Sunday, May 4, 2008

Daydreams

I had hardly given it much thought lately.
Aside from catching his eyeshine in the beam of my flashlight last week as I rounded the pond late one evening, the fox that I’d hoped to, one day, encounter face to face, has been keeping a low profile.
The tracks that led me, winding and creeping through freshly fallen snow in late February, now, as May’s return of life surges forward, are nearly forgotten. The snowy depressions--drag marks where he’d caught his prey and carried it yards from our wooded creek bank and off through the field—I’d translated in my mind to imagine a male might be hunting for his mate and young, resting somewhere, within a den.
Without ever seeing more than footprints, it remained but a romantic notion in my head.
Fueled by a dream that, hidden from harm, a sweet family of foxes was growing.



In the stillness of a new day’s dawning--dreams really do come true.



Apologies for the fuzzy images.
It was barely daylight, and I wanted be sure to keep my distance and not spook them with a flash.

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14 comments:

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Oh you lucky lady. What a sweet little family you have there.

Beth said...

oh my goodness--and you had your camera--they are just as sweet as can be. I hope you spot them from time to time as they grow.

Crayons said...

Nina,
How exciting. I would not recognize a fox print if I saw one. These are great photographs. I really admire your awareness about what is happening all around your house.

NCmountainwoman said...

How wonderful for you to find them. And how wonderful of you to share the pictures with us. Fantastic!

MojoMan said...

Wonderful photos, Nina!

Isn't it amazing when something in nature turns out just as we hoped it would? I am often amazed that the forest offers just what I expected and needed, making me feel like - just maybe - I am beginning to understand.

Mary said...

They look like puppies. I'm so glad you remembered they were there *somewhere*. You're lucky!

bobbie said...

I'm so happy for you, finding them. They are beautiful.

Dave Coulter said...

Wow. VERY cool!

Carolyn H said...

Nice! I think your he fox is a she fox!

Carolyn H.

Anonymous said...

What a dream to have found these baby fox like this! I am jealous of your adventure!

Anonymous said...

Sorry, that was me who hit enter before typing in my name! Anyways . . . still jealous

nina at Nature Remains. said...

I find myself with a dilemma I know others share.
Wanting badly to watch a special find, yet knowing my being there could be the reason they leave.
I'll "catch" them a I can, but more fuzzy shots may be the best I can manage.
Mojoman--I understand your thoughts perfectly. I've always described myself as a nature-lover, but this year I've immersed myself in it even more. Feeling the environment as something that lives within it, and appreciating the subtleties--loose soil, dense brush, the topography of the land...begin to "paint" a picture in my mind of something I might expect to see.
When I find it's really there, I feel I've begun to "understand."

Anonymous said...

Oh the babies! How SWEEEET! I don't know why, but I seem to love foxes the most.

MojoMan said...

Nina, thanks for so much more clearly stating what I was trying to say!

It seems baby foxes can be quite tolerant of people. In the documentary "Grizzly Man," Timothy Treadwell had a fox den near one of his camps and would play with them regularly. (Fascinating film, wonderful soundtrack, wacky and bear-eaten main character.)