The Quick Red Fox Ran Away From The Energetic Cat...

I'll be darned - if I were as smart as my smartphone I would have some great nature footage.

A red fox wandered through my backyard and stopped about fifteen feet behind a back window, staring at my cat that was sitting in the lawn about forty feet to my left.

I went to the window to survey the action. After a few seconds the fox saw me and ran about thirty feet to my right, clearing a stone wall and heading into into the woods. Cat saved!  Uhh, cat saved? 

Not exactly. The cat sprinted the width of the yard, cleared the wall with one bound, and chased the fox into the woods. Lest you wonder, the fox had to be four times the size of the cat physically and I infer the fox had a favorable match-up mentally as well. If there is a Stand Your Ground law in the wilderness, the cat won't come back the very next day, or ever. I will find out sooner than that, I hope.

UPDATE: The cat is back and fine and didn't even make me march into the woods looking for her, so 'Connecticut Man Mauled By Fox' won't be your headline. Well, I had my daughter's field hockey stick handy; I preferred the balance and length over my tennis racket.

Comments

[About three blocks away.]

I once saw a fox surveying the neighborhood canine message board, my mailbox, and told my son about it. He said: 'Oh, I know where she lives.'
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[Territorial.]

I also had a cat once who would raise small clots of dirt from his hind paws when chasing dogs off the property.
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[peter]

OMG, what a funny story. Your cat was obviously guarding its territory. Field hockey stick! Yanks dropped another last night. Any good pitchers up in Darien?

[Sara]

We had a fox that visited our property on a regular basis when I lived in Indiana. He never stopped to survey our cats or dogs, but used our property as a shortcut to a more heavily wooded area behind us. We had so many squirrels and chipmunks, I'm sure the fox was well fed without having to resort to cats (or dogs). It was the Great Horned Owl that lived in the hickory tree that I worried about, especially after hearing on TV about one that swooped down and grabbed a year old Boxer. I had 4 little mini-Dachsunds, much smaller than a Boxer.

I think the hockey stick was a great idea as a weapon to fend off the fox. I would have probably grabbed the string mop or broom or something equally as stupid.

[NK]

TomM-- yes the town is overun with wildlife-- deer, foxes, coyotes, wild turkeys (gobble gobble not 90 proof kind) and the MOOSE are coming. I have fewer problems because our 2 border collies mostly keep the wildlife away from our expensive perenials. Face it TomM, because we nutmeggers are all pansies and all we have are tennis racquets (rackets? I never get that right) and field hockey sticks, instead of .22s the wildlife are taking back the land. Maybe we can get some of those guys from rural Alabama to blast away at the Ct. wildlife, enough's enough. You don't want to see what a Moose would do to your SUV's BIG bumper on the Merritt Pkwy.

[Tom Maguire]

Bumper? I once saw a moose walking along the shoulder of 91 North in VT. It's possible I was exceeding the speed limit, but I realized that if the moose turned into the highway I had no credible plan - its legs were so long that the (very large) body would have easily cleared my hood and I would have had an irked moose for company in the driver's compartment.

Well, it didn't and I didn't.

[NK]

You are correct sir-- there was a Moose strike on I-84 at the NY-Ct border about a year ago. If I recall, the late model Audi (or whatever) was totalled (driver OK), Moose treated and released back into the Mass. wild. I give it until about 2013 when we have the first Merritt Pkwy moose strike between exit# 22-36.

[NK]

BTW-- what constitues 'speeding' on I-91 in Vt. 100+MPH?

[Tom Maguire]

Speeding is, hmm, I was recently stopped for going 76 on 91, which is a high-speed interstate. I had kids in the car so I was very respectful to the policeman until he asked me whether I had any contraband in the car, at which point I burst out laughing.

I was torn between asking him how often people say "yes" to that and telling him that despite what he may have heard, middle-aged guys driving mini-vans filled with kids don't actually lead all that exciting a life.

