I have had a few run ins with these little guys, and little they are. Not much bigger than your average housecat. They’re incredibly curious. I have had to chase a few off who were following me while I was either nest searching or on my way to check a nest. They seem to like to follow in any paths that we leave through tall grass. It does appear to be a bit easier working though that grass in a path rather than attempting to swim through it themselves. They’ll follow along with their eyes all squinty (they are most active at night), and their tiny noses in the air, sniffing.
I had a particularly curious fox inspect my bag and nest pole while I was sitting on a rock nearby.
It was entertaining until they decided to nibble a bit at the pack, and then attempted to pull it with them. We cannot leave any boots, socks or other potentially enticing items outside of our cabins at night. The foxes will carry them off into the brush, most certainly to never be found again. Or at least never found again by their original owners. Random partnerless socks and shoes have been found out in the field. The foxes are like curious puppies, carrying off anything they can that interests them. Wandering over our deck in the night in search of such interesting items they also like to leave us little presents. We have to be careful not to step in these in the morning.
The closest encounter of the Island Fox kind that I have had happened with the same fox who attempted to carry my stuffed field bag away with it. I was sitting on a rock watching a pair of birds when the fox appeared. I decided to just sit still and see how close the fox would get. The answer was that the fox would attempt to grab the boot on my foot by the laces. (Presumably to try and carry it away and gnaw on the leather a bit.) He or she decided that that was a bad idea and scurried off when I exclaimed “Hey!” in surprise.
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