Sunday, March 21, 2010

I Saw...

a red fox tonight on my deck, shortly after 11:00 p.m.  I went downstairs to get a glass of wine and as I usually do, I took a peek under the curtain covering the patio door that overlooks the deck.  Then I clicked on the light.  Lo and behold, there was this red fox!  Whoa!  I got a real good look at it while it seemed to take a couple of seconds (3 or 4, at least) to realize that it was not highlighted in my floodlight!  It turned and looked toward the light at the same time I clicked on the lock to open the door - forgetting I'd put the bar in the track, so I could only open the door about 2 inches wide.  Now just what I meant by opening the door - duh - what a stupid thing to do, hey? 

In any event, that click noise  from unlocking the patio door and my futzing around with the curtain at the glass was enough to scare the fox away.  Sure was a beautiful animal - looked young and healthy, not mangy or rabid.  On my deck eating left-over peanuts (of all things!) and some stale cheese corn I threw out there for the crows earlier in the day.  Ohmygoddess.  So now, evidently, I'm feeding a fox as well as skunks, possums, squirrels and racoons. 

Does it mean anything in particular if one sees a red fox unexpectedly at close quarters? My area is a suburb of Milwaukee, but pretty urbanized - an entrance to the expressway is just a couple of blocks away, not to mention the major arterial of 76th Street seven blocks to the east.  On the other hand, power towers are relatively close (a couple of blocks away to the north) and there is a wide clearance for them, a sort of no-man's land that is filled with grass and wild flowers during the spring and summer, when it isn't chopped down; and, as the crow flies, I'm only a couple of miles from a major county park to the south.  Still - it was a shock to see a RED FOX ON MY DECK! 

I'm thinking this means something.  I just don't know what.

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