Photos capture fox walking on frozen Chesapeake near Bay Bridge

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Beautiful images captured a solitary fox on the frozen waters of the Chesapeake Bay Wednesday.

The photos, taken by Corporal Mike Lathroum of the Maryland Natural Resources Police, show the critter near the Bay Bridge with the Eastern Shore's Kent Island in the background.

Candy Thomson, public information officer with MNRP, told FOX 5 that calls came in around 11 a.m. Wednesday morning from motorists on the bridge who reported what they thought was a dog stranded on the ice. A patrol boat from Sandy Point State Park was launched and located the fox on the north side of the bridge near the western shore of the bay.

Thomson said the fox, who likely went out onto the ice to hunt for birds and ducks, was near the 50-foot deep main shipping channel of the bay. She said while the entire bay was not frozen over, it was a frigid 31 degrees on Wednesday, with large areas of water becoming ice covered and huge chucks of ice stacking up in spots.

Officers on the boat reported that the fox looked at them and then scampered off toward the Eastern Shore.