An industry around habituated wildlife, particularly red foxes, is growing on San Juan Island.
Photographers known to locals as “Foxerazzi” arrive on the island in large groups of around 20. Groups surround fox dens at the height of kit season in hopes of snapping the perfect shot, but this quest has a price.
Early last spring, six kit foxes were living in the Cattle Point Nature Reserve. By the end of the season, all six were dead.
The National Park Service began taking notice after groups began showing up at American Camp National Monument. Concerned about what he saw, Ranger Cyrus Forman began putting up signs and sharing educational materials.
“I was hearing stories from worried visitors about seeing people feeding and therefore baiting foxes,” Forman said. “When foxes get too familiar with humans and become dependent on humans as a potential food source, it’s a death sentence.”
According to Amy Nesler, the San Juan Island Visitors Bureau is also monitoring the situation.
“Fox photography has really become this microcosm of tourism in the San Juans,” Nesler said.
She believes interest in the animals began to grow in 2016, after a video went viral on YouTube. In the footage, we see a fox and an eagle fighting over resources in the grassland of San Juan Island.
“It suddenly felt like there were people everywhere,” Nesler said.
Forman agrees. He says the spike in interest started to lead to an increase in visits that they weren’t prepared for.
Online, we found one group charging $1,400 and another offering an all-inclusive fox photography tour for over $3,500.
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