A FOX IN THE HEN HOUSE

Actually, we do not have a hen house, a hen, or even any chickens. All we really have is one spoiled old dog and a stray kitten who is hiding in our garage illegally since our landlord said we could NOT have a cat__period!

However, it would appear that we have a family of foxes near by. According to the Oklahoma Wildlife Authority, the red fox lives in dense woods near open fields. Our dense woods consist of a thin circle of trees around the thirteen acres, but we do have open fields with grasses high enough to hide even a fox’s bushy tail. So they could have been here all of the fourteen months that we have lived here, but it has only been the past few weeks that we have seen them.

Our first encounter was one dark night when Kodiak (the spoiled old dog) chased out from under the front steps, what I thought at the time was a Siamese cat. All I was able to see was a blur of something light colored with a dark tail and legs. Because it had only been a few days since a stormy night had left us the stray kitten, I thought perhaps there had been more than one. The next morning I looked and looked for it, but did not find a sign of another cat anywhere.

Two days later, I was on the front porch taking pictures of the changing leaves, when Kodiak begins to whine. I followed his gaze toward the trees and thought, ‘Oh, a small dog the color of Kodiak.’ But when it raised its head and looked at me, I knew I was seeing my first red fox. It was beautiful and did not seem to be afraid of me or Kodiak. I backed slowly in the door to get Mother, but when we returned, it was fading into the trees. At no time did it seem afraid or in a hurry to get away . . . even when Kodiak finally decided to bark and go closer. It must have gauged from experience how far his chain would allow him to go.

Later at the computer I googled Oklahoma Red Fox and found a picture to make sure that was what I had seen. I also found a picture of a young kit (baby fox) and realized that I was looking at the ‘Siamese cat’ from a few nights before. What a surprise. There must be a den near by, and it was only then I realized that I had stood on the porch with my mouth hanging open, staring at the fox, with my camera in my hand, and took not one picture!

But I was to have another chance . . . actually two more chances. Once as I sat at my computer and glanced out the den window, I saw it again in the front yard. When I moved in my chair to pick up my camera, he must have detected the movement for he stopped and sat down looking in at me. Because the window goes all the way to the floor, I knew if I stood up and moved toward it, he would leave. So I snapped pictures from my chair, about nine feet away, and of course they were terrible. When the fox began to walk away, I went to the window to follow him only to discover there were two of them! The lighter colored one (that I have decided is the female) was sitting about twelve feet from the front porch and looking in the window at me. As I began to snap pictures, she got up and walked into the trees. The darker (male) fox hurried into the high grass, in the other direction and emerged only seconds later out by the apple tree.

I was so afraid that I would not get another chance, but yesterday the male was back. This time behind the house and I took many pictures through the South breakfast room window. When he went to the front yard, I hurried to the front porch and was there waiting when he arrived. He stood for a long time letting me take pictures before he moved into the trees.

Now my quest is to find the den and get some photos of the babies!


THIS IS ONE AS HE 'POSES' IN THE FRONT YARD



THIS IS THROUGH THE WINDOW IN BACK



THIS IS ANOTHER IN THE FRONT YARD. HE WAS GETTING READY TO SCRATCH...HE DID A LOT OF THAT!