NO FEAR FOX

I was coming back inside after taking the kitchen garbage bag out to the pail. I went over to the kitchen sink to wash my hands, when I looked over at my husband Steven making his morning coffee.

“You’re never going to guess what I just saw outside in our back yard!”

“What?” he asked as he popped the Keurig pod into the top of the coffee maker.

“A fox!” I pumped the soap dispenser a few times and started lathering up. “It was trotting down our path in the woods, headed right for me, before it made a quick right hand turn to go under the bird feeders.” I put my soapy hands under the water. “It played a quick game of chicken with two squirrels that were there before it made it’s way around the side of our house and went across the street to the neighbor’s side yard.”

Steven took a mug out of the cabinet. “I’ve seen the fox in our yard before.”

“It’s pretty brazen.” I turned the water off and grabbed the dishtowel. “It looked right at me as it trotted down the path. I swear I was only twenty feet away from it and it couldn’t have cared less that I was there.”

I leaned my back against the sink as I dried my hands. “I have to say I was just as freaked out as the squirrels were when I thought it was headed my way.”

“I guess it lives somewhere in the neighborhood.”

“If you’ve seen it in our yard before do you think it’s made a den under our shed?”

Steven went over to the canisters lined up on the counter top. Pulling the lid off one of them he reached in and pulled out a Truvia packet. “Nope, not living under our shed because I’m still working on getting the skunk to move out from there.” Steven looked over and shrugged his shoulders. “That is unless they’ve decided to bunk in together.”

I laughed. “The shed’s not big enough to fit two animals under there.”

I looked out the kitchen window. “You know, now that I think about it I haven’t seen any bunnies munching on our clover so far this year.”

“Well, foxes are opportunistic eaters. I could see them going after the bunnies before the squirrels.”

“Why?” I asked. “Bunnies are just as fast as squirrels.”

Steven looked over at me raising an eyebrow. “But can they climb a tree?”

I sighed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right on that.”

I watched as several squirrels chased each other around the bird feeders. “Aren’t we all opportunistic eaters?” I looked over at Steven. “I mean honestly if you put a pizza in front of me right now I’d eat it.”

Steven looked over at the clock on the stove. “It’s seven thirty in the morning.”

“Exactly. And yet pizza sounds great right now.”

“Yeah.” Steven finally agreed. “It kind of does.”