Late one night last winter, my daughter heard eerie, high-pitched screaming, and was convinced I was being murdered in our own yard.

What she was hearing was the lovestruck moonlight serenade of this vixen…

Her siren call did not go unanswered, and now we have pups nesting in the old groundhog burrows under our barn.

Septuplets! And as far as I can tell, she isn’t getting any help at all from the baby daddy.

She’s the hardest working mama on the block…

She is always hustling back and forth from the woods to the den.

The pups are still nursing and are always clamoring for her attention.

They are always so happy to see her…

Sometimes I watch her trying to get a break from the pups. She wanders away from the den and wearily gazes off into the distance. I imagine she is reflecting on her life choices, and wishing the kids’ deadbeat dad would show up every now and then to help out.

Tomorrow: Fox Pups