See it? Heading past our garage?
Some friends of ours up the street mentioned they'd seen a fox running past our house early one morning. I can't remember if it was going toward or away from, but still. A fox! Wow.
And then, not too long ago, Bill and I were sitting in the living room one morning, having our morning coffee, and there it went! It had come from somewhere behind our house and was trotting down the road, probably (we think) toward the pond that's not far from our house.
Of course, I didn't have my camera handy, so no picture.
Then yesterday morning we both woke up very early, so we got up to enjoy the peace and quiet while the kids were still sleeping. We made coffee, and sat in our usual spots here in the living room, and all of a sudden, the fox went by again. Same direction - coming from somewhere behind the house and heading down our street. And THIS time it had a dead squirrel hanging from its mouth! So maybe that was breakfast, or maybe it's a she and she's got babies to feed. Who knows.
Oh, and again, no camera. You'd think I'd learn that I NEED that camera by me at all times.
Anyway, later in the morning while I was priming the walls in Julia's room and he was working on the hardwood floors, I kept peeking out the window, hoping to see the fox trotting by. I even had a camera upstairs, just in case. But nope. No fox. Guess it was past the fox's travel time.
But then at some OTHER point that morning, I was in the kitchen doing something...I think I was putting something in the fridge, and I saw the fox again! Trotting along the bit of yard between our driveway and our neighbor's house! I yelled something and grabbed my camera and took this one and only shot through the window over the sink. Didn't have time to focus or anything, but fortunately you can at least tell that it's some sort of animal.
Anyway, that's the fox story. Apparently some people a few streets behind us actually have chickens. So that could be part of the reason the fox is going this route. No idea.
I'm just glad our cats stay indoors.
It's so cool to have wildlife in the backyard, we used to have coyotes... but caution the kids. Foxes are notorious carriers of rabies and they are easily enticed to people by anything that may look like food. Unlike raccoons or skunks they won't run off when they hear people coming. They may at first, but when they become comfortable with the fact that no one is going to hurt them, they get bolder. My brother had a problem with a family of foxes at his ranch, they would come right up to his back door and beg for dog food (seems they became friends with the family dog and potbellied pig.) He eventually trapped them in a Havaheart trap and moved the whole fox family miles away from any humans.
Posted by: jomamma | June 23, 2009 at 07:42 AM