Whoa, that right there is a Baby Fox. Come here Working with animals can be incredibly difficult, especially. When you were hoping to encounter them in the wild. Have an up-close interaction, that is captured on camera. The crew and I have visited many locations throughout filming Breaking Trail. If you have ever wondered which location has been the most difficult so far. I would have today it was Alaska. This far northern state is considered to be the last true frontier. Trust me when I say, the environment posts incredible challenges. From the vast lakes, which we explored by kayak, to the rushing glacial melt streams. That was nearly impossible to forge, without getting soaked by icy, cold water. Then there were the incredibly dense forests.
Built with ancient trees
and thick plants. this habitat provided the perfect hiding places for formative
wildlife. So, I climbed on top of this stump here, searching the forest, check
out this vantage point. Wow, that is just trees as far as the eye can see. So,
what becomes the game plan when finding animals in the wilds next to
impossible? Simple, we work with ones that have been rescued or raised in
captivity. Today we will be working at Steve Kroc Schell’s Wildlife Sanctuary.
Which is home to many different mammal species, including moose, weasels. Even
a wolverine. In my opinion, mammals are the most difficult animals to work
with. Because they very rarely want to be held, and getting them to sit still
for the cameras is next to impossible. And while in the past have worked with
giant grizzly bears, ferocious badgers, and spring. Loaded bobcats, nothing
would challenge me. Crew more than an incredibly adorable Baby Fox named Lupine. One of the toughest things about working
with a fox that a fox wants to move around as much as possible. So right now,
we're inside Lupine's enclosure. And you can see that this looks completely
natural, you can barely even tell that we are in her enclosed environment, and
here she comes, Lupine... She's very excited to
have us in here...Come here, come here you. As soon as she starts to calm down.
I have a good feeling. She'll probably come close for the cameras, but at the
moment. We have to let her get acclimated to us being in here.
There you are, are you young one come hang out with me? Right about now, I’m sure you are wondering, what in the world are those noises Coyote is making? Well, they're fox calls that Steve taught me. You see, Steve has the uncanny ability to speak with animals. Now, Steve, I hear you making this little sound... Sounds like a turkey noise. Well, I'm talking mink language now.- That's mink? Yeah, yeah, mink language, you might try it.- Okay. Got to go faster. Pretty good, pretty good. And he said that if I can master the language of the fox. I would likely become one of the skulk, which is a group of foxes. There you are, hello. Are you having a good sprint? What do you think? How about you and I have a conversation about your 12 vocal calls. I know you have 12things to say to me. My fox lingo was a bit off, so then we tried a fox toy. Just a simple ducking tied to a stick. That is what you call fishing for a fox right there. Whoop, you almost had it. I'm doing my best to keep her attention. Hi, good afternoon.
Now, if I was one of
her littermates. I found something out there in the wild, like a hunter who
left a sock behind, this would be a great toy to play with. This fox is
incredibly playful, and at this age, that’s natural. But even adult foxes
you’ll see running around out in fields, prancing, hopping, playing fun games.
Anything that she can potentially gather claws and her teeth on is fair game.
And while tug-of-war seemed to hold her attention at first, like any curious Baby Fox. She soon lost interest and
went back to going everywhere except in front of the main camera. Mario, you
made a buddy. You're so cute, you’re such a cutie.-
Well, she's over there, rolling around on her back with Mario. He's got that
big, fuzzy microphone on the front of his camera. I think she’s attracted to
the shininess of the lens, or, the microphone cover. It’s almost impossible to
keep her in one spot. I’m going to put my bootblack on, and one of my favorite
things to-dos. The animals that we work with are to follow them around with a
Go-Pro camera. So I've got the Go-Preset up on a gimbal, and let's see if we can
track down the baby red fox.
The red fox is one of the most elusive animals in the world.
And I would say in my lifetime I've probably only ever seen five foxes in the
wild. And even when you do see them, it’s only for a brief second, so if you do
happen to encounter a fox, consider yourself lucky. This right here, getting'
to play with baby one, who, it’s exhausting. If there's one animal that has
worn me out, it’s the baby red fox. This thing's got more energy than any
animal we’ve ever worked with. For nearly 15 minutes, we attempted to follow.
Lupine around her enclosure, and for a brief moment. She rolled over on her
back for a belly rub. Oh, there she goes, that's about
the closest we've been all day. Pretty cool, palling' around with a baby red
fox. I’m Coyote Peterson, be brave, stay wild, we'll see yon the next
adventure. Like I said in the beginning, filming with mammals is incredibly
difficult. After two hours of following this fox in circles, the crew and I
call it a wrap. Getting to pal around with Lupine was one of my fondest
memories from Alaska. And if there's one thing I'm confident we can all agree
on, it's that this baby fox is about as adorable as it gets. If you thought
using a sock to play with a fox was savvy, make sure to go back. See how well
this tactic worked when I got up-close with a wild ocelot. And don't forget,
subscribes you can join mean the crew on this season of Breaking Trail.
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