Red Fox (Vulpes, vulpes) at Midnight

Last eve, while drifting in and out of the wind howls of midnight sleep, I heard the familiar "disturbing, somewhat childlike, raspy shrieks" of a Red Fox (which in Mi'kmaq is wowgwis) in the wooded area outside my bedroom window.

I slid out from under my warm covers and drew back the curtains on my west window to see a very healthy- looking, Red Fox engaged in play. Silhouetted by a streetlight in the distance, its form, a shifting outline in the darkness against the bright snow. Shivering, I strained my half- lit eyes to watch its nighttime romp about the yard.

There is some kind of magic in watching night wildlife when they do not think they are seen. Never in daytime have I witnessed a fox behave the way it does at night; not even when catching prey. Not sure in answer to what this fox was playing but there was no other way I could describe its antics than play. The physics of its body movements changed from the usual daylight, fox trot to something so magnificent to behold. Described by some as "the catlike canine" this fox appeared to defy gravity in frantic, twirling leaps around the tree trunks. And quick as a rabbit, it flopped and rolled in the rain- soaked snow.

I've watched many foxes in the middle of the night (well, also raccoons, flying squirrels and skunks) and marvel in gratefulness every time I catch a glimpse of their near and present, own strange world.

Always, these nighttime encounters remind me to take care in my daytime remembering of how many others we share this blessed world with.

My own daylight research in dear birding friends, Rosemary Curley and Dan McAskill's Mammals of Prince Edward Island (a most wonderful PEI nature reference book) produced the above quotations as some of their Red Fox descriptions.

Midnight Red Fox (Tanka)

I awaken to

cackling fox, pouncing in woods

outside my window.

Rain pours down while fox twirls round,

flops on snow. We roll over.

Jill MacCormack

Thanks for reading.

Be well,

Jill

1st quote page 134, Mammals of Prince Edward Island and Adjacent Marine Waters

2nd quote page 127, Mammals of Prince Edward Island and Adjacent Marine Waters