We have a new fox in the neighborhood. And he's a talker.
I think fox barks are creepy; more like a bark overlaid by a scream. A single, sharp, disturbing noise that raises the hair on the back of one's neck before the realization dawns that it's just a fox. If you've never heard a fox scream, watch PBS. On every show ever filmed in England, at some point, you will hear a fox screaming in the background.
Our new fox runs through the neighborhood screaming his head off. I used to get out of bed and watch one stroll down the sidewalk taking detours into front yards to investigate. He'd scream after every 50 feet traversed. I haven't seen the new one, just heard him. His scream is particularly piercing and high-pitched. And non-stop. He must have amazing lungs.
The problem is, Ray hears it too and it sets off his fox-alarm. Last night the fox-alarm went off half a dozen times, and just like those stupid car-alarms, it's kind of hard to turn off once it gets going. Since Ray sleeps on the futon right outside our bedroom, it has a tendency to impair sleep. At the best of times, his tones are not dulcet; in the middle of the night, they are downright (choose one of the following) blatant, blustering, boisterous, booming, cacophonous, clamorous, clamorous, crashing, deafening, deep, ear-piercing, ear-splitting, emphatic, forte, full, full-mouthed, fulminating, heavy, high-sounding, intense, loud-voiced, lusty, obstreperous, pealing, piercing, powerful, rambunctious, raucous, resonant, resounding, ringing, roaring, rowdy, sonorous, stentorian, strident, strong, thundering, tumultuous, turbulent, turned up, uproarious, vehement, vociferous, loud enough to wake the dead (Roget's Thesaurus).
Last night (or, more accurately, early this morning), after being woken up for the sixth time, Ray took matters into his own paws. Grumbling, growling, harrumphing, and yelling, (and bonking into walls and stair railings) he cussed out that fox for disturbing his sleep and headed downstairs to his couch.
The rest of the night was relatively uneventful - just one more quick warning from the fox-alarm - and all was quiet.
This morning, I find myself wondering how long it will be before that fox gets hit by a car.
It's a lovely day.
I think I'll take a drive.
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They are so cute, but foxes in a neighborhood are no joke; I'm pretty sure that's what killed our last two cats in Texas. And just a couple of weeks ago, a rabid fox was found on the main road in my neighborhood here in SC on a Saturday morning, about 1/2 a mile from my house. And 2 children were aggressively attacked and bitten by a fox at our neighborhood school during the day a couple of months ago; the foxes ran off, but they had to assume they were rabid, and the kids had to take the shots...
ReplyDeleteYikes! We have a lot of problems with rabies up here in VA too, although it seems like I read mostly about raccoons attacking things. I love to see wildlife, but I always just assume it's rabid if I see it during the day. Sad but true.
DeleteHow fortunate we are that rabies is no longer an issue over here although our urban foxes are a problem in many towns and cities, I was worried when we got our hens that we would attract them, however in over 7 years of hen ownership I have only seen a fox once, when his head popped up over a six foot fence one morning as I was having a cuppa on the patio, I don't know which one of us was more surprised, but as I stood up he thought better of attempting to actually come over the fence and vanished the way he came, and I have never seen him since. It would devastate me if one got into our hen run so I am just thankful that up to now we have been lucky.
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing a fox in D.C. once when I used to work downtown. Coyotes are the ones with the reputations as being so adaptable but I think foxes can give them a run for the money.
DeleteI feel for you when you have to endure the fox yell/fox alarm!! Not a nice way to be woken up in the middle of the night!! A nearby county here in FL just had it's 6th rabies case this year...bats and raccoons mostly. A few years ago rats were carrying it into barns here and we had several rabid cows and 2 rabid horses. UK is indeed lucky to be rabies free. I've had my rabies shots, not fun.
ReplyDeleteHoly COW! What does a rabid cow do? I can't imagine being attacked by something that big and bovine.
DeleteDid something bite you, that you had to get rabies shots?
Jean, the only I time hear our foxy neighbors is during mating season. Rabies is always worrisome, but so are the the feral cats and the deer with their ticks. I am like you, I love that we have so much wild life around here .
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