My New Neighbors
Roll your mouse over the photo below
to see the other side of this gourd.
Friends -
About a year ago - maybe a little more - I began
to hear a very haunting 'barking' in the early
morning hours when every thing else was quiet
and dark. 'Barking' is not a correct interpretation,
as it was more like a hoarse cry - sort of
a cross between a cougar and a dog. Some days
I thought it might be some exotic tropical
bird and I wondered what it was and who the
owner was. But over the weeks I would continue
to hear the night cry, and because it would
come from different directions I knew that
it had to be something wild. One day Bob and
I were both awaked with a dreadful Tasmanian
devil-like ruckus that sounded for sure as
though something was being killed and painfully.
But I remained at a loss as to what it was.
Then one day this Spring on an early morning
run I glimpsed two foxes as they were leaping
across Highway 49. Foxes! It may be because they
are generally pretty sneaky, but in the 28 years
I have lived in Placerville I had never seen
a wild fox. I started thinking about those animal
calls, and used my computer to find out what
foxes sound like. (Ah, the wonders of the internet!).
By golly, they have that hoarse animal cry that
I had been hearing, and when angry it seems that
they can shriek much like Tasmanian devils.
It turns out that foxes mate for life. Both parents
share the duties of hunting and caring for their
young. Oftentimes one of the parents will do
the hunting while the other stays near the den
to protect their young from any potential danger.
The male will not den with the female and their
young, but he is always somewhere close by. I
have done a little snooping around in the fields
near my house and I think I have found area where
my new neighbors may have made their den. I am
pleased that they may be long-term neighbors
as I learned they will usually return to the
same den site each year.
Anyway, I continue to hear that fox call in the
early morning hours and I love the fact that
my newest neighbors are more useful than most
-- at least they will help keep the rodent population
down! 'My New Neighbors' will be up for sale
at the El Dorado County Artists Studio Tour,
September 18-20, and the sale amount will go
to help fund M.O.R.E. this time.
Hope to see you then.
Margie Lopez Read
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