I’ve been wanting to get a daytime sighting and photo of a bull Moose for a few years now but have only caught them in fleeting moments at dusk and dawn.

Finally, this fall, I got a tip from a friend about where I might spot one easily so drove to Cape Breton under the promise of a sunny weather forecast.

The next morning, I woke up in Pleasant Bay and it was pea soup foggy.  The forecast is often wrong for the highlands where bad weather tends to prevail and I drove up to the trail where it was even foggier, and misting.  Spent an hour on the trail with my biggest lens in hand.  No luck.  Talked to the Parks Canada guy who was out and about on a 4-wheeler he had also not spotted any moose that morning.  He mentioned it was supposed to clear up later in the morning, so I decided to make the best of things and I took a drive up to Danena’s in Dingwall for strong coffee and sweet treats.  Drove back and checked the trail again after that still no good weather, and no moose, so meandered around Cheticamp for a few hours to practice landscape photography.  It still didn’t clear up.

By mid-afternoon any optimism I had for an appearance by the sun had disappeared.  So, I stuck my 400mm under my rain poncho (lighter than my 600mm), to make my final search for the day.

I could hardly see my hand in front of my face after walking up and down the trail for about an hour and had pretty much given up and was heading for the car. 

The trail was mostly wide-open barrens, but there was a short stretch with trees on either side and as I entered that stretch, there he was peering at me through the corridor about 20 feet away.  I was so scared I almost fainted.  I thought well why on earth did I wish for this?  All alone with a bull Moose sporting a big rack in rutting season, not smart Angela! 

The night before I had researched moose behavior so that if I did get into a dicey situation, I would know what to do.  With bears and coyotes, you are supposed to be on the offensive.  Make noise, act big, be a threat.

If you do that with moose, you are going to get attacked for sure.  The only thing you can do is what I did, nothing.  Well and if they charge you run like hell and look for cover…gulp.

He looked right into my eyes, then simply turned around and wandered off.  Since safety was my first priority, I did not take a photo when he was facing me as wonderful as that may have been.

As he turned away though, I did get my favorite wildlife shot of all time.

The 15 or so minute walk back to the car was fairly unnerving as he had simply disappeared into the fog and the trail was full of fresh hoof prints, but it didn’t take long before I was smiling.

It may not have been the shot I wanted, but it was an experience I’ll never forget!

Back in January there was a very bold Red Fox hanging about the access road at Rainbow Haven provincial park.

This went on for about a week and rumors started circulating that the fox had Rabies.  I thought not, perfectly healthy lovely creature.

My friend Susan suggested it must be a male fox, protecting the female in the den who was pregnant.  Research told me it was just a little early for that, however it was a mild winter and not outside of normal. 

We had been smelling that the fox had been marking in previous weeks, and as there are always fox kits born at Rainbow Haven each year, I figured that a pregnant fox was in fact the most likely explanation.

Going back through photos from previous years of fox kits, I predicted the kits to be 2-3 weeks earlier and marked the date to go see what I could find.

My photos didn’t turn out exactly as I had hoped as there was a nest of hungry wood ticks right by the den which created a fair bit of anxiety for me even with white, deet-covered socks, and also the foliage obscured the view and if I tried to get closer the kits would spook and hide, but all that aside for me it was still a wondrous experience.

Watching these young teeny fox kits play was a definite highlight of my spring.

Although they will never be print-quality shots without a month of Photoshopping I’m not willing to do, I love these shots. Hope you do too.

A typical Red Fox has an average life span of 2-4 years in the wild, if they can make it to adulthood.

Late March or early April this spring a local Red Fox couple birthed 5 adorable kits at a local provincial park in Cow Bay.

My friends and I think a Bald Eagle grabbed a kit when they first emerged from the den. Four kits were spotted for a bit after that, although one was clearly not doing well.

The mortality rate of Red Fox kits is quite high, but not nearly as high as this local fox family experienced.

On May 9th I saw these 3 fox kits alive. The park had not opened yet.

3 fox kits with momma on May 9th, 2018

It would be typically expected for perhaps 2 to make it to the fall, and after that maybe only 1 to reach adulthood so things appeared to be on track.

But, once the park opened for the season things quickly went downhill.

I’m not sure what the fine is for feeding wildlife, but it matters not at this was not enforced.

It’s safe to say that human intervention caused the death of at least 1 (possibly 2) of the kits.

The park opened on May 18th and right away park visitors started feeding the kits. Within 2 weeks the kits made the local paper.

Momma wasn’t seen much around after that, and I don’t think that is a coincidence. Kits shouldn’t be on their own until about 7 months old, which should be October in this case.

I found a dead kit by in the parking lot by the beach house on June 23 and only one kit was spotted after that. I decided then he was the little prince of Cow Bay.

By end of July this our little prince was sitting on picnic tables being fed ice cream and pizza by park visitors.

Surviving all odds, this little fellow was strong and healthy and should have grown up in his beautiful seaside kingdom.

It was amazingly sad for me to witness parents encouraging their children to feed the fox. And here I thought every Canadian knew not to feed wildlife…sigh.

Fox kits need to learn to hunt on their own by 7 months of age or starve to death, so being fed by humans put his life in direct jeopardy.

Instead of thinking about the impact of human intervention on this innocent creature, the concern seemed to be primarily that he may nip someone.

A sad victim of human ignorance, now he lives in a cage at the Shubenacadie Wildlife Park.

Our little prince of Cow Bay no longer free to enjoy his beautiful seaside kingdom.

If you visit him, remember his past and see the difference.

We can learn from our mistakes,

Angela

“I write better in Cape Breton… too many people around in Ontario. Down there I meet all sorts of non-human people, but they don’t bother me, and I don’t feel I have to apologize on behalf of my species quite so often.”
– Farley Mowat