Jun 08, 2009
SOURCE: Pressdemocrat.com
Mendocino artist Erica Fielder has had to look no farther than her own backyard lately for compelling wildlife images.
She recently discovered a mother fox and five kits living under her home. Unfortunately, on May 27 the mother fox was killed by a car.Â
Daily online bulletins about the foxes drew in Fielder's online community, which delivered suggestions and links to wildlife experts.
She is benefitting from the good counsel of Doris Duncan at Wildlife Rescue Sonoma County, Ronnie James who rescues birds and Tanya Smart, Sarah Grimes and Jackie Peltier, who all rescue marine mammals.
"I was very glad that they all said don't trap them. I'm feeding them healthy pet food, raw egg and providing water," said Fielder.
She is resisting the urge to name them or talk baby-talk to them, too. She snaps photos through a window using a long lense. Her daily e-mail to about 60 friends is filled with drama including the arrival of a new adult fox that stayed long enough to groom the kits before vanishing.Â
She has lost sleep over the runt of the litter, dubbed Little Fuzz. At feeding time the runt is the bravest, although it is usually pushed away from the food by bigger litter mates.Â
In Fielder's most recent bulletin, she described the kits fighting over food. She decided to chop up organic chicken into tiny morsels and scatter the food over a wider area.
Fielder will put fox lovers on her e-mail distribution if they promise not to put her on any e-mail list servers. She's got her hands full as it is. Her e-mail is efielder@mcn.org.
"The foxes are so beautiful and feisty. I want them to have a chance to have a wild life," she said.
