Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems. ~Rainer Maria Rilke

Friday, September 16, 2011

Marauders and Tricksters

OK! I'm trying to find reasons to love a couple of wild things that are visiting our backyard these warm and wonderful, summer evenings.
Maybe it's that they are so beautiful.
Maybe it's because they're so darn cute when they're babies.
And they kind of remind me of Carl and Cutter... only with tails.
I'm trying to be objective about this.
The other night I saw them through the sliding window again.
This time they just walked across the yard and under the grape arbor like they owned the place...
and disappeared behind the new potting shed.
I grabbed my camera and went out the back door and around the house.
Thought I could catch them unaware.
A few candid shots of a cute fox eating bird seed.  I wanted to get closer to them so I walked around the side of the house trying not to make any noise.
I quietly got my camera ready.
I looked behind the new shed and it appeared that they were gone.
I was looking down toward the burned area below the goat run when I noticed that something was moving down in the vegetable garden.
MY FIG TREE WAS MOVING and you'll never guess who was in the fig tree helping itself to my figs.
Can you see this?
The photo was taken about 25 to 30 feet away and them I cropped the photo for the post.
That Fox was up in the Fig tree, balancing like a tight rope walker on my already endangered fruit tree.
The goats leaned on the fence in the Spring, bending as far as they could  to eat the tasty new leaves.
Then Brownie broke into the garden and pruned the tree for me.
Then the fire we had a month ago left the poor tree with fire retardant all over it.
And to top it all off the tree has been struggling  with some kind of bark problem that we have been trying to resolve.
And now a fox decided to do a balancing act in the tree so it can reach some figs.
Look what it did.
Another branch has been broken. This fox didn't know it's own strength.
It was up there dancing around, doing a balancing act in the branches like this was some kind of amusement park ride.

"I see you... you handsome, little marauder." I said , as I walked around the other side of the shed to get a better view of him/her... it.
"You had better leave my poor Fig tree alone."
The fox jumped down and slid through the fence into the burned area below... and then he turned and looked at me.
He watched me for a few minutes and then.....
I swear.... HE LAUGHED.

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The last photo is courtesy of Google Images by someone named Curlyson.
Both Baby Fox photos are courtesy of Google Images too.





9 comments:

  1. sly fox with his devilish charms...he is beautiful of course...and sly as a pic in penzoil...sorry about the tree....

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  2. He may have just been trying to make nice, or say thank you, but given their reputation he was probably laughing. Is this where the saying "Good fences make good neighbors" came from?

    I love the wildlife, but.... good thing you don't have chickens. You don't have chickens, do you?

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  3. They are cute but they can be destructive as you well know. Love your photos. I hope they didn't hurt your fig tree to bad. Have a blessed day. Madeline

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  4. I have plenty of these visitors too-which include deer as well. Like yo, I try to embrace all the wildlife that visits but its not always easy.

    Velva

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  5. OMGoodness! I can't believe you were able to capture him on film! And I had no idea foxes liked figs! We have beautiful foxes here too...just wish they were the ones who paid late night visits to us instead of COUGARS! I'm in the midst of a struggle with my former love of wildlife. I love them high in the mountains feeding on something besides my dear little goat girls.

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  6. I love wildlife - in the wild. Have difficulty feeling so loving when they encroach on my patch. I had no idea foxes could climb trees! Thanks for a delightful post.

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  7. I don't even bother trying to grow things where I live. We don't have foxes but we do have deer, bears, and the occasional cougar and who knows what else. I am tempted to invest in a webcam. They are cute though aren't they?

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  8. I love foxes but then again I don't have them in my taxed fig tree! I only have them in my fairy tale mind and make felted renditions of them...they are quite beautiful though.
    Glad you enjoyed the Song for Saturday...hope all is well...

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  9. Eeeeeee! That is the craziest thing! I hope the tree makes it. A guy here sells fig trees and I have been tempted, but we have to buy a car now, and try to visit my son.

    Cute photo at the end, freakin cute!

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