One night when we were coming home in the car late last November, we turned the corner to find a group of three or four deer gamboling through the neighborhood. And when I say "gambol,"  I use that not to be pretentious, but because that's the only word that effectively describes what they were doing... prancing and jumping about with no clear direction or leader.  I'm not one to over-anthropomorphize animals but it's hard to see them as doing anything else besides just "goofing around."

Then we looked a little lower to the ground and realized they weren't alone.  They had a small fox companion, who was jumping and running along with them in and out, underneath their feet, probably chasing after whatever small rodents they were kicking up from under the leaves.  

We've heard tell of fox in this neighborhood and I saw one a couple of times last year, but much like the coyote I kept seeing last Spring, no one believed me because they didn't actually see it themselves.  

This year, the fox is back and he's brought a girlfriend.  We've seen them both hunting in our yard in the early mornings.  They're gorgeous and fascinating to watch.  They'll split up and circle around the house in opposite directions, then meet again around the other side.  And we'll "chase" them around the house, try to get a glimpse out of the side window, then the back then the girls' bedrooms, and so on.  One morning I saw one trotting off with a squirrel in it's mouth.  When they appear, you'll first see all the squirrels go up the trees and then start chittering and shaking and waving their tails wildly in warning.  If you notice this happening and keep an eye pealed, then soon will be the foxes!



This morning, I happened to have my camera close enough to grab it before they were gone.  They're hard to photograph because they move so fast but I did get one decent picture as proof.