A RED FOX has taken to loping through the yard at least a couple times a day. She is so light on her feet as to barely touch the ground; she appears to be floating over the grass. She is extremely thin although otherwise very healthy-looking — her coat is a beautiful shade of orange with some lovely black and brown markings.
Her tail is very bushy and flags out behind her as she trots along. Clearly she is feeding young foxes. I do not know where her den is.
She is a great hunter — I saw her once with a large bird in her mouth, and twice on a recent Saturday she trotted through the yard with a chubby squirrel dangling from her jaws. But she is so thin that it is apparent she is giving the food away. Foxes have been prevalent on this property in the 30 years that we have been here.
They have hung out with my barn cats in the past. We have watched them raise two litters within view of our kitchen window. There is not much cuter than baby foxes tumbling around.
They seem to come and go in phases. I’ll not see a fox for a long time then they are around often. I haven’t witnessed any pairs raising a family in two or three years.
But whether I see them or not, they are clearly around. They don’t just “appear”; they’ve been here but out of sight. Until they are not.
I should be angry with them. They managed to get all three of my pet ducks — one not until he was 7 years old and I was barely a half-hour “late” (past sunset) getting home to put him in. My duck mu.
