- [Coyote] Today here in Colorado, I'm gonna get the chance
to pal around with not one, but two foxes.
You never know what's gonna happen
when you get into an enclosure with two foxes.
Come on, go for it.
I got cheese.
(claws scratching)
(laughing)
(thrilling drumming music)
(growling animal)
(plucking guitar)
People sometime ask,
"Coyote what is the most difficult animal to film with?"
My answer is, "Foxes."
Yes, they are adorable.
There's no arguing that.
But what you don't realize
is that getting them to sit still for the cameras
is virtually impossible.
Not only will they not sit still, they are tricksy.
And it's my opinion, the foxes believe
they're actually the ones running the show.
To be honest, it's a pretty accurate belief.
Try directing a fox,
and you will understand exactly what I mean.
What's goin' on guys?
Here we are at the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center.
Now of course, they have wolves, they have coyotes.
But today, we're getting into an enclosure
with the red fox.
(soft piano music)
Over the course of my career, I've had multiple chances
to get into enclosures with foxes.
Once with a baby fox in Alaska
and once with a full grown fox in Florida.
But today, here in Colorado, I'm gonna get the chance
to pal around with not one, but two foxes.
You never know what's gonna happen
when you get into an enclosure with two foxes.
So if you guys are ready, let's head in
and see what happens.
Hi guys, who's ready to play?
So we're gonna be hanging out with Rhett and Scarlett
and this time of year, the foxes have their winter coats
that have grown in.
So they're incredibly fluffy.
Now to get into the fox enclosure,
it's a very intricate system.
This is a double gate system
and we wanna make sure that the foxes do not get out.
So what I'm gonna do is open up this gate
and guys come on in with the cameras.
It appears that the foxes are very curious
and getting up close with us right from the get go.
So that's good.
In the past, I've had a lot of trouble
getting the foxes to actually get close to me.
Probably 'cause I'm a coyote.
Let's go through the gate, and with any luck
this is gonna be an incredible fox encounter.
All right, we're comin' in.
Hi buddy, how are you?
Hi.
All right, Mario close that gate behind you.
Oop, come here, come on this way.
- [Mario] Oop, that's why we got the double fences.
- Run, run, run, run, run, run.
All right, hi, how are you?
Look at this.
Okay, now any time I work with a mammal,
the first thing I wanna do is just enter into it's world
and give it a second to acclimate to us being here.
And I know how this goes,
you immediately wanna walk in
and have something magical happen.
It always takes a little while
before the animals get used to you and then of course,
that's when the encounter becomes magical.
Okay, let's just walk around and take a tour.
So what we have here, is a fox slide.
So if I was a fox, just for fun you could slide down this
and bounder off into the snow.
Smells very musky in here.
So over here is the little fox den, right.
This is perfect.
It's like a little fox hotel.
What's really cool is check this out.
Come around to the front side.
If you look up in over here, this is the fox skyway
where the foxes can actually move from one side
of an enclosure to the other.
Pretty big space for these foxes to be moving around in.
Do you know where, do you know where Scarlett is?
Rhett, do you know where Scarlett is?
So Scarlett's in here somewhere.
And I thought we'd be hanging out with two foxes,
but it appears that Rhett is,
the one who has the most interest
in playing and hanging out.
Don't you take my hat.
I see what you're doing.
I make a great step stool.
- Coyote, I found Scarlett.
- [Coyote] You did?
- [Mario] Yep.
- [Coyote] All right, here I come.
This is how foxes are.
They're sometimes gregarious,
sometimes just wanna hunker down and hide
in a tiny little burrow like this.
And I don't wanna stick my hand all the way down there.
If Scarlett's gonna come out and hang out with us,
she gonna come out and hang out.
We'll see if we can entice her out.
Let's see, Scarlett, come here kitty, cheese.
Oh look, look cheese.
There's cheese.
Here she comes.
Hi, I'm sorry did we wake you up?
I know you're sleeping just before sunset.
