From Left Field

I Feel Like a Playground Monitor

Fox pup showed up again today. When I first saw her, she was in "her place" under the suet feeder, but she wasn't there for long. She started what amounted to a tour of our yard, doing a circle that included a side-trip into the garage. I noticed yesterday that the builders ate their lunch inside the garage and left their toaster oven behind (ok, now I have this creepy feeling that I'm an voyeur!) I'm sure that crumbs remained as well.

The fox was noticably larger, more nimble and less afraid of her environment.(I'm just going to stick with "her" until I get evidence otherwise.) Because of this developmental growth, what worried me today was not the well-being of the fox, but instead the possibility that she could destroy the song sparrow nest. As the fox emerged from the garage, she came around by the deck near the nest and that's when I decided that it was time to monitor the situation from the outside. When I came out on the deck, she must have been under it because I couldn't find her at first. Gingerly walking towards the nest and then checking it (I received "that look" from the mom-bird) gave the fox time to emerge from under the deck. What amazed me is that she didn't seem to know that I was out there. Granted, I opened the door as softly as possible, but it sticks and doesn't open very easily. Therefore I was sure that she would have heard me come out. But I was able to snap a couple of photos (on a side note, please excuse my picture-taking--I'm still learning how to use the digital camera!) Then she took off at a fairly fast clip down into the ravine and out of sight.

Am I not the luckiest girl in the world to be a playground monitor between a red fox pup and a song sparrow and her nest?

Posted by Elizabeth at April 27, 2004 04:32 PM