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Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Closing a Chapter

  You may remember that we have had some encounters with not quite wild enough wildlife. On Sunday evening I took Oreo out for his final walk of the night and when I came back I thought I saw a log in the yard. We had a bonfire on Halloween and I thought maybe there was a stick that I missed, but I didn't remember leaving a big one in the yard like that. Then the stick picked its head up. It turns out it was Oreo's old friend the gray fox.
 
The fox was acting kind of strangely, almost like it was sleepy. It looked at Oreo, but didn't make any threatening moves or noises toward him. Of course, Oreo wanted to do battle. Oreo is nothing if not territorial about his yard and his people. I ushered him into the house and gave everyone the news. It seemed like the fox was just sleeping in our yard.
 
When I went out running Monday morning I found the fox just like in this photo, though it was still dark. I held out some hope that perhaps it had just gone into hibernation, but as the day warmed up it was clear that the fox had died. If you look at this photo closely you can see that it has its eyes open.
 
I wasn't sure what to do with this, but fortunately Cary has an animal control department for such things. I was all set to glove up and put this beast in a trash bag, but they are going to get it. They would have come yesterday, but it was a holiday for them too. The good news is that it is finally starting to feel atumnal here with highs in the high 50s and lows in the high 30s. I'm pretty sure that they will get this today, so we will be spared the stink.
 
Amanda wondered aloud why it came into our yard to die. I think it's because it has had a relationship with Oreo over the years. I'm glad that he emerged victorious. I suspect that there may be other foxes around, but I think that this is the one rabid one that has given us trouble.
 
It really was a very pretty animal, but I'm not sorry to see it go. I'm also glad that I never had to shoot it, though I was prepared.

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