Foxes specialize in coming out at night to do their hunting.
Primarily nocturnal.
You wanna try to get Scarlett out of there Rhett?
Here we go, all right now you're out.
Well the good news is, Scarlett has joined the party
and I've got a pocket full of cheese.
All right, let's see if we can have a little run around
with two foxes.
Let's show everybody how good a fox is at climbing.
Oop, look at that.
Now you may be saying to yourself,
wow this is about as adorable it gets for a canid.
Does a fox make a good pet?
Absolutely not.
Foxes require an incredible amount of attention.
They're also going to musk all over everything
and when it comes to a fox actually being in your house,
this is not something you'd ever want to consider as a pet.
Now the reason that these foxes are here at the Wolf Center
is because these are a rescued foxes.
These foxes can not be released back into the wild.
But as you can see they're getting plenty of enrichment,
plenty of exercise and they're living a very happy
and very healthy life here in Colorado.
Now when you hear the term Red Fox,
obviously this very definitive red coat is the first
thing that comes to mind.
But the red fox actually comes in a variety
of different color phases.
They can even be blackish gray.
So oftentimes, people will mistake
red foxes for gray foxes.
Now the red fox is the largest of the fox species
and this fox isn't quite as large as it looks, right.
It's coat is so puffy right now, because it's winter.
And they've got all these outer protective guard hairs
that keep away snow and water.
And then it's that soft downy undercoat that keeps them warm
even in temperatures that drop well below zero degrees.
And the reason that Rhett is so interested in my fingers
at the moment is because they taste like cheese.
You wanna show me how your slide works?
If we can get Rhett to go up to the top of the slide,
he'll actually come down
and plop out right here into the snow.
Unfortunately, I think right now Rhett
is much more interested in checking out these cameras
than he is actually going into the slide.
It's funny how the foxes always seem to love
the camera crew more than they love me.
Ah, and that's probably a pretty good shot to get.
Matt, don't move.
That is now you, with a fox on your back.
You look just like a rock,
so I can see why this would definitely be a good spot
for a fox to hang out and analyze the environment.
There you go, so that was so with a fox on your back.
Well done.
See, this is what it takes,
you just have to be in the enclosure for a while
and the more and more time we spend here,
the more and more comfortable the fox is gonna get.
All right, he's testing you out.
- I don't have any cheese.
There buddy, ooh, likes my coat.
- [Coyote] Well he's got something to nibble on.
Here you wanna play with my glove?
That's cool, right?
Ooh, all right, there he goes.
He's got my glove, let's see what happens.
Now I only have one glove
and the odds of me being able to get that glove back
are not real good.
Uh oh, uh oh, you see what's happening?
Ah, ah Rhett my, oh boy.
Rhett has taken my glove up and through the fox skyway.
I think he's gonna go up there and chew it up.
Rhett I'm comin' after you buddy.
All right, here we go.
Going straight into fox mode.
And the good thing is that all this structure
is really well built,
so it will definitely support my weight.
Oh, Rhett.
(rock guitar music)
So this is the entryway.
I see Rhett, he's up there with my glove.
(rock guitar music)
(chuckling) I see you.
Do you still have my glove?
Awh, you're going all that way.
(sighs) I knew it was going to be a game of cat and mouse.
Every time that I film with foxes, it's never easy.
Okay, here we go.
(sneaky bass music)
Getting closer, there he is
and I can definitely see that he's
no longer paying attention to my glove,
which means I might be able to get it back.
There's my glove, see it?
It's right there.
Cool.
(mysterious violin music)
Hi.
How are you?
I see you, I know.
Yeah, that's the camera.
I've come all the way into your, into your,
no not my hat, don't eat the hat.
No, no, no, look he's trying to get my hat.
I see you, no.
Look who got the glove back.
Oh, oh (chuckling) I got it.
I got it, I'm putting it back on my hand.
I had to get it back.
Well, what else do you have up here?
