Swift Fox with Prey

The Swift Fox (Vulpes velox) is an extremely rare small (cat-sized) fox found in the prairie regions along the western U.S.-Canadian border. It has been reintroduced since 1983, after it was extirpated by the 1930s due to predator control programs aimed at wolves and coyotes.

We found this fox with a Richardson Ground Squirrel (Spermophilus richardsonii)--its typical prey--in extreme southern Saskatchewan, south of the tiny town of Consul where our tour group had just had breakfast and talked with local people about the very small chance of seeing a swift fox.

Yesterday we saw an another extremely rare mammal--a Black-footed Ferret (Mustela nigripes), which is classified as globally endangered. Tom Hince, our guide, had never seen either the fox or the ferret in his forty plus years as a professional naturalist, and all of us were ecstatic to see both of them--and on successive days to boot! (I did not blip the ferret, because it was much too distant for a clear photograph with my camera. You can see a digiscoped image and read more on Tom Hince's blog.)