We have two foxes, a male and female, living in the arroyo behind the house. They show up in the early morning and the evenings and do their foxy thing. I might feel differently if I kept chickens or other vulnerable animals, but as it is, it's just really neat to have the opportunity to view wild life with such regularity and pretty close up. We have suspected for awhile that they must have a den with young nearby. Well, we finally saw the kits (two of them) a couple of mornings ago. They're obviously big enough now to venture away from the den, under Mom and Dad's watchful eyes.
The second sighting went a little haywire, though, because we let Lady out to do her business in the morning, not realizing that the fox family was sitting on the retaining wall. out back One of the kits spooked when she saw Lady and jumped down into the yard. Lady promptly gave chase and cornered the kit. The kit finally managed to escape through a hole in the wire fence. It ran around and rejoined its family group. Neither the dog nor the kit appeared to be hurt, although the kit was very frightened. Poor thing. I don't think any of the foxes are rabid, but fortunately, Lady has all her shots. Haven't seen any of the foxes since.
Oy vez! Now we make a sweep of the yard before we let Lady out to go potty!
LM |