This is definitely the kind of spot
where a fox would stash all it's goodies.
We've got deer bones and pieces of fur.
Hi, how's it goin'?
You wanna go back the other way
and we'll get some cheese treats?
What do you think?
Would that be cool?
All right bud, this way, come on.
We're gonna make it.
I know you're probably like, "What is this crazy
"Coyote guy doing inside of my enclosure?"
Whoo, and I'm out.
How about that Rhett?
Are you impressed?
A Coyote in the fox skyway.
How did I do?
Did I do good?
I think I did all right.
Okay, let's head back down.
He's definitely earned that cheese treat.
As you can see, I've got my glove back.
Here's what I'm gonna do.
I'm gonna put my glove in this pocket,
so that you can't get it.
'Cause I can clearly see that at this point,
the gloves are completely useless,
unless it's to get your attention.
Look at that now, can you wait here for a second?
I'm gonna go down there and give you the cheese
when you get down, ready?
Down this, oop, I guess we're gonna go over the slide.
There you go. (laughs)
I mean, when you don't wanna go through the slide,
I guess you go over the slide.
Okay, Sumari, you got your camera in a good position?
- [Suamri] Yeah.
- What' I'm gonna try to do is put my GoPro
at the bottom of the slide too.
I am so determined to get this fox to go down the slide.
All right you know the routine, up here.
Okay, what a good boy.
Okay, there it is.
Oh, it's cheese.
Hold on a second, let's come this way.
I want you to go down the slide, ready?
Go down the slide.
(claws scratching on slide)
Yes!
That was a fox going down the slide.
It's right there, get it.
Oh, what a good boy.
You did it, you did it.
What a good fox.
Now when a fox lays down in the cold snow like this,
it's coat will completely keep it insulated.
Then it can wrap it's tail around it's body,
to add even extra warmth.
You comin' down again?
Come on, go for it.
Come on. (kissing sounds)
I got cheese.
(claws scratching on slide)
(laughs)
That is the greatest thing,
I think any of us have seen all day long.
A fox going down a slide.
The big thing is that sometimes it just takes patience.
Time and patience for these animals
to get completely comfortable.
Rhett was comfortable right from the get go.
But as you can see,
Scarlett is getting more and more comfortable.
Ah, she can hear there's cheese in my pocket.
Here you go sweet.
(exciting orchestral music)
Oh I can definitely say,
that as compared to the fox videos we've filmed in the past,
this experience with these two frolicking foxes
is without question, the best fox encounter
we have ever captured on camera.
I'm Coyote Peterson, be brave.
Stay wild.
We'll see you on the next adventure.
All right, you ready for some more cheese?
Let's eat.
I think I got one more piece.
(plucking violin music)
I'm fairly certain that the chaotic nature
of this episode was clearly orchestrated by the foxes.
I told you at the start, they love to direct the scene.
And if I were to be honest, they did a great job.
They were definitely the best on camera foxes
we have ever worked with.
It's not hard to fall in love with a fox.
From their bushy coats, to their black button noses,
everything about them screams cuteness overload.
Yet, don't let the adorable facade fool you.
These animals do not make good pets.
I know, I'm destroying your hopes and dreams,
but I do have some good news.
If you want to have an up close encounter
with Rhett and Scarlett, all you need to do is visit
the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center.
For more information or to book the ultimate tour
where you can meet foxes and wolves in person,
make sure to visit their website.
- I just outfoxed a fox.
I put a GoPro right there where Scarlett likes to hang out,
she actually filmed herself.
So that's pretty good, pretty clever I think.
Look!
There she goes, she's smelling the GoPro.
- [Coyote] Hey Coyote Pack.
If you thought frolicking with these foxes
was a fantastic experience,
make sure to go back and watch the episode
where I got to pounce around with a baby fox in Alaska.
And don't forget, subscribe and ring the notification bell
so you can join me and the crew on our next wild adventure.
(laughing)
How cool is that?
(boom)
(wind blowing)
(howling)