Fox Finds Breakfast

We have willingly shared our home with foxes for as long as we have been here.  A den was found by us that served as the first home of newborn cubs.  Watching them begin to explore their world is a treasured memory.  One day I found a recently dead fox in the path to the garden by the woods.  A proper burial marked by a suitable field stone seemed appropriate.  Following a bitterly cold February week, a female and male came to the surface from a network of woodchuck tunnels and promptly mated near the area shown in the first photo.

We seem to be on the morning path taken by this fox. This week we saw the fox on Tuesday, Wednesday and again this morning. Today was the best yet!  He first appeared on that same path mentioned here making his way to our lawn.  Being alone his concern was breakfast.  Our snow here is widely marked with rodent tunnels as they go about their business walking on the surface of the grass under the snow.  The fallen stone pile was a temporary spot for stones found when making garden beds.  Hastily placed these stones remained upright for years but movement caused by the north wind became apparent.  Then the pile partially collapsed.  To date none of my carefully built stone walls have fallen while two temporary piles have tumbled down.

In this picture the fox has found his breakfast.  He flipped the rodent onto the unbroken surface of the snow then appeared to wait.  No chase followed as the rodent remained motionless.  Fox breakfast quickly followed.

As a measure of just how much we share this land with native animals, Mr. Fox is walking directly toward our living room window.  Perhaps he sees this ground as his not mine.  He continued to approach the house.  A moment was taken to mark a flower stalk directly adjacent to the house.  That leg in the air action identified this fox as male.

Two days ago bright sunlight and warm air combined to remove the dangerous remains of the recent rain, ice and snow storm.  In all of our years living in upstate New York we have never seen a storm like that one.  Frozen hard bare ground captured and held all of the rain ice and snow mixture.  The bond between the ground and the ice laden snow was so tight that I could not break any of it free with an ice chopper.  Walking outside was treacherous but no falls followed the few necessary trips taken.  This recent warm spell accompanied by rain dissolved much of the ice but what remained was incredibly smooth and slippery.  As is usually the case the liquid runoff drained down the hill until its path was blocked by the road.  Our pond quickly drained as a deep sand glacial deposit is under a thin layer of soil.  Ice abandoned by its supporting water invites one to walk on it accompanied by the delightful sound of ice crunching.  So far the size of the puddle and its slippery sloped margins remain unbroken.