New neighbors?

Some of you will remember, from an earlier Post, that we have had some fox activity in our immediate area. Various neighbors have reported sightings of numerous little foxes and, just the other morning (around 6:00am), I heard such a commotion outside that I went out to investigate.

There was a fox who seemed quite happy to share our driveway with me. He suddenly turned and wandered over to the neighbors front lawn, while I investigated another rather raucous bark. Just around the corner was another small fox who, apart from being distracted by my sudden appearance, was clearly focused on the underside of Carol’s car. A quick look underneath her car, and there was the reason for the fox’s attention … a cat!

Hearing more noises from across the street ………………….

The one on the left decided to come over and see me (stopping for a brief scratch).

… and then he/she just seemed to settle down in our front garden.

There are so many advantages to getting up around 5:00am – 6:00am every morning. One gets to see a different world! How did Ray react? He didn’t. He must have known that they were out there and, from his perspective, in his territory. Perhaps his earlier life as a stray taught him to just accept them, or perhaps he has a healthy respect for a pack of anything on four legs? Of course, given his strong dislike of cats, he was probably happy that a fox had got one trapped under a car!

35 thoughts on “New neighbors?”

    • That cat has been around for a few years so I suspect that he/she knew to stay under the car until the foxes lost interest and moved on. It was fortunate that I had instant access to my camera, and that the “foxy guys” were obviously used to people.

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    • Yes it is pretty cool to have them living close by ….. but it may not bode well for the foxes, as I believe some construction is planned in the area of their den this spring.

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  4. Benjamin and I had “visited” yesterday, but I did not have time to leave a comment. I did want to tell you how much Benjamin loved these photos. He is so fascinated with creatures great and small, from an elephant down to the birds and bugs. I have seen red fox running through our wooded areas, but Benjamin has not. He asked if you had hugged and petted them. I told him that they do not want hugging or petting. Benjamin decided : “Well, they are cute anyway.” Thank-you x 2!!

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    • We agree with Benjamin. They are very cute, but some creatures just do not want to be hugged. Even Ray did not like to be touched when we first met him. Probably due to bad experiences in his past.

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  5. I’m often out at 5 or 6 a.m. putting books or toys in my Little Free Library. Because I live in a subdivision, there are rarely critters or strays running around, but I do enjoy the spring sounds of chirping birds, swooping hawks (I prefer not to think about what they are after.) and sometimes, if I drop an armload of books, I set the dogs off to barking. The other morning I was concentrating on arranging the book in the dim light of the streetlight, and when I turned, HE was upon me. Instead of crying out, I said quietly, “Good morning; you scared me.” The high school boy wearing a hoodie said, “YOU scared me, m’am.” This Daylight Savings Time has high schoolers meeting their buses at dark, because first bell is at 7:30 and the bus route is a good forty minute ride. Hasn’t anyone told our school administrators that teen brains do not function well until 9:30 or 10:00 in the mornings!

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    • I am convinced that the education system is predominantly serving itself, rather than the students but then … our political structure also seems to be self-serving. Not too sure what the answer is. 🙂

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    • We had a big discussion and meetings around the same issue about the time school starts for High Schoolers vs. Elementary. When my kids were little they were always up at the crack of dawn!
      The school board still ruled against the High Schoolers starting later. Their reasoning was that this way the High Schoolers would get home before the little kids which means older siblings can be there to watch their younger siblings if Mom and Dad are at work. The other explanation was that they were worried about the little ones safety waiting in the dark for the bus. .

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  7. Ah! I have heard so much about the fox family in your neighbourhood. In fact I have a friend who lives on your street – she showed me a video of a fox playing with a black (maybe black and white) cat right outside her door. They were having a lot of fun together and seemed quite pleased with each other. The fox was even in a submissive pose for the cat to play – it was amazing.

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    • Hey Maria! That B & W cat is a familiar sight wandering around here, and it could have been the one under the car. Couldn’t really be certain because of the lack of light under the car.

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  8. I live next to a preserved parkway with lots of critters. We get foxes a lot. Early one morning my old cat Jake was out sitting on the patio and a family came through. First the young’un, then the mama, then the papa. Jake only saw the little one and immediately took off (hopefully to chase him out of his realm as there was no way he could kill it). Papa wasn’t happy and I had to intervene. Jake wasn’t happy with me as he sat watching them from inside the screened porch. We don’t have free roaming cats around here for that reason and the occasional coyote.

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  10. LOL at the picture of the fox stopping to scratch. Hey, when it itches you have to take care of it! 🙂
    It would be something to see a fox up close like that. I am glad that Ray didn’t seem to mind the surprise guests.

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  12. When we were in the bungalow in Poole we were up early one morning and saw a fox running down the centre of our road with a chicken carcass in its mouth. We think it may have had babies to feed, but it seemed so pleased with its prize!
    We have badgers just down the road and the sett is extremely active, though no new sightings yet. We’ve seen a couple of foxes in the park walking Maggie early in the evenings too.

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  13. I don’t want to encounter a fox, or a pack of them, but they are a handsome animal. I hope Ray keeps his attitude of ‘live and let live’ and the fox share his belief.

    As for that poor cat, it must’ve been terrified. Hope it finds a safer hiding place!
    🔹Ginger🔹

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    • I don’t believe foxes are a problem for us unless they are cornered and/or sick. As for the cat, safety would be to stay underneath that car until the foxes hopefully lose interest and move on. It surprises me that although we have a By-Law that clearly states cats are not allowed to roam free; that we have foxes living among us; that we have coyotes living among us; that we have hawks quite capable of lifting a small cat: that people still let their cats out on their own, and post notices of “Lost Cat. Last in seen …..” etc.

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