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| Looks like our Reggie |
One time at the farm in northwest Illinois when we still
lived in the original Stone House, before I burned it up, my Dad
and I were walking around his nursery...checking out the
grapes and tomatoes and radishes...I love red radishes.
We saw a fox...which is not unusual, I had seen them
before.
We also had a small herd of deer in our woods...maybe
about ten or so. The deer would cross our road at night to get
into another woods nearby. I would be out jogging (even in the
snow and ice of winter) and they would jump the fences and
scare the hell out of me at night.
Back to the fox. My Dad said he ought to get his rifle and
shoot it and I said why. My dad came from an era when foxes
robbed chicken coops for breakfast.
I said we don’t have any chickens...except what Mom had
in the fridge!
He laughed and never got his gun.
After the fire we rebuilt the Stone House and we had nice
large window views to the north and west out of out living
room.
That’s when I really began to see foxes. So I thought I’d
toss some bread out the window and see if it might be gone the
next morning. It was.
The foxes...maybe two or four at a time started to be
friendly then...and my Dad and I both tossed bread out the
windows and the foxes braved the daytime and came up and we
got to watch them!
There was one who was so beautiful and persistent. He
became our favorite. We nicknamed him “Reggie”.
One day our big kitty named Fabian...a long haired, good
looking black and white cat was walking up our sidewalk in
back to the house...and I saw Reggie following him. He didn’t
pay any attention to the fox...until it got a little too close and
Fab turned quickly and arched up his back in a threatening
gesture and Reggie backed off fast...heading for the woods.
That was a sight to see.
Eventually we had a bunch of foxes coming up and just
sitting around waiting for their evening meal of bread. One
time I counted about twenty!
Their main den was some old left over lumber which had
bushes growing over it...and good hiding place for the fox pups.
My Mom, Dad and I would quietly walk into the
nursery and watch the baby fox pups out in front of the den
running and playing. Another thing one never forgets.
I noticed one day that there was a blackbird who didn’t
like Reggie coming around...and he sat in the pine tree nearest
the house and screeched when Reggie came for his hand out.
This went on for several days and finally Reggie had had
enough and I was watching as the fox sprang into
action...climbing the pine tree and scrambling out on the
branch where the loud black bird was sitting. I think the bird
had a heart attack. It flew off never to be seen again.
Now...it was not problem for a fox to rush up a pine
tree...just using its momentum to get to the branch where the
bird had been.
But now...Reggie did have a problem. How to get down.
I’ve seen cats in this situation and one had to call the fire
department for help!
But Reg was “foxy” in the way he got back down. He
crawled carefully back toward the trunk of the pine tree and
used his neck to give him tension on the trunk as he came
down. He made it down just fine.
All of this about our foxes has a sad ending, I’m afraid.
After hanging around for a year or so...one day...they were
gone. I mean...really disappeared. We checked the den..no
foxes...we tossed bread...no takers.
And that’s the way this ended. They had not died out.
There were ...no dead foxes around. So...for some strange
reason that I’ve never understood they just “went away”.
I’ve joined several Fox clubs on the internet hoping for an
answer but I’ve never gotten one.
I shall always treasure my moments with Reggie and the other
foxes...forever and as I write this I’m sad knowing I will not
experience anything quite like that again in my life.
Here is the best selection of the pics of foxes on the internet. Enjoy!
my email
stanmajor@aol.com
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