Fox News: Mom sometimes looked threatening and very angry. She often growled and snapped at her pups, especially when she was napping and one or more of them found her tail. Other times she looked blissful. Then there were the eye-squint looks that seemed to say, "I love you, but you are such a pain in the ... Can't you just leave me alone?" I so enjoyed all her moods because I could empathize closely to what she experienced.

Count noses! Five kits is quite a handful and mom tried to take naps, to little avail.

Bath time in Fox World.

Fox News: “Yes, you will take a bath.” This mom means business and shows it by eye-squinting and sticking out her tongue just a tiny bit. The little one knows what’s up and shows submission by holding its head lower than the mom’s, and not looking her in the eye.

Now, back to Fox News. Did you know that foxes are the only canine that climbs trees? One night, I saw the silhouettes of several babies moving cautiously along the branches of my plum. This morning, after an hour of tussle, one spotted an old ladder leaning against the house. Soon, I could hear three babies tromping around on the roof, while the others looked on in surprise.

Now the owlets are 6 weeks old. Ronnie moved them into a 20-foot square flight cage decorated with branches and a nest box for shelter. She installed a plastic wading pool and stocked it with leaves, twigs and live brown mice. Sure enough, the rustling and motion in the pool attracted the owlets and soon they were catching their own meals. Owls are insatiably curious: in the wild they explore every nook and cranny, and investigate every sound or movement in their neighborhood. If you’d like to support the work Ronnie does, she’s a licensed, independent wildlife rescuer, and help her with her volunteer efforts to save these wonderful lives, you can buy her book, go to www.TouchingWings.org, or send donations to P. O. Box 1336, Mendocino, CA, 95460. She and the critters thank you!

The screech owls are now 3-4 weeks old. They are being raised with the least amount of human contact possible, once their eyes open, because they will imprint on the first critter they see (hopefully another owl) and identify with that image forever. These owls are now about 4 inches tall and are able to eat whole mice purchased already dead and frozen in neat little packages from a commercial rodent farm. My friend Ronnie James has federal and state licenses to raise rescued birds and other small animals. Her non-profit organization is called Woodlands Wildlife and she is always in need of donations to help feed wild baby animals. You can donate to this worthy cause by sending a check to Woodlands Wildlife, P.O. Box 1336, Mendocino, CA 95460. Ronnie and the owls thank you!