There’s a golf course in the Bay Area where it’s really easy to photograph Red Foxes. They’re very approachable because a community member feeds them. Trays of chicken parts distributed to the foxes on a regular basis. Apparently she thinks the foxes are vermin, and feeds them to keep them from eating the food she leaves out for a feral cat colony. It’s a very Bay Area scene. While I don’t judge the people who go to photograph them (it’s not like they’re doing the feeding), I’ve never felt like going to photograph a non-native Bay Area species that’s getting fed.
When I came upon this Red Fox in Yellowstone, I was briefly delighted to see it in its natural habitat before it walked right towards me and struck a classic calendar pose. It wandered off to clean up beneath a picnic table once it realized I wasn’t a paying customer. But when it struck a pose in front of snow-capped mountain as the sky popped off in the background, I admit I pressed the shutter button. Please don’t judge me.
Also please don’t feed wildlife, ever. After it got sick of me, the fox headed out onto the road to beg for food from an oncoming car.
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