Incredible Photos Show Men Reuniting With The Fox That They Raised When She Was Still A Cub

Foxes are heavily intertwined with human settlements. While interaction with humans has its disadvantages, these two Scottish wildlife photographers’ story shows how they did their best to help a beautiful fox that had been orphaned by one of these dangers.

Photographers Peter Lewis and Mark Strachan were getting some nature shots in a field near Petershead, on the northeast coast of Scotland, when they found three red fox cubs last summer. They returned a few times to photograph the wild animals from a distance, but when they found a fox dead on a nearby road and made the connection, they felt like they had to step in. Feeling a duty to help the orphaned cubs, but not wanting them to grow up without the skills to take care of themselves, Lewis says they ran through the field with bits of chicken on a string teaching the cute foxes to hunt.

For six months, the two photographers have been occasionally visiting Black Paws, as they called the most outgoing member of the litter who has stuck around in the same area. These beautiful animal photography shots show that, while the young fox was excited to see the photographers again, the beautiful animal has been flourishing on her own.

“We turned up and used our way of letting her know we were there, and she was out like a dog that had been waiting for its master all day,” Lewis said. “We became her foster parents. There was one month I had to rely on Mark to feed her as holidays in the highlands stopped me from getting out seeing her. When I saw her again I was not let down as the cub that once looked so vulnerable was blossoming into a very beautiful vixen and she hadn’t forgotten me.”

“She was bolder than ever coming right up and sat yards from me,” said the photographer of the emotional reunion. “This is a wild fox and it amazes me as to how much this she let us into her life, maybe she was relying on us to help her into adulthood.”