Foxed

[altivo]

Coming home from the supermarket, just after dusk, a red fox ran across the road in front of my car. Fortunately, we hadn't yet started getting any of the snow predicted for the overnight hours. The pavement was dry, and I was able to break without losing control or skidding. The fox was carrying some sort of prey animal, though I'm not sure what it was. The size was about that of a squirrel perhaps, or a small rabbit, but the color was black or near black, which doesn't fit with our squirrels or the wild cottontails here. Fox and prey vanished into the woods on the bank of the Kishwaukee River, no harm done except to the poor prey critter.

It's no wonder I was tired yesterday. Turns out I drove about 150 miles on the bird count expedition. all of it right within the county here. At least, that's what I calculate and I don't think I could be wrong. I realized it when I stopped for gas on the way back from the grocery and before the fox incident.

Three day work week, thank goodness, though it ends with the infamous Wednesday and, unlike Thanksgiving, we will not be closing early. I'll bet it's going to be mind-numbingly dead after about six pm, though.

Comments

[avon-deer.livejournal.com]

I need to go in on Christmas Eve, but I do get Boxing Day off. I think the prey you have seen with the fox might have been a stoat (if you get those where you are.)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I don't think we get ermine (stoats) this far south. They have them up in Canada though. At this time of year, an ermine here would be white and the prey was quite dark, almost black.

Our local native weasel is much smaller than what the fox was carrying, but there are a number of possibilities. I'm guessing that an ordinary rat is most likely, but the American mink is found in this area. They are scarce but both native and feral populations exist and there is an old fur farm not too far upstream. One of our neighbors told us he used to trap mink in the stream on our land 40 years ago. Another possibility is the muskrat, which is found in rivers around here. We also have beavers, but I think they would be too large unless the fox managed to grab a very young one.

The native rabbit is the cottontail (Sylvilagus as opposed to the European rabbit, Oryctilagus) and is almost always tan or brown. However, I did see a small black rabbit just recently when it crossed the road in front of me near here, so there may be some domestic rabbit escapes in the area. Those could well be black or white or spotted, as they are derived from European stock.

Do you normally work on Saturday? I'll have Boxing Day off because I always have Saturday off now, but the library is going to be open so the usual Saturday staff will be in. In theory, that puts me on call for the network and now that we've actually said that out loud, I suppose they'll call me. :(

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Another possibility occurs to me. Given the careless way in which some of the nearer neighbors manage their pets, if others a bit farther afield behave similarly it might have been a small puppy or a kitten. :(

Well, foxes gotta eat something and I do like having the foxes around.

[avon-deer.livejournal.com]

Mff..that would be upsetting if it was. But as you say, they have to eat.

[avon-deer.livejournal.com]

Foxes normally only tackle things rabbit sized and smaller. Cats for example they will run from. I suggest it could just be a black rabbit. I am sure they do exist.

Well, we get Saturdays off anyway, so the holiday that would have fallen on Boxing Day has been moved to the following Monday. So I get 25th, 26th, 27th, and 28th as public holidays, plus I have booked leave for the 29th, and 30th. I go back on New Years Eve, but don't expect to do much.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Sounds nice. Boxing Day is of course not an observed holiday here, but we generally get two days at Christmas one way or another, depending on where it falls in relation to the weekend. I really liked it when I worked for the college, because they shut down completely from Christmas Eve until the day after New Year.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

I doubt the central office for the State department of education will be much more exciting.

That's where I'll be by the by :P

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Take your pillow with you? XD

[flamekist.livejournal.com]

It's a four-day work week for us. Unfortunately, I was forced to spend all my vacation time earlier when there wasn't enough work to keep me in the office, so no real Christmas break for me this year. :(

At least I have some minor busy work to keep my mind occupied. There's a binder full of architectural detail drawings that needs ammending. My week will be only slightly more interresting than starring at a blank wall.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

There's never enough time off. For those of us not in retail, the last two weeks of the year are usually slow as molasses.