Fern poked her nose out of her den, hidden beneath the two-leg sometimes home. She looked up into a clear blue sky and smelled the air, felt the movement of life around her, the warmth of the late June morning and, at last, she knew it was time.
She had whelped late. In her first two years, she and her mate had welcomed their litters in April, which was usual for foxes. Fern didn’t understand the two-leg concept of climate change. She only knew that this year she had been late mating, and her kits had not come until the beginning of June. Not that she understood the concept of months either, but she knew the changing rhythms of light and dark and the turn of the seasons.
Today, regardless of the season, Fern gladly emerged from beneath the two-leg enclosure, encouraging her kits out into the sunshine. At four weeks, they were ready begin learning about the world beyond the confines of the den.
The kits huddled close to her, uncertain, their eyes blinking in the unaccustomed light. Fern nosed them away from her, indicating it was safe to explore. She knew from previous experience that the two-legs here would not harm or otherwise interfere with her young family. She had noticed the faces observing them from within. They might venture outside, but would remain penned within the wraparound deck, watching but not threatening.
Fern watched as her kits explored the area around their den, tentative at first, then with increasing confidence. Bold was, of course, the first to discover the big round object that appeared every time the two-legs were in residence. He batted it with a paw, jumping back, startled, when it rolled away from him. Fern couldn’t help but laugh at her son.
Bold looked back at his mother. Her laugh, as intended, emboldened him to approach the beach ball again. Another paw swat again sent it rolling away. This time, instead of retreating, Bold pounced. The ball bounced. Bold jumped after it. Soon, all six kits were fully absorbed in play with the ball, chasing it around the area enclosed by the trees surrounding the homes of the foxes and the two-legs.
As Fern continued to laugh, the two-legs joined her with a sound that so closely resembled her own that she was certain they were enjoying her kits’ joyous play as much as she was. Soon, the two-legs would disappear for a time. Before they returned, Fern would turn her family’s play to pursuits that would teach them the skills they would need to survive the seasons of their lives. For today, she would relax, content in the knowledge that all six had survived to emerge from the den she had chosen for them and allow them to enjoy the two-leg gift. It was a good day to be a fox.
I wrote this story in response to a prompt from my friend Laura. As many of my longtime readers know, Laura provides me with prompts which are always evocative and sometimes lyrical. Here’s the prompt.
She looked up. She smelled the air, felt the movement of life around her. And at last, she knew, it was time.
Laura sent the prompt on Monday. I had to let it percolate for a few days and then Jace had a really rough night on Thursday. Friday I was exhausted and this, combined with my own pain levels ratcheting up, left me unable to write. Yesterday (Saturday), I spent running errands.
I knew what I wanted to write but felt I needed to know a bit more about foxes before moving forward with the story. So I started researching at midnight. This morning (Sunday), I got up and started the process of writing and image creation.
For those of you who read the “below the line” material, here’s some below the below the line information. (Is that even a thing?)
Foxes mate for life, though they aren’t always monogamous (most commonly the males). Females are called vixens and males are called dogs. I didn’t include the father in this story because I felt it complicated the simple narrative I wanted to present. In my viewpoint, he’s off hunting or looking for more female companionship.
Dens are created in a variety of locales, including beneath cottages or houses. Foxes apparently coexist well with humans and are generally not dangerous to us. Adults tend to weigh between ten and fifteen pounds. (My Jace is 12 pounds. I’m surprised that he is about an average weight for a fox.) They will play with toys found on lawns and will also play with pet cats and dogs.
Do foxes laugh? The answer, to my joyous discovery, is yes. Scroll down a bit in the linked article to hear Finnegan the rescue fox laugh as his human gives him his daily scritches.
Now that I’ve provided you with a reason to smile, I hope you have a great rest of your day.
That was so cool hearing the fixes laugh. Cute story, I knew foxes could be tame!