With a legendary reputation for intelligence and cunning, the extraordinary family structure of the red fox is often overlooked. “What would it be like to quietly sneak up on the site of a fox’s den and see the pack unbothered, just being foxes?” says Bonnie Marris. “I wanted people to see this side, the side that keeps a troop of foxes strong and tight.”

Casual time is not much different from that of wolves on a summer afternoon or with our own families for that matter. A den dug in the roots of trees can last for decades. The matriarchal vixen presides over and monitors the play of this year’s of brood of kits. On this peaceful afternoon, the only things disturbing this family is the buzzing of mosquitoes around their ears.

There is a magic affinity between Bonnie and the wild animals she paints. Collectors’ gravitate to her work because it stirs these emotions in them as well.