Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Fox in the yard! Fox in the yard!

Just one day after the snake incident, we had another brush with wildlife. This one was a little more fun. Friday evening, we were sitting in the kitchen near the patio doors eating dinner when Hubby stopped in mid-bite. “Look,” he whispered. We turned, and sitting in the middle of the backyard, not sixty feet from us, was the prettiest little red fox. She sat very calmly underneath a tree, eating seed that had fallen from the bird feeder and seemingly watching us.


(By the way, that PVC contraption is Hubby's watering system for the garden. More on that in another post.)

Hubby grabbed his bird watching binoculars which were sitting on the table and passed them around. We spent the better part of dinner watching the little fox eat. She had the loveliest profile.



Pardon the fuzziness of the pictures. Oh, Nikon, oh Nikon where art thou, 70-200 mm F 2.8 lens?

Through the binoculars she appeared to be pregnant. After a little internet research, we discovered the red fox’s mating season ended recently, so we’re guessing she’s pregnant and in search of food. That would account for why she bravely came so close to the house. All kinds of critters have crawled out of the woods behind our house in the last six months but never a fox. We live in a somewhat rural area, but our neighborhood has many houses and is very active with people and cars, so we’re surprised she came so close.

She visited us again Sunday evening, eating more feed. We have enjoyed her presence. More so than the snake. Much more.

Oh, and it’s certainly helping to persuade Hubby that I need a telephoto lens.

6 comments:

Janis said...

She looks so calm...I hear you on the telephoto lens for the Nikon. Cant tell you how many times I could have used the zoom.

A New England Life said...

A telephoto lens is definitely in order! I saw a mother fox the other day with two kits. Cute as a button they were. What a nice view during dinner time.

Jan said...

Wow, that's really exciting.

Living Life said...

I guess fox does not eat snake? Seeing a fox is a rare ocassion. They really are beautiful creatures.

oreneta said...

She is so lovely! What a treat for a dinnertime.

J.G. said...

There is something very delicate about her, isn't there? What a blessing to have her appear at dinner when she is easy to spot.

I'd be tempted to figure out what else to feed her besides birdseed. Maybe not a good idea, but she's eating for three (?) now.