Gentle Readers and Loved Ones,
Ann and I had an outdoors adventure today in our very own back yard.
We live on a cute little lake in Eagan, MN that you have to go to the library
and search out old maps to find the name of. Our lake does not get enough
respect from google maps to even have a name.
We see wildlife out the back window all the time. Deer every day, turkeys frequently, snapping turtles have laid eggs in our garden. We get owls, eagles, hawks and pileated woodpeckers. Rowdy about jumps out of his skin on a daily basis trying to catch rabbits and squirrels. So, it's a suburban jungle just like everyone else's suburban jungle.
Every jungle’s got predators. Occasionally we see coyotes and foxes. I’ve seen a fox come right up against our basement sliding doors.
So, yesterday, Rowdy and Sterling set up a fuss at the window. I looked out and saw nothing so I walked over
closer to the window and looked again There
was a small foxlike dot moving around across the lake. I took this picture today to show you roughly where he was. Google earth says that's 250 yards away.
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| Location of the Fox Den |
As I watched, a neighbor and her dog walked up the nice paths another neighbor has plowed out on the lake to make walking easy. The fox ran up the hill and disappeared into the woods. I noted that the position of the fox was in a little depression that I thought was a deer scrape. I made a note to go check closer the next time we walked the lake.
So, today we checked it closer to discover a big gaping hole that can only be a fox den. There is an alternate entrance several feet to the south. This whole complex is dug down in the root ball of a really big old oak, so I surmise it’s pretty roomy down under there.
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| Ann and Sterling by main entrance |
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| Southern Entrance |
Ann took this picture of the southern entrance with the horrifying proof of foxy carnivorousness
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| Southern Entrance and Squirrel Tail |
As a side note, this den is on the land of a couple I’ve met several times over the years. She’s the nice lady that told me about Red Cedar Farms where we bought Rowdy.
As a bonus, during today’s walk, Ann and I met up with some other neighbors and
their kids walking a lap around the lake with their dogs. They told me about a frozen carcass they’d just
discovered on the shoreline next door. So Ann and went and found that dead fox
carcass. I think you’d just as soon not
see that, so no picture. Rowdy was pretty non-plussed. He looked at me like, "Reff, that's been there for months! Pay attention!"
I got Ann, Rowdy and Sterling to pose for a picture in the nice bright sunshine. It was a beautiful day. This picture is looking back at our house from just below the fox den.
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| Ann, Rowdy and Sterling |
On that happy note, I remain,
Dad Geoff
