By Kevin Spradlin
PeeDeePost.com
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NORMAN — Phillip Stutts thought it was a dead dog.
As he cycled along the country roadway, though, he edged over for a closer look.
The not-so-dead animal “shot back into his den.”
Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
Around supper time Friday evening, Stutts watched as four or five red fox pups romped in a gulley somewhere in the Norman countryside. The critters didn’t seem to mind as a couple of admirers watched from a safe and respectful distance.
Stutts said he has a 25-mile route he rides “a couple times a week” and “I just happened upon them yesterday.”
“I came up on a hill, down below in the bottom part of the bank on the side of the highway,” Stutts said. “I saw something laying there. It looked like a dead dog to me.”
Though he later felt it was a group of young coyotes, his initial instinct thought it was a fox. He changed his mind when he saw what appeared to be several dens lined up in a row. That seemed to be very un-foxy behavior.
Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
Tessie Caulder, local wildlife rehabilitator, said Stutts’ first hunch was correct. They’re red foxes.
Regardless, “it’s something I’d never seen before” Stutts said during a roadside chat while overlooking the playful pups.
Stutts said when he was a bit younger than his present 65 years, he had a fox pup as a pet — before the days such a concept was illegal. It was a good pet, he said.
Richmond County does not have a fox-trapping season. Foxes can be taken with dogs both day and night on a daily, year-round basis.
Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
The red fox pups appear to be well fed, as seen here by what appears to be the remains of a guinea fowl.
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