Pages

Monday, January 12, 2009

The Wilds of Westfield: Vulpes vulpes

It's been a while since we wrote about wildlife in our neighborhood, but Fritz the Dog and I had a wonderful siting the other night. I didn't get a photo, because it was quite unexpected, and rather dark, too. But the fellow (or gal) we saw looked like this:


This little furry friend was was a red fox (Vulpes vulpes), getting a drink from our fishpond out back when we stepped outside for a last trip before heading to bed. Furry friend was as surprised to see us as we were to see him/her. He/she slipped through the picket fence and into the alley before Fritz even realized an intruder was at the edge of the yard.

Much barking ensued!

Then what a beautiful sight it was to see this animal trotting away down the alley behind our house. But there was one last stop and we were given this very look in the photo above. Just too cool for school, was this one!

And before anyone gets worried about a fox in the neighborhood, let me assure you that this creature was doing exactly what it should be doing: out at night (nocturnal), fearful of humans and dogs (not a threat), and please don't forget: these guys eat mice and rats! (Cats are way too much trouble for them, if that's what you are thinking ....)

We have a lot of green space in our neighborhood, and I for one enjoy seeing the diverse wildlife that lives here.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

We're always pleased to see the urban fox around the neighborhood, and even saw a deer once near Lake Montebello; I had no idea they came that far into the City.

Anonymous said...

I often see a fox crossing Eunice and yesterday there was a Bald Eagle sitting on the ice at Lake Montebello.