altivo

	Please don't eat me! 19-JUN-2007: Here's what Gary found when he went out to feed sheep and horses this morning. The sheep pen fence had become an unintentional trap, and the little vixen we've been seeing, usually with her mom, had a hind leg tangled in it. Mom was nowhere to be seen, but we suspect she was watching just the same.
	What is that thing? The baby was terrified, but still curious. The camera made her suspicious but I did manage to get a couple of shots that weren't blurred. No, we didn't leave her hanging just so I could shoot photos. Gary was getting leather gloves and a wire cutter while I did this. I wouldn't let him touch her without the gloves in case she tried to bite. Who could blame her?
	Hole in the fence We had to cut the fence cords to get her free. She was wound up so tightly there was no chance of unwinding her without all of us being injured in the struggle. Fortunately, we were able to make sure there were no wires or plastic still caught on her leg before letting her go. The skin was abraded but not broken, and she favored the leg as she scampered off but did not run on three legs as she would if it were broken. Not once did she try to bite either of us, though she struggled to pull away the entire time. The fence is a total loss. Fortunately we have a spare we can replace it with.

Postscript: About an hour later Gary saw the mom looking at the hole in the fence, so evidently the two have not found each other yet. However, when the baby ran off she headed for the log pile where they've been hanging out, and I expect all will be well. There was another dead chicken just a few feet from the spot where we untangled the kit. We don't know whose it was, because the color was unlike any we've seen at the neighbors. Gary tossed it back by the logpile as well. There was also an egg shell lying there. I can just picture mom dragging the chicken and baby carrying the egg in her mouth. Evidently something startled them and they dropped stuff and ran, but the kit tangled herself in the fence (she apparently tried to crawl through the mesh rather than jump it or go around it.)