CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, Colo. — It’s easy to go to see wildlife in Colorado, but it's unusual to have the wildlife come to your doorstep.
So when Dr. Alan Lipkin, a doctor in Cherry Hills Village, noticed that an entire fox family — a mother and five kits — had moved in next door, he counted himself lucky.
Since he first spotted and started photographing them, he's learned a little about each animal.
“The one who hangs out with the mother, that one we call mama’s boy or a girl, but none of the others have names because I can’t tell them apart," he said.
Lipkin said photographing the animals has become a great stress reliever for him.
“My day, in my medical practice, is filled with worrying about our patients, our office, the people who are kind enough to work, exposing themselves to stuff," he said. "It is so much fun to see them. It is the only time I can get my mind off the problems of the world, it really is. And when I started showing them around to people, they love them too.”
He's been sharing his photos on his Facebook page, as well as some Facebook groups focused on wildlife photography.
“They are constant motion, they are so playful. Joyful," he said. "The mother’s happy to be with them. Oh, they are constantly wrestling each other, throwing each other around, doing little play biting of each other in the rear end. Today, the mother was resting and one of the kits did a sneak attack on it’s sleeping mother. Jumped at her from behind. It was hysterical to watch.”
Lipkin said he knows his new neighbors aren’t going to stay very long. He said he wishes he could convey to the critters just how much peace they've brought to him during this stressful time.