Vulpes Vulpes

Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary
some in the wrong direction
Practice resurrection

Wendell Berry

Some of the nicest sights this winter are the glimpses I catch of our little red fox (Vulpes vulpes). I say our fox because it seems we've always had one in our back woods. This is actually our new fox. There was another older fox who had caught the mange. He was suffering and so sad looking. I know he died because one of the neighbors said another neighbor's dog dragged a dead fox into their yard.

Our new fox is very handsome and struts confidently through the back yards giving the squirrels a run for their money. He caught one recently in our yard.

I felt badly because I had just thrown out some bread for the birds and two of the squirrels were feeding on it. Next thing I knew there was just one squirrel and I spotted the fox at a distance with a squirrel in his mouth. I was sad to lose one of our mischievous squirrels even if they did eat a hole in our screen door to steal peanuts that were in a basket in our kitchen. Nature is beautiful and sad at the same time.

But I'm happy to have a spry and healthy fox about. When I see him I sometimes think of the old fox and imagine he has sprung all shiny and new like a phoenix from all of our foxes past. That thought makes me happy.

Top photo from here.
Bottom photo our fox. (Need to get closer next time)