For those who've enjoyed seeing our catch pics, here's this morning's gray fox... been too busy to make a post until now as I skinned this guy out and immediately left with him and yesterday's black coyote for my taxidermist who is also who initially showed me the ropes in trapping. Grays are among the woods' coolest creatures, and rank among the most beautiful in my opinion: They're also among the meanest if youv'e never been around a gray. I'm just glad they're not 150 pounds... I wouldn't walk so nonchalantly to my stand in the early morning blackness. Matthew is snarling and growling back in this one.... I had to make a few sounds to get him to look at me so I could get both their faces in the pic.
Very nice once again Greg, nice looking coat!! What are the size of your Grey's down there? The one In your pic seems a little smaller then the Grey's we have around here. Congratulation's yet again!!
That is a beautiful fox, we don't have the Grey's we once did, and I've never caught one. most of my sets are flats along Fields and tractor paths. When I have some time I'll let you in on a set your kids will love, its one to work on all summer but in the fall the rewards make it all worth it. Once again great job.
Nice catch! I can never decide which I like better, reds or greys, the are both gorgeous critters and have thier own unique behavioral traits.
Thanks Steve! I"m not quite sure how they'd compare with what you've got size-wise... I didn't weigh this one... or the one I caught this morning either. :D
Greg - just out of curiosity what's up with taking photos of your son with the live animals? Seems to me like you would just want to put the thing down as soon as possible rather than walking around taking photos of it in a trap while it looks at you. Maybe I'm missing something? Congrats nonetheless, very cool looking fox!
Justin, to save myself some typing... here's the answer to the same question posed in my black coyote thread: " ... valid opinion, and I respect your position. There's a lot of reasons I and most trappers do... we love to share the pics with those who enjoy wildlife, as most people never get to see a magazine-quality photo of the animals we trap and see how beautiful they are (been told that by several of my friends). We love to look at their pictures and remember them of how they were before we dispatched them, even though dispatching is obviously a necessary part of game management and our sport... and my photo sessions don't take more than three minutes, tops. With my Nikon D60, I can snap off almost four frames per second, so they're not very prolonged. I don't think any of my catches are in especially excrutiating pain that would necessitate an even quicker dispatch for humane reasons; most animals are extremely relaxed when you approach the set as they've already struggled, found they can't escape and lie down. I've walked up on animals that were asleep before. " Now... to answer more specifically about why my son is in these... it's because I'm passing down one of our nation's oldest heritages to him and teaching him about something he can enjoy for the rest of his life. Indeed, many trappers started when they were young, and countless outdoorsmen and women hold dear as some of their first memories tagging along with their dads on his trapline. Rick James has said it often when he reads my threads, and says that he relishes looking at the pics in these threads because he remembers doing the same with his father. How many adults now wish their dads would have had a camera in tow the quality that I've been blessed to have been able to buy to preserve those memories from their youth? One day when I'm no longer on this earth, I want my son to not only be the person he is from what I taught him and what we experienced together, but I want him to be able to look at his youth in these photos.
