Foxes In The Village

For the past two nights Saga has been entertaining the local wildlife from the security of the vestibule. I've set her kennel up in the vestibule off the dining room that leads to the back stairs to the garden. She prefers this room to any of the other rooms in the house thus far!

Monday night around one, I was awakened by her barking. This is highly unlike Saga. She seldom barks at night but Monday she was barking to beat the band. I went downstairs to console her but she was not to be quieted. I went upstairs to the lounge and looked outside to see what, if anything was setting her off. I could see nothing. I opened the door and stepped out onto the back stoop and looked at the garden. Still I saw nothing that could even conceivably interest her.

At about this time, Saga realized that I had opened the back door and came tearing out it; skidding into the door jam on the slick oak floors as she tried (not entirely successfully) to navigate the lounge at high speed. She darted past me and into the planting by the door. There was a brief scuffle and then a fox darted out from under the palmetto and diagonally across the lawn. Saga was hot on his tail.

A brief scuffle occurred at the pergola in the back of the garden, but this was mostly Saga failing to stop before crashing into a bush at the back of the arbor. The fox had, by this time, scaled the wall and made it into the safety of the neighbor's yard. Reluctantly, Saga returned to the house but she insisted on staring out the back door for the next five minutes, growling.

Last night, I think she was going after that damn fox again as she started barking. I had to pick her up and carry her to the lounge, shushing her as I went until she calmed down. It occurred to me on Monday that perhaps letting her out of the house when I didn’t know what it was could have been a bad idea. In Colorado, it would more likely have been a skunk, raccoon, or bear.

It had better not happen again tonight or I am going to just invest in a dog house and leave her outside to keep the yard fox-free so that she doesn't have to bark to let me know they are back!

I hope wherever you are today you've had a good night's sleep!

Don Bergquist - 23 January 2007 - Thames Ditton, Surrey, UK