Defender of the Den

During a hike in Yellowstone a few days ago, I inadvertently stumbled across a hidden fox den in an area, void of the tourist hoards. I decided I'd spend t...
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During a hike in Yellowstone a few days ago, I inadvertently stumbled across a hidden fox den in an area, void of the tourist hoards. I decided I'd spend the next couple hours hiding in the the dense brush with hopes of earning an opportunity to photograph this little fox family interacting with each other, without being influenced or affected by my presence. I tried to be invisible, but true to their nature (especially the kits), they were more concerned with investigating me and my gear. I remained still, other than shifting my body periodically to get a shot, however it wasn't long until I realized the little ones loved the sound of the shutter. I didn't want to encourage these young kits to become overly comfortable with human presence, so as they began taking bigger risks by coming closer to me, I decided it was time to say goodbye and let them live their, hopefully, long and happy lives in the beautiful little pocket of Yellowstone that they claimed as their home.

It was an amazing encounter and while I'm extremely excited to go through the full set of images, nothing will compare to the memories of the beautifully innocent moments I witnessed in those two short hours.
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