[wisb] Sick Red Fox at Milwaukee's Lakeshore State Park? (and a couple of bird photos)

From: "B.G. Sloan" <bgsloan2@xxxxxxxxx>
To: wisbirdn <wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2011 17:25:38 -0700 (PDT)

(Note: the fox I'm referring to in this note is NOT the Lakeshore State Park 
fox with the injured rear leg).

Yesterday while I was following the Buff-breasted Sandpiper in Lakeshore State 
Park it occurred to me that I hadn't seen a single fox in the park this summer. 
So today I headed over to the park to look for foxes.

I hung out quite a while in the areas where I've seen them in the past, and was 
rewarded with two sightings. Two different foxes, I'm sure, as they were moving 
in opposite directions, and one seemed healthy while the other didn't look too 
good. I didn't get any photos of the "healthy" fox as it was too furtive and 
moving too quickly. The other fox was pretty furtive as well, dodging me 
several times. But it came out into the open eventually and I was able to take 
a few photos:

* The whole time I watched the fox it appeared to be squinting. At best, its 
eyes were half closed:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14463444@N07/6121676651/in/photostream

* The fox also spent a lot of time rubbing the sides of its face in the grass:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14463444@N07/6122219184/in/photostream

* The fox appeared to be rather scrawny, and its fur didn't seem to be in very 
good condition. The following photo is a tad blurred, but you can get the 
general idea. In addition, you can see that it still appears to be "squinting", 
even though it's started to break into a run:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14463444@N07/6121678375/in/photostream

I found myself wondering if maybe the fox has some sort of eye infection that 
interferes with its ability to hunt? That might explain the squinty eyes, the 
rubbing of its face in the grass, the scrawniness, and the poor fur condition?

And now for a couple of bird photos:

* My first successful photo of a Double-crested Cormorant in the water. Usually 
they dive right as I'm taking the shot. :-)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14463444@N07/6122292494/in/photostream

* And a photo of what looks like a juvenile Herring Gull feeding on the remains 
of what looks to be a Lake Trout:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14463444@N07/6121750217/in/photostream

* Finally, a driftwood sculpture at the far north end of Bradford Beach:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14463444@N07/6122295104/in/photostream

Bernie Sloan
Milwaukee
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[wisb] Sick Red Fox at Milwaukee's Lakeshore State Park? (and a couple of bird photos)

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