Unexpected Garden Visitors

OK Pink Bee - this one's for you.

Can you see her?

Sitting there so quietly right in front of my nose while I tied up the tomato plants one morning in May last year. Mama gray fox, glowing golden in the sunshine, had come to nurse her four adorable offspring. The kits appeared from under my neighbor's shed where she had apparently hidden them for safety. For several weeks we watched them feed, play, grow. Dad fox would stop by now and then, he was camping out in my rear neighbor's garden which is heavily overgrown, and would climb over the fence and come through my garden to check on his family. The kits often came around the fence and into my garden, playing like puppies until Mom chased them back. These were the two who seemed to enjoy posing - when I called to them they would pop out from under the shed and sit still for the camera. This shot was published in the local newspaper in the House & Garden "Backyard Sightings" section.

Here the four of them are playing after lunch - they were probably about 8 weeks old. (Click on photos to enlarge)
By the second week of June my neighbor - an elderly lady alone - decided six foxes in our quarter acre gardens were just too much. We called the city animal control officer and they brought a large humane cage to trap the animals. Can you believe not one of those wily foxes were stupid enough to try out the cat food left inside, hooray!!! Then, one day in June, they all disappeared, probably into the small wooded area across the cul-de-sac.

However.................................just two weeks ago, at dusk, Mom fox trotted across my front lawn, made sure no traffic was coming, and headed across the road into the woods. As you you can imagine, I will be watching this Spring - will they return with another litter? Will keep you posted.

The sad part is that these beautiful animals are losing their natural habitat as more and more parcels of suburban land are being bulldozed bare to build "McMansions", office parks, and shopping centers. I like to think they can still find a tranquil spot to raise their young - perhaps their choosing a little cottage garden is a sign that Nature is still, and always will be, kindly and caring, despite the atrocities of mankind.