KITCHENER -- A family of foxes has become the subject of much interest for a Grade 9 teacher, and now she's passing that interest on to her students.
Pat Lankveld lives in Waterloo. She is a teacher and a hobby photographer who has been snapping photos of the 10 red foxes who live in her backyard.
"Every day I have been watching here in our backyard and as soon as I see kits out of the den, I run and grab the camera and capture pictures or video whenever I can," she says.
Lankveld says she and her husband first saw an adult fox on their property back in March.
A male fox seen in Pat Lankveld's backyard. (Courtesy: Pat Lankveld)
Since, two adult foxes have borne eight kits that have made a home in the teacher's backyard.
She says she didn't know much about the foxes when they first started appearing, but her knowledge has grown alongside her interest.
She decided to incorporate them into her lesson plan, which she has had to adapt on the fly because of COVID-19. The transition hasn't been easy for all students.
"I teach Grade 9 English and I was trying to come up with some creative lessons that might be entertaining and interesting, but as well to have an educational component to that," she explains.
"I decided I would use the pictures and video that I collected. So what I do is create a slideshow for my students, with some information initially, and some pictures of mom and dad and the kits."
At the end, her students have between five and 10 questions for the students to research.
So far, Lankveld says the student response has been positive.
"People are quite entertained by these little critters, I believe," she says.
Ontario high schoolers have been home since March break, when the province closed schools and ordered students to learn from home.
Minister of Education Stephen Lecce is expected to make an announcement regarding the rest of the school year sometime next week.
CTV spoke with Bill Dowd, the CEO of Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control, about what to do if you find a family of animals in your backyard.
"Our recommendation, because these are wild animals, and because there’s mothers and babies involved, you cant separate them and it’s inhumane to trap them and take them elsewhere because 70 percent of re-located animals die."
He says animal proofing your yard is the best advice but if it is too late for that, calling an expert is best.
"All urban wildlife typically have five to 10 den sites in an urban environment so you want to humanely get them out from underneath that structure, then seal it off so they can’t get back in. That typically involves hiring a professional company."
With reporting from Leighanne Evans
