoon even though it was -20 °C with a windchill of -25° C!! There is a small wooded nature park near the local shopping mall that has been preserved as a green space by our enlightened mayor. There are trails, a stream, and several bird feeding stations as well as interpretative signs about the flora and fauna.

Well, after doing a bit of shopping at the mall, I walked to the park as it is on the way home. It was getting close to sunset but I wasn't very worried about "bad guys" lurking in the woods - not at these temperatures! Even so, as I walked the trail I stopped twice to look back. Well, the second time I did that, there he was! A most handsome, magnificent fox!! I was hoping to get a glimpse of one because of all the tracks I was seeing but instead of just a glimpse I had this most wonderful encounter.

He stopped and looked at me and I called to him. I told him over and over "I love you". (I tend to get emotional at times like this and just keep babbling). I wonder what these creatures think of me! Anyway, he was in fine form and was feeling playful. He leapt in the air a couple of times and then ran in quick spurts to my left. He was trying to get downwind of me to find out what I was. I saw him put his muzzle up and take deep sniffs of the air. I guess I wasn't considered a danger because he came closer and just like a dog playing in the snow, he crouched down with his bottom up and pushed his nose into the snow. I almost felt like I could say "here boy!" and he would have come right to my side! Then he did a wide semi-circle around me and I lost sight of him. I was breathless!

Walking on a bit, I scanned the woods to the right. There he was, not far away standing beside a tree and looking right at me. He came closer, made a long stretch putting his chin on his paws and then proceeded to trot away down the frozen stream. I whispered one more "I love you" as I watched him go.

Although I didn't have a camera with me, here is a picture I took of another fox on another walk. What a perfect day!