The Fox
A few days ago I was opening a sliding glass door to my backyard and heard a rustling of remaining fall leaves. I looked towards the noise and saw that I must have caught an animal off guard who was minding his own business in the last fragments of warmth produced by the afternoon sun which would quickly leave us all a bit colder in about an hour when it would melt into the western sky. My mind at this point was trying to connect the picturesque dots to form a conclusion. Was I seeing a really big raccoon? No. At first glance, the marks around it's eyes along with its crouched position led me to that error of deduction. The animal was very still and looking right at me with great stillness. I continued to look back and realized . . . Aha! It was a fox.
Even though the cold air was flowing past me from the chilly 30 something degrees, which was forecasted correctly the night before, I kept the door open to observe my wild visitor. It was unusual to see a fox during the daylight hours so I took it as a gift. I looked into his unblinking eyes and tried to send it a clear message through my own eyes, “I'm not going to hurt you. It's okay. Please stay.”
We remained like that until I decided he wouldn't go away, and I slowly slid the door closed and stood inside for a warm moment, watching. I decided to risk losing sight of him by backing away seamlessly from his view to stand behind the door frame. Now I could walk briskly to my camera that was on the bookshelves close by. Coming back into position, I once again moved in slow motion to bring the camera up to my eye so that I could capture the moment. After all, how many times have I had the pleasure of a fox in my yard during the day! He began to move and that was when I noticed that he was limping. It was hurt.
I happened to have my cell phone in my pocket and knew I had my Vet's number in it. My veterinarian's practice is literally just around the corner and rather than lose sight of this creature I pressed the vet's number in hopes that they would know who to call and do it for me. They did and I waited for a call back, taking pictures of this lone animal who had decided my yard was good for a late afternoon nap. I wondered if it was in pain as it settled in dragging its injured leg beneath him. Was it too painful to even sleep? My heart went out to it, and I was glad at the same time that my cat was inside and wouldn't come across a resting fox in it's own back yard startling it into a fuzzy, spitting frenzy.
What seemed like a billion pictures later, my doorbell rang and a lady animal officer was at the ready with a long pole with a noose at the end of it. I asked that he/she be taken to the Veterinary School here in town. She was excited to see the fox, but when I showed her through my camera lens where the sleeping fox was camouflaged in the leaves, she couldn't see it. I suppose if I didn't see him lay down earlier, and train my camera on him, I wouldn't have been able to spot him either since the sun was doing its thing, vanishing with rapid speed to parts unknown leaving the fox
invisible in nature.
On another note, but in the same vein . . . I have a friend who has been teaching me about Animal Totems. It's nothing new. Indians believed in totems for centuries. You may have seen one or two wooden ones and were told the significance of animals to humans along with their meaning. So she looked “fox” up online and told me what seeing a fox could mean to me on that day. What follows is my rendition of a synopsis and not plagiarism, so please excuse any similarity in wordage (actually I'll put things in quotes for my own simplicity):
If I take this fox showing up in my yard during the sunlit hours as a sign, then it would read something like this: “It is a time to be careful and discriminating, aware of your communication abilities, and be alert to your surroundings. Fox teaches how to be still and silent and all qualities of patience”. The fox may be showing you “a new world and creative process opening up”. (These quotes are taken from starstuffs.com if you are interested.)
Interestingly enough I am venturing into a new world at this very moment in time . . . going back to school. At my ripe old age of 57, that's me jumping completely out of my box. But like the fox who ventured out into the light of day to become visible to me, I will take it as a good sign that I am doing the right thing but will take care to be discriminating and alert to my surroundings.
Thank you my foxy friend for showing up and looking at me straight in the eye. I hope I read your mind. Maybe you were just telling me it would be a good time to take an afternoon nap???
© nancy 1.13.2010
A few days ago I was opening a sliding glass door to my backyard and heard a rustling of remaining fall leaves. I looked towards the noise and saw that I must have caught an animal off guard who was minding his own business in the last fragments of warmth produced by the afternoon sun which would quickly leave us all a bit colder in about an hour when it would melt into the western sky. My mind at this point was trying to connect the picturesque dots to form a conclusion. Was I seeing a really big raccoon? No. At first glance, the marks around it's eyes along with its crouched position led me to that error of deduction. The animal was very still and looking right at me with great stillness. I continued to look back and realized . . . Aha! It was a fox.
Even though the cold air was flowing past me from the chilly 30 something degrees, which was forecasted correctly the night before, I kept the door open to observe my wild visitor. It was unusual to see a fox during the daylight hours so I took it as a gift. I looked into his unblinking eyes and tried to send it a clear message through my own eyes, “I'm not going to hurt you. It's okay. Please stay.”
We remained like that until I decided he wouldn't go away, and I slowly slid the door closed and stood inside for a warm moment, watching. I decided to risk losing sight of him by backing away seamlessly from his view to stand behind the door frame. Now I could walk briskly to my camera that was on the bookshelves close by. Coming back into position, I once again moved in slow motion to bring the camera up to my eye so that I could capture the moment. After all, how many times have I had the pleasure of a fox in my yard during the day! He began to move and that was when I noticed that he was limping. It was hurt.
I happened to have my cell phone in my pocket and knew I had my Vet's number in it. My veterinarian's practice is literally just around the corner and rather than lose sight of this creature I pressed the vet's number in hopes that they would know who to call and do it for me. They did and I waited for a call back, taking pictures of this lone animal who had decided my yard was good for a late afternoon nap. I wondered if it was in pain as it settled in dragging its injured leg beneath him. Was it too painful to even sleep? My heart went out to it, and I was glad at the same time that my cat was inside and wouldn't come across a resting fox in it's own back yard startling it into a fuzzy, spitting frenzy.
What seemed like a billion pictures later, my doorbell rang and a lady animal officer was at the ready with a long pole with a noose at the end of it. I asked that he/she be taken to the Veterinary School here in town. She was excited to see the fox, but when I showed her through my camera lens where the sleeping fox was camouflaged in the leaves, she couldn't see it. I suppose if I didn't see him lay down earlier, and train my camera on him, I wouldn't have been able to spot him either since the sun was doing its thing, vanishing with rapid speed to parts unknown leaving the fox
invisible in nature.
On another note, but in the same vein . . . I have a friend who has been teaching me about Animal Totems. It's nothing new. Indians believed in totems for centuries. You may have seen one or two wooden ones and were told the significance of animals to humans along with their meaning. So she looked “fox” up online and told me what seeing a fox could mean to me on that day. What follows is my rendition of a synopsis and not plagiarism, so please excuse any similarity in wordage (actually I'll put things in quotes for my own simplicity):
If I take this fox showing up in my yard during the sunlit hours as a sign, then it would read something like this: “It is a time to be careful and discriminating, aware of your communication abilities, and be alert to your surroundings. Fox teaches how to be still and silent and all qualities of patience”. The fox may be showing you “a new world and creative process opening up”. (These quotes are taken from starstuffs.com if you are interested.)
Interestingly enough I am venturing into a new world at this very moment in time . . . going back to school. At my ripe old age of 57, that's me jumping completely out of my box. But like the fox who ventured out into the light of day to become visible to me, I will take it as a good sign that I am doing the right thing but will take care to be discriminating and alert to my surroundings.
Thank you my foxy friend for showing up and looking at me straight in the eye. I hope I read your mind. Maybe you were just telling me it would be a good time to take an afternoon nap???
© nancy 1.13.2010
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