Yawp!

[altivo]

I think our fox from last spring is back, one of them anyway. I've been hearing strange sounds at dawn and dusk, something between a bark and a cat yowl. Tonight they were frequent and loud, so loud that Gary insisted we go out to investigate. Didn't see anything, but I figure the sound was coming from the neighbors' land, right near where their (now empty) henhouse sits.

Came back in and hunted down some recorded red fox sounds on the web, and sure enough. We are hearing "bark", "yawp", and "warning call."

Gary said he found a little heap of meadow voles or something of that sort near one of the barns today. When he went back with a shovel to scoop them up, they had all been carried off. Now our big hunting cat is definitely one to catch mice or mouse-like critters and accumulate a stash, but given the location right near where the foxes denned briefly last spring, I think we've seen the evidence. The ground is thawing and getting soft in the daytime, but at night it is still frozen hard, so no distinctive tracks yet; nor have I smelled them, which I did do last year quite definitely. Still, I'm now convinced that at least one of the foxes is back around.

Comments

[alaskawolf.livejournal.com]

you have a fox on the loose1 :)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

And I hope she stays on the loose this year. We can only afford to chop up so many fences.

[animist.livejournal.com]

They do make the strangest sounds, don't they! Now quick... please post about some unpleasant farm chores, lest I get to sentimentally goofy about country living and wanna move out there myself!

[altivo.livejournal.com]

You mean like castrating lambs? It's a bloodless job but does have to be done. Eeeww.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

*goes very pale* Is that done with the rubber rings?

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yes. Rubber rings so tiny and tight they look like Cheerios. You have to use a special tool to stretch them out enough (and no, you don't let go with a snap.) Contrary to expectation, the lambs never even seem to notice.

[saythename.livejournal.com]

Foxies are amazing scavangers. While they can be truly annoying you
usually want them around as a kind of outer line of defense against
critters. The cat is the inner line of defense.

Oh, and they are lovable and you want to pet their floofy
tails.

Alright thats just me.

XD

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Oh, I like foxes as long as there aren't too many around. I can lock up my domestic fowl at night and take the necessary precautions to protect my other animals. I really enjoy watching foxes on the rare occasions when they allow themselves to be seen.

I do have to soothe Gary all the time when they're around, because he tends to believe they will kill and steal sheep and cats. This in spite of the fact that the only evidence of predation we've seen has been against the neighbors' chickens, and that one I find mostly amusing. I wonder if the fox will start killing their big honking turkeys this year...

[saythename.livejournal.com]

Foxes like fowl.

*feathers drift away from him*

Heh?

o.o

[typographer.livejournal.com]

Have you checked for trampolines?

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Um, trampolines?

No, and no rockers either.

[typographer.livejournal.com]

Sorry, the day before I saw this entry in your LJ, lots of people were linking to this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWG4R9DBj-g

[altivo.livejournal.com]

OK... I wouldn't have got that because I ignore video links. They generally require flash, which I keep disabled, both because it takes up way too much bandwidth and because it crashes Firefox on Linux.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

I love the fox on the trampoline video, he's really having fun :)

Hmm foxies about ay, yes one family of foxes is nice but not a big one.