Despite the deplorable role-modeling I got off with a warning. My actual speed had been closer to 72, but I did have a broken tali-light.

[NK]

pulled over at 72MPH in a 65 zone? Ugh. why don't Vt cops spend their time chasing the Moose off the road.

[MarkO]

I suggest a Louisville Slugger. Maybe a 34.

[sbp]

In Colorado- the foxes are smarter, I guess. And I say this as the former owner of two cats and a third, he will never leave the house cat.

[Clarice]

I live in he city but deer wander around here and even eat my front door potted plants in winter, We regularly see opossum, raccoons, foxes --so adorable--and there are coyotes and even reports of a wolf or two. Any more greening and the entire country will revert to primeval forestland.

[NK]

TomM@9:19-- pulled over on I-91? PROFILED. Driving while boring dad.

[NK]

Clarice-- I am serious about wildlife taking back the land from Cape Ann Ma. to Manassas Va. because we Blue State weenies don't have anywhere near enough .22s to keep the wildlife at bay. Tennis Racquets and field hockey sticks won't get the job done.

[Porchlight]

Ah, I miss driving on the Merritt.

[Jane (Better a crate than a plate)]

I have that stuff going on outside my office window, daily. Fox enters yard, groundhog scatters, bunny runs for cover, squirrels frolic, birds sing, little dog chases fox, cat chases little dog. Repeat.

It's more fun when the foxes and ground hogs are newborns - it evens the playing field. When they scatter they go under a huge rock where apparently there are animal condominiums.

[NK]

TomM-- BenB jumps on the DUMP ON KRUG bandwagon, calling Herr Doktor Krugman's inflation advice 'reckless'. Is BenB sick and tired being a T- bond salesman (and CUSTOMER-- go figure) because of 'Bam's insane $5Trillion debt? sounds like it. The link:http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-25/bernanke-rejects-criticism-he-ignores-his-own-policy-advice.html

[DebinNC]

My dh has downed 3 deer over the years using only a Toyota Corolla.

[NK]

The Corolla stil runs after 3 deer strikes?

[Clarice]

MM, Japanese venison teriyaki.

[DebinNC]

No, two, but both ran afterwards. He wasn't playing "chicken" with them at the time, so the cars only received glancing blows but the deer weren't so lucky.

[Buford Gooch]

If you are missing a cat or two, blame coyotes, not foxes, unless you have The Big Bad Fox his ownself.

[narciso]

That's a Iran/Iraq situation, NK, you want them both to lose.

[NK]

OK-- the Ct whitetails are very well fed, so they are 4+ ft tall at the shoulder, and almost always over 200lbs. when deer and sedan meet at speed, usually both are totalled, and if the angle is bad, the deer winds up in the front seat with the driver. Driving 60MPH at twightlight and having 3-4 fullsized dear bound across the 2 lane park way just in front of you is a pucker inducing experience.

[NK]

Buford-- fair point about the coyotes. When coyotes came into TomM's town about 10 years ago, the "lost house cat/lapdog" posters started going up immediately. A chubby 12 lbs house cat-- Hmmmm-- that's good coyote eats. Foxes --I think-- take the squirrels and chipmunks.

[Clarice]

It's so bad here that in the near suburbs there's a truck that passes by daily to pick up the deer carcasses at the side of the road.

[NK]

OT- I guess one of the reasons I like North American natural gas production and expanded fracking is because it kicks both Obama and Putin in their arses. Link to a story about US nat gas exports hurting Putin's GazProm http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2012/04/25/north-american-shale-gas-gives-russia-serious-headache/

[DebinNC]

I woman is our small church in GA died when a deer leaped on the car she was driving and came through the windshield. I slow way down and am extremely cautious when driving in deer areas, so daddy's daily treks in bear country is beyond my comprehension.

[Donald]

My cat's living on that same edge.

She's old, no front claws and thinks she's a lioness.

I also got a big ole owl around here too.

