When red fox kits are roughly five weeks old, not only do they begin spending time outside of their den, but they also start eating solid food and weaning begins. This mother is still nursing her young, but soon she will start discouraging them by not always giving them access to her milk through tactics such as lying on her stomach when they approach her for a meal. Within three weeks the kits will be completely weaned.
This entry was posted on April 19, 2012 by Mary Holland. It was filed under April, Foxes, Mammals, Red Foxes, Signs of Spring, Young Animals and was tagged with mammals, Nursing Mammals, Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes, Weaning, Young Animals.
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Naturally Curious with Mary Holland
I so wish I didn’t have to dislike foxes but they kill everything here if given the chance. Dilemmas
April 19, 2012 at 10:44 am
The straight forward message – lying on her stomach 🙂 gave me a nice giggle since I imagined what human children would do in protest to such a bold move! Lovely post! Fascinating foxes.
April 19, 2012 at 11:25 am
What an incredible image Mary! She does have that look on her face of ” Oh yes, weaning, any day now! ” I just love this photo!!
April 19, 2012 at 2:59 pm
How lucky you are to witness all of this! And how fortunate we are that you share these glimpses with the rest of us.
April 20, 2012 at 12:55 am
Thank you so much for your kind words, Pat. It is pure joy to know others share my love of and curiosity about the natural world!
April 22, 2012 at 12:46 am
A beautiful image, 🙂
April 23, 2012 at 8:18 pm
Thanks so much, Mike.
April 23, 2012 at 8:37 pm