There should be one day between stories.
On confusing aspects
My view is this:
I didn’t read it as the grandpa posing for a photo at the end, I think the reporter just took a photo. But I might have missed something while reading. So yes, the grandpa is gruff, but ultimately kind in that he doesn’t want the reporter to go wandering around by himself nor want him to get lost after dark. Helping the reporter means getting rid of him faster, at least I’d assume so.
The trees thing seemed to be more of an story telling effect, especially since the report didn’t notice anything strange. Maybe more an indicator to us readers that something a bit strange is afoot. I actually expected the grandson to pop up and be a fox at that point, haha.
As to the reporter hiding the photos, that seemed to be out of kindness. He realized the foxes were hiding to keep themselves safe and if that photo was published then they wouldn’t be safe anymore. So he hid the photo with the foxes, and most likely used a photo of one of the dens for the article. Also the foxes were nice to him, showing the den and getting him safely off the mountain. Kindness returned.