[AliceH]

Was it Kevin Williamson(NRO) who lost his cat to a hawk? Whoever it was had just moved to FL, hawk spotted, cat missing. No witnesses to the actual abduction. Yikes.

[NK]

Deer Areas?-- the problem in Fairfield County Ct is that every road is deer area except for downtown Stamford and Bridgeport.

[Tom Maguire]

Just to be fair, not all the predation occurs outside.

When one of my daughters was about eight she was playing at a friend's house. The two young ladies decide to sneak into big bro's room and play with his hamster. Naturally they lose it, so then sneak back out. Ooops.

The brother eventually comes home and is furious, natch - she's out of control, you never discipline her, why can't we have rules, it's not fair... this goes on for days, and the hamster is unfound.

Until a few night later at dinner! The brother is in the midst of his latest denunciation about the missing hamster when an even older brother looks across the room and says, "Hey, there's the hamster right there!"

Mom looks up, dad looks up, little sis looks up, the brother looks up, the cat looks up, and... pounce - the hamster is gone. Ooops again.

My understanding is that dinner became even more tumultuous.

[jimmyk]

I'm sure daddy must be having a good chuckle about all the lower 48ers' encounters with wildlife.

[peter]

If your use of a Louisville slugger is anything like that of the Yankee offense against Texas, (and tomorrow they face Verlander) remain with the field hockey stick.

And I did not know there were moose in Connecticut.

[NK]

I will go out on a limb here-- in my experience, daughters are stone cold liars... by instinct, genetics, observational behavior, whatever. And furthermore, TomM's neighbors' son is right; daughters in darien are generally out of control and undisciplined and somehow skate by even when they get the hamster dead. This is true for my daughter as well... and I love my daughter very much, but facts are facts. Although I admit, because of a certain incident when she was about 5 yo, my now 19 yo daughter is very careful not to lie to her parents... she just keeps her mouth shut when we ask inconvenient questions.

[Threadkiller]

Daddy has a simple trick. Once all the wildlife enters his open garage, he then heads out for a walk.

[NK]

well at least A moose-- so far.

[Ignatz]

--I'm sure daddy must be having a good chuckle about all the lower 48ers' encounters with wildlife.--

Maybe, but the mountain lion laying on our woodpile just out the front door waiting for the neighbor's cat to come out one morning was plenty enough for me.

[AliceH]

re my 11:40 - I think it was Greg Pollowitz. Probably.

[DebinNC]

Ever had to battle wild critters who made it inside your house?

[Clarice]

I'm waiting for reports on wild boars out there. In provence, france they are so out of hand they come into gardens at night, rip up everything and then roll around in the mud, creating small ponds.They are nice to eat though, especially if they've uncovered and eaten some truffles before meeting their demise.

[Stephanie]

I left the front door open with only the glass storm door for protection one fine May day. Got up to go to the stairs to see what the Yorkie was all on about as he was barking furiously. There was a baby copperhead about 15 inches long heading up my stairs to the bedrooms. Grabbed a fork and stabbed that sucker behind the head and killed it. I left the fork with the snake on the front porch upright in a potted plant as a warning to all other snakes in the neighborhood to stay away. They have!

Who says medieval practices are outdated?

BTW, Clarice you might want to add pike stands to your inventory...

[Clarice]

Good point, Steph. You don't want those babies lying around on the ground and getting warped and you do need to keep them handy

[DebinNC]

Stephanie, a copperhead? Yikes! Using a fork was perfect, but, being too chicken, I'd have had to grab the shotgun and only if dh wasn't at home.

[peter]

Clarice, I've heard that wild boar are extremely dangerous animals. They'll kill you just for the fun of it. I've also heard that a testosterone filled young male moose will do the same. Happy to live here in the suburbs of Long Island, no poisonous snakes, no wildlife whatsoever, except raccoons.

[NK]

aren't there pine barren deer on the South fork?

