Over the years we have had different animal groups take up residence and seemingly “claim” our yard as their own.  The first year it was absolutely a deer haven.  Other years we saw an abundance of ground hogs (yuck), or a prevalence of mice.  Last fall we had entirely too many snakes.  That was the worst animal season I can recall.  We’ve seen other bunches of things as well. 

John has worked the last two years to cull (a/k/a kill) the ground hog population.  He has had my full support.  We saw very, VERY few this year, and only early on in the summer.  We have seen far less deer these last 12 months than all the other years we’ve been here.  We believe construction on our neighbors’ property is the culprit. 

What we did have this year was lots and lots of bunnies and squirrels.  One mama bunny went so far as to make her nest in the garden by the front porch!  Sadly, her offspring were killed quickly.

Two of the bunnies that we saw regularly earned the names Monica and Doug.  There was a third large bunny that joined them mid-summer whose name we did not catch.  But the kids and I seriously enjoyed their company all summer, often spotting them near the garden.  They were caught IN the garden one day, but Tabitha scared them off quickly and found the hole for Daddy to patch.

Then… in September… we had a new friend come to live here.  A fox.  Yup.  It seems that a yard full of bunnies and squirrels is very good real estate for a fox.  We’ve seen him or her a LOT.  In the front yard, in the back yard, down the private drive just far enough away from the neighbors’ dog.  It is often in our hedge row along the private drive.  It seems to behave in normal fox fashion and we aren’t concerned with rabies (at this point, anyway).

We haven’t seen Doug or Monica in at least two weeks.  I hope their Realtor found them an alternative location…

Today we took some burnt biscuits out under a tree for the birds.  That lent to a lot more out-the-window-watching for my crew.  Around 9:00 A.M. Marie spotted our fox.  I was able to grab the camera this time; the fox had been too fast up until now. 

Can you see it?