Pair of Japanese Raccoon Dogs Remove Snow out of Den Entrance in the Sunny Morning in Mid Winter

A pair of Japanese raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes viverrinus, family Canidae) had just come out of a burrow in the snow-covered fallow field to bask in the morning sunshine. The male began to clear the snow at the entrance. After a while, the male apparently wanted to go for a foraging trip, but the partner (female) was quite reluctant at the entrance. The male gave up, went back to the den, and resumed the labour of snow removal at the entrance. The male occasionally sniffed at the female’s rear end to examine if she was in heat. Eventually, both of the paired Japanese raccoon dogs went inside the burrow. Captured with my new trailcam in the sunny midmorning (around 8:10 - 8:30 AM) of mid-February 2025 in Japan. For a full story (text in Japanese); https://sigma-nature-vlog.blogspot.com/2026/05/blog-post_845.html