I thought I’d died and gone to heaven when I finally made it to Zao Fox Village last spring, but it’s a good thing I didn’t actually shuffle off this mortal coil due to fox-induced bliss, because then I would have missed seeing all these fluffy vixen in the SNOW!
In the winter, they’re at their fattest and furriest!
With tails set to maximum fluff
Sleepy fur pillows were everywhere
But there were plenty of foxes running around, scampering to the feeding platform when they heard the telltale crinkle of a snack bag
I guess all those squee-worthy baby foxlets grew up, because it seemed like there were a lot more loafs of ginger goodness this time
s-t-r-e-e-e-t-c-h
*yawn*
*zzzzzzzzzz*
Mine!
I choose to believe these foxlings were not trashtalking my ugly snow boots
This is just the first installment of fox-centric posts, because the second I walked through the Fox Village gate, my camera was possessed by some sort of snap-happy demon, and it took HUNDREDS of pictures all by itself. I’m still wading through them, and will post more soon!
If you’d like to go to Fox Village, detailed directions are here. Getting there is a major schlep (two hours by bullet train from Tokyo, then a ¥4000 taxi ride), and sometimes the roads aren’t passable in the winter because of snow. Be sure to check the weather forecast and the Fox Village website before you leave, because it would be terrible to get all the way to Shiroishi and NO NO NO SO CLOSE AND YET SO FAR AIEEEEE!
Jonelle Patrick is the author of the Only In Tokyo mystery series, published by Penguin/Intermix.
