Kamloops photographer finds rare fox hunting at Sun Peaks Resort

Kamloops wildlife photographer Taylor Borth was doing some painting work in a house at Sun Peaks Resort in Kamloops recently when she spotted an unusual wild animal through the window.

A red fox with a rare coloured coat, called a cross fox, was busy hunting

“At first glance I thought it was a strangely coloured coyote,” she said. “It was pretty unreal, I hadn’t seen one before. I didn’t even know cross foxes existed until this encounter.”

Borth’s camera was locked in her van a couple of flights of stairs away, so she made a mad dash for it. Fortunately, the fox stuck around.

“By the time I got my camera I was completely out of breath and convinced I’d missed my chance,” she said. “Not only did the fox stick around, it crested the hill it had been hiding behind and gave me an incredible opportunity for photos.”

Borth said the animal seemed completely focused on hunting, glancing her way only a few times. It was carrying two voles in its mouth.

“One thing that really stood out was that it carried the voles a considerable distance away rather than eating them immediately,” she said. “This made me wonder if it may have been a female with kits nearby.”

Cross foxes are red foxes with a genetic mutation in their melanin, the main pigment found in animals responsible for the colour of hair and fur. The mutation gives them a black band running down their backs and one going across their shoulders, forming a cross shape.

The unusual colouration accounts for up to a third of the red fox population in Canada, according to Learn About Nature, but are mainly found in northern parts of the country.

Borth said her experience with the cross fox made her year as a wildlife photographer.

 “I know how fortunate I was to spend time with such an uncommon animal,” Borth said.

“It was a very special encounter I’ll remember for a long time.”