The Current - Jumping fox cub wins prestigious photography prize

Episode Date: February 27, 2025

Wildlife photographer Donna Feledichuk trailed a family of foxes for weeks trying to get the perfect shot. The picture she captured won bronze in the mammal behaviour category at the 2025 World Nature Photography Awards. She tells Galloway about what she’s learned from watching the animals she photographs.

What does a mummified Egyptian child, the Parthenon marbles of Greece and an Irish giant all have in common? They are all stuff the British stole. Maybe. Join me, Mark Fennell, as I travel around the globe uncovering the shocking stories of how some, let's call them ill-gotten, artifacts made it to faraway institutions. Spoiler, it was probably the British. Don't miss a brand new season of Stuff the British Style. Watch it free on CBC Gem. This is a CBC Podcast. Hello, it's Matt here.

Thanks for listening to The Current, wherever you're getting this podcast. Before we get to today's show, I wonder if I might ask a favour of you. If you could hit the follow button on whatever app you're using. There is a lot of news that's out there these days. We're trying to help you make sense of it all and give you a bit of a break from some of that news too. So if you already follow the program, thank you. And if you have done that, maybe you could leave us a rating or review as well. The whole point of this is to let more listeners find our show and perhaps find some of that information that's so important in these really tricky our show and perhaps find some of that information

that's so important in these really tricky times. So thanks for all of that. Appreciate it. And onto today's show. Close your eyes. Well, if it's safe to close your eyes and just picture these things. Two deer leap through a frozen vineyard in Slovenia. A bright blue kingfisher perching on a frozen cattail reed. A fox cub jumping, black and white paws outstretched. These are some of the winning images from the 2025 World Nature Photography Awards announced this month. The Canadian wildlife photographer, Donna

Follettichuk, won bronze in the behaviour category for mammals and she joins us this morning from her home in beautiful Lacklebish in Northern Alberta. Donna, good morning. Good morning. Congratulations. Thank you. Good morning. Congratulations. Thank you. I apologize, I have a bit of a cold, so my voice is hoarse.

That's all right. We're going to talk about your beautiful, beautiful images. And I want you, I mean, it's radio, so it's tricky, but I said people should close their eyes. Describe this image of the fox. So this fox is jumping across the log pile. It's got its front paws perfectly aligned side by side, outstretched as far as you could possibly be.

Just think of it cat stretching. Backlit, so all the fuzzy fur around it is all highlighted by golden light against a really lovely backdrop of green leaves that are blurred in the background as it makes us sleep quite high above the logs. Where was the photo taken? It was taken here in Lacklebish, just about maybe a kilometer from my house. You'd been tracking this family of foxes

for a while now, right? Yeah, this family has been around my area for a few years. The mom actually is a kid that was born here about three years ago that I had watched her grow up, and now she's got her own litters the last two years. So, yeah. Can I ask you about the title of the photo? I mean, aside from being a Van Halen fan, presumably, why did you call it Might As Well Jump?

Well, that's exactly... So, I had another image that I'd already called Jump and I thought, well, what else could I call this? And the lyrics of Van Halen is Might As Well Jump. So that's where it just literally came from, was the Van Halen lyrics going through my head as I was thinking, what could I call this? I mean, it's such, the fox just looks like it's, there's a moment of joy in its face, if that makes sense. I'm not trying to be anthropomorphizing towards the animal, but it seems like it's having a lot of fun. Well, they were playing, and the kids were out

and they were playing, and each kid has its own individual personality, and this one was a really adventurous one. You know, there was one that was super cautious, that would stick its head out and was scared of anything, but this was always a really adventurous one, and so it was more daring, and I think it quite enjoyed actually trying to sleep to see if it can make it, so. You live and work in the boreal forest,

and that is at the heart of your work. Tell me a little bit about your connection with that forest. Yeah, so I have, you know, my family initially is from northern Saskatchewan. My dad was military, and so we moved lots, but I always, as soon as I got to the treeline, it always felt like home, no matter where my dad was stationed. And so every time I got to the forest, it just, it just calms your soul. I think people have that feeling sometimes with the ocean or the mountains, but for me it's the forest. It just feels like home the minute I'm in it. I can't stand the wide open

spaces down in the southern part of the province. I'm just uncomfortable down there, but the minute I'm in the forest, it just feels like home. It just feels as where I'm meant to be, and it just does, very soothing to be in the forest. You said that it's a place in a world that gives you hope in some ways, too. We're in a time now where I think hope feels elusive to many people and hard to see. So what is it about that space that gives you hope? It's watching the interactions, the day-to-day lives of the wildlife and the resiliency it shows, right?

And I think as humans, we can learn so much about their resiliency and their patience. If you watch a great gray owl hunting and the amount of patience that it has, or if you watch just how much a mother bear cares for its cub or a mother moose, right? And there's so much we can learn if you just stop and pause and listen and watch to their world and lessons that we can take into our world. And so, yeah, it gives me hope. It makes me feel more hopeful when I'm able to observe the wildlife. It's just a peaceful, tranquil place to be. Of course, they have many challenges. Just survival in the wild is a difficult thing, but the characteristics that they explain that we as humans can learn from, especially resiliency and patience, I think are two things. And so, yeah, it gives me hope.

Pete I love the owl photos. I'm obsessed with owls, but the photos that you have of owls, snowy owls and others are extraordinary. What do you learn from the owls in particular? Jennifer The owls are just, oh my goodness, the owls are just majestic. I don't know how to explain it, but when you're an owl, it almost honors you with allowing you to stay in their presence. An owl, when you photograph owls, I find you'll watch them, they'll decide, they know you're there, they'll decide whether they're staying or they're going, right?

And they'll make the decision pretty quick. But it's almost like it's an honor every time they allow you to be in their presence and to photograph them. Last night, for example, I was out photographing a great gray owl. He probably landed at least 10 times within four or five feet of me. And it's just, you know, that they're allowing you

to be in their space and to be in their presence. And it just gives you a glimpse into their world, which is such a privilege and an honor, I think, that when they allow that, right? And it's when they allow you in and watching what they do and how they do it. And, you know, you're just immersed, you're so in the moment when you're out in the wild, right? And I think we get caught up in the hecticness of the day and our minds are moving around with everything that needs to be done, but there's just a peace and an in-the-moment presence when you're around an owl or any wildlife for that matter and observing it. I feel that when I'm watching and looking at your photos. They are extraordinary.

Congratulations on this. It's a real pleasure to talk to you. Thank you. Donna Flatichuk is an award- winning wildlife photographer, recently won bronze in the behavior category for mammals in the 2025 World Nature Photography Awards. We reached her in Lac-le-Biche, Alberta.