Filmed by Judy Lehmberg, this red fox mom’s healthy litter of 13 fox kits has become the sweethearts of YouTube. They live in Paradise Valley, Montana, which provides the ideal setting for their many adventures.
Judy explains that the red fox mother had 11 babies of her own and then adopted 2 from another female fox, maybe her sister. To add more challenges to her parenting duties, the mother’s mate was run over and killed on a nearby highway.
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She is a busy fox and, in some moments captured on film, can be seen being lifted up and even rotated as her many babies squirm beneath her during feeding time.
Judy has called her ‘the hardest working mom I’ve ever seen.’
She explains that she managed to capture some intimate moments of the 13 babies playing and generally having a ‘grand time.’
Lively Kits Gather For Play Time
The benefit of belonging to a large litter of kits is that no member of the litter is ever alone. There is always a brother or sister to play with, and these kits keep themselves busy with rough-and-tumble play.
They engage in play fighting and get up to all kinds of mischief together.
It’s through interactive play that the kits will learn some of the most valuable lessons they will need for independent adult life, such as hunting.
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They can be seen exploring their environment with wide-eyed curiosity, and in many instances, they seem all tails and legs as they fall over one another.
A Mother Worth Noting
If their father were still alive, he would’ve supported their mother in bringing food for the kits. However, following his death, she is a single mom and clearly a contender for “Mother of the Year”.
A litter of 11 kits is quite big for a red fox, but their litters can range in size from two to 12 kits. The average litter size is 5 kits. This mom has adopted two extra little ones, and it seems from the love she gives them that she considers each one her own.
Red foxes mature sexually at around 10 months of age. Their mating season is from around January to March.
After a gestation period of around 52 days, the kits are born. They rely on their mother’s milk for about 56 to 70 days, at which time they will be weaned.
Just like in Roald Dahl’s story, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, red foxes live in dens. This protects the newborns from the elements and from predators.
No doubt, while these small foxes run around, the mother fox is close by. She has raised them well, and they have grown up as stars, touching hearts across the globe in the poignant sightings Judy has captured on film.
Red foxes live on average three years in the wild. In captivity, they can live up to 10 to 12 years.