LETTER FROM BOBOLINK FARM
HIGH SPIRITS
By Barbara Tatham Johnson
The bright coats of red foxes against white snow startles me when I look
across the meadow, as I often do upon rising, in the growing light of day
before sunrise. Two foxes tumble together at the meadow edge in the fresh
snow from a late winter storm. I rush to put the spotting scope at the
window for a closer look. The pair caper and romp together with zest. I have
read the observations of red fox behavior by British naturalist David
MacDonald, and my excitement builds as I watch the spirited play of the
foxes and recognize some of his descriptions. In recent years the outbreak
of rabies in Maine hurt the fox population as well as other mammals that are
their food and their competition. Watching the pair tumbling in the snow
encourages me to think that their wild spirit and resilience help the foxes
survive.
The larger of the pair flops on his side and stretches out, but he is alert
for the pounce of the other and before she lands, rolls away and leaps
straight up with fluid quickness. The smaller fox races away before he can
land beside her. The male dashes after her, and the chase ends with the two
suddenly flopped down facing each other nose to nose. In a cloud of white
powder the foxes are on their feet, capering, turning and sprinting about
the meadow edge. The vixen arcs skyward, lands on four closely placed feet,
and thrusts her muzzle deep into the snow in a series of mock hunting
motions. The dog fox sits watching with what I imagine is admiration. Soon
he performs similarly for her. I watch their feints and gay rollicking with
pleasure. The beauty of their red fur accented by black feet, muzzles, and
ears is stunning.
I do not want the performance to end, but the foxes stop cavorting and, with
no gestures of parting, trot away from each other. The dog fox crosses the
frozen stream and moves out of sight into the woods. The vixen continues
toward the house, cursorily explores the snow covered compost heap, squats
to mark the place, and crosses the stream a hundred yards east of the dog
fox’s path. She appears completely detached, even indifferent, to the
intense romp I witnessed, but I am sure the two are paired and have mated.
A sighting of a fox, “The wild buoyant creature,” as John Burroughs
described the animal, always gives me a jolt of glee. Fox behavior, a
combination of the canine and the feline, fascinates me. Naturalist J. David
Henry writes in his book, How To Spot A Fox, of the similarities of
cat and fox characteristics and behavior. Both animals have eyes with
vertically slit pupils and a layer of cells at the back of the inside of
their eyeballs called the tapetum lucidum that increases their capacity to
see in the dark by reflecting light back out of their eyes. Foxes have
partially retractable claws, teeth similar to the dagger like teeth of cats,
and sensitive whiskers called vibrissae on their muzzles. The fox and cat,
focused intently on their prey, creep up and pounce for the kill.
Foxes will kill cats when they have the advantage of surprise. Years ago I
watched the chance meeting of a neighbor’s cat and a red fox out on a
hunting trip that demonstrated the striking similarity of each animal’s
behavior. This time the cat had the advantage of experience, a strong and
long claim to the territory and the element of surprise in her favor.
The large longhaired, bushy-tailed red cat, that I frequently mistook for a
fox when I glimpsed her moving about the meadow, often hunted at the edges
of the meadow pond. One summer morning I noticed the cat creeping stealthily
among the tall grasses and reeds left uncut beside the pond when the hay was
mowed a few weeks earlier. She stepped carefully and slowly, intent on her
prey somewhere in the tangle. The expanse of open meadow beyond the pond
greened with new growth, and a fox emerging from the woods, trotted brightly
toward the pond in a direct line toward the cat. I sensed neither animal
knew of the other’s presence. Just short of the pond edge, the fox dropped
flat on the grass, then jumped upright with her back in a catlike arch. With
her tail held low and between her legs, the fox moved stiff-legged and
sideways toward the cat, who had risen, bristling and hissing, from her
crouch to face the fox.
The fox seemed to relax and began to circle the cat, daintily poking her
muzzle in the grass, lightly jumping as though pursuing a mouse, constantly
eyeing the cat throughout the sham hunt. The cat moved a little. Instantly,
the fox resumed her arching sidle and circled closer to the cat. The cat
leaped at the fox who nimbly jumped out of reach. The animals faced each
other, looking exactly like two tomcats facing off for a brawl with their
fur erect all over their bodies and backs arched.
Soon the pair relaxed slightly. The fox returned to her mock hunting, but
she kept an eye on the cat who crouched watchfully. The vixen, seeming to
tire of the confrontation, suddenly trotted away across the meadow. From my
vantage in the window, I watched her circle back toward the pond. The cat,
in the meantime, moved to another location on the pond shore and
concentrated on movement in the dry grasses.
The fox suddenly reappeared, and the cat rose and charged her foe. At the
cat’s approach, the fox immediately collapsed to the ground. Pressing her
forepaws and head flat, the fox raised her hindquarters so that she
resembled a begging or playful dog, then she rolled onto her side, flattened
her body, and kicked her hind legs with quick stiff motions. The cat watched
this performance guardedly. The fox jumped up and repeated her actions, but
the contest appeared over. The cat walked away with deliberate care toward
the path she used between home and the meadow. The fox discovered several
grassy clumps that required her close inspection as she trotted toward the
road. With a jaunty fluid leap, she topped the stone wall and disappeared
from view.
The presence of a fox or two on the place provides the surprise and joie de
vivre that keeps me connected to this small and vital piece of Maine. No
other wild visitors allow me to share such a sportive engagement with the
world and to savor a unique natural energy.
