Wilde Kingdome on yon Darby Creeke
Upstairs in my sanctuary late on this Sunday night, opening paper mail and checking email and preparing to pay bills, I just heard our backyard fox barking for the first time.
Funny how a canine territorial call can be raucous enough that it sounds almost like a crow.
No one else in the house heard it, but then again I'm the only one with a window open. And the sound was a stark reminder that Lady, Cow!Cat, Leo and Skeeter were all outside and it was high time they came in, because it's dark out and I can't see them. (That's maternal logic for you.) And also, OMG, lions and tigers and bears and FOXES!!!!!!
I went to the back door and tried to round them up, with no success. At the front door, Lady, Cow and Skeet all bounded in. Leo was nowhere to be seen. (i.e. out of the glow of the porch lights.) So I put on a jacket, asked Mom to turn on the backyard light, and headed out to do a perimeter search.
I had gone up the driveway, across the lawn, back the other side past the house, and 2/3 of the way into the back yard, calling and clapping, when Leo came bounding out from the woodpile where the fox is rumored to have its den, tail at full mast, glancing behind him every twenty feet or so to see if his new playmate was following.
Yes, it seems that my wussy Leo was out dancing with foxes.
This is going to be some kind of fun.
Addendum: Cow!Cat is fascinated by the variety of fox calls on the directory where I found the above call, as Steve and I play them on 2 different computers on 2 different floors. He's running back and forth, ears perked and eyes wide. Hee!
Funny how a canine territorial call can be raucous enough that it sounds almost like a crow.
No one else in the house heard it, but then again I'm the only one with a window open. And the sound was a stark reminder that Lady, Cow!Cat, Leo and Skeeter were all outside and it was high time they came in, because it's dark out and I can't see them. (That's maternal logic for you.) And also, OMG, lions and tigers and bears and FOXES!!!!!!
I went to the back door and tried to round them up, with no success. At the front door, Lady, Cow and Skeet all bounded in. Leo was nowhere to be seen. (i.e. out of the glow of the porch lights.) So I put on a jacket, asked Mom to turn on the backyard light, and headed out to do a perimeter search.
I had gone up the driveway, across the lawn, back the other side past the house, and 2/3 of the way into the back yard, calling and clapping, when Leo came bounding out from the woodpile where the fox is rumored to have its den, tail at full mast, glancing behind him every twenty feet or so to see if his new playmate was following.
Yes, it seems that my wussy Leo was out dancing with foxes.
This is going to be some kind of fun.
Addendum: Cow!Cat is fascinated by the variety of fox calls on the directory where I found the above call, as Steve and I play them on 2 different computers on 2 different floors. He's running back and forth, ears perked and eyes wide. Hee!