An inviting backyard can be all you need to get through the dead of winter. That's what one gardener proved with the help of a curious backyard visitor.
The homeowner shared a short video of a red fox dawdling on a frozen pond in r/WildlifePonds.
"What a beautiful, healthy-looking fox," one commenter said.
Another wrote: "I hope he doesn't end up in the pond, when the ice starts melting. Maybe he wants a drink? I've seen wildlife come to the bird bath close to my house to get some water when everything else was frozen."
The poster replied that they had a bird bath that was frequented by foxes and they thought "this one was just curious."
They added in another comment that they were accustomed to leaving the ice intact because of the creatures underneath it.
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The red fox, with its black legs and ears and white-tipped tail, is smart and cunning, according to the National Wildlife Federation. Able to find food during any season, they are plentiful throughout North America and three other continents. They feast on rodents, rabbits, birds, amphibians, fruit, and scraps from the trash or farms.
The animal displays perhaps the greatest hearing range of any mammal, which allows it to track prey even through several feet of snow, per the National Park Service. This leads to spectacular hunts in which it launches itself through the air to dive headfirst into snow, as Discovery revealed.
Amazingly, a red fox is successful almost 75% of the time if it's facing north during these leaps. Scientists believe it's because the species is attuned to Earth's magnetism and can "calculate and plot" trajectories.
Foxes can carry rabies and pose threats to ground-nesting species, but they are usually harmless to humans, the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station reported. In fact, they help balance ecosystems and protect us against diseases by consuming rodents and carrion.
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To support these brilliant beings, you can rewild your yard to entice native wildlife and use less plastic (in addition to rinsing recyclables and properly disposing of trash) to keep the inquisitive fauna from becoming dangerously entrapped.
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