[lyle]

I live in Idaho. Wildlife abounds for better or worse. Since the re-interduction of wolves into our state, the predation of domestic animals and livestock has skyrocketed. Thanks so much all you sooper smart government enviro-jackasses.

[lyle]

introduction

Although the first spelling does have a nice regional patois.

[Stephanie]

I was thinking of a stand as a way to prop up the pike to show off your booty as a warning to others.

Political snakes would probably act as copperheads around here have done and would take the hint. Or not. I've seen no evidence that they are as smart as snakes but there might be an outlier in the bunch.

[PDinDetroit]

Have had 2 incidents each with Black Bear and Massasauga Rattlesnakes here in MI.

The Massasauga Rattlesnakes are not much to worry about, nobody has died in 50 years from their bites. It did rattle me pretty good when momma, tending babies, rattled about 3 feet away.

One Black Bear "Mock Charged" me (150 lbs one), slamming both paws on the ground and making a sound I never want to hear again in my life. A 300+ Black Bear decided to "shadow me" along a trail for a few hundred yards once, could feel him sizing me up the whole time.

Now in the woods, I carry a Ruger GP100 (.357 Magnum) or a Ruger Redhawk (.44 Magnum) as I determine the need.

[OldTimer]

I view some humanoid predators as a more dangerous threat than most four-legged or reptilian critters..especially the ones currently in the WH.

First they came for ________, but I said nothing..
The Catholic bishops are speaking up and they're speaking for all of us:

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/04/michelle-obama-hails-anti-catholic-hhs-mandate-we-made-history/

[Rocco]

I hunted New Brunswick with a bow for Black Bear a few years ago. A huge sow with three cubs came in two days in a row. I'll never forget how hard my heart was pounding when that sow was sniffing around the base of the tree I was in. I really thought she was coming up the tree after me. I'll never do it again unless I have a handgun with me. Beauty is in the eye of the bowholder!

[peter]

Yes, NK, way too many deer on the east end of Long Island.

[daddy]

Don't let that Fox pee on you TM. If, like a Koala, he whizzed on you and gave you some sorta' venereal disease, who could we find to replace you?

[NK]

daddy- I don't see much risk of infection. I'm confident TM won't go after a fox in the woods without a full BioHazard suit and separate oxygen supply -- plus a field hockey stick.

[Tom Maguire]

...plus a field hockey stick.

That is carried by my back-up. I've got the camera (for history) and the cell phone (for 911) to worry about.

But if I get a venereal disease instead of some weird, fox-like super-powers a la Peter Parker, I will be deeply irked. Not that I intend to match up with Wolverine, but there must be something Foxman could do... run REALLY fast from dogs, act crazy, report the news for Murdoch, something.

[daddy]

Well thank goodness we've got the Government involved in dealing with our Moose problem up here. Paper today reports that The Alaska Moose Federation, a non-profit "rescue and relocation program" last year received $1.3 Million in State funding, yet did not move a single moose.

So having spent $1.3 Million last year to move zero moose, what did our State Legislature decide to do yesterday?

Why increase their budget to $1.5 Million this year of course!

Thank goodness money grows on trees up here.

[Dave (in MA)]

Last evening just after sundown there was a commotion above me as I was getting out of the car. I looked up and saw several turkeys attempting to roost about 30 or 40 feet up in the pines, and some crows taking exception to their presence. There must be a crow's nest nearby. Now I know why my parrot recently added a turkey gobble to her repertoire. She's been imitating crows for months already.

[daddy]

Anybody know how to enlarge this photo of TM?

[NK]

"...plus a field hockey stick.
That is carried by my back-up."

TomM-- I hope for your sake that 'back-up' is under 12 or over 60 -- remember that "I only have to run faster than you" punchline. Call 911?....hmm... is it wise to get on the DPD database? just sayin'

[Dave (in MA)]

"I'm callin' YOU ugly. I could stick your face in some dough, and make some gorilla cookies."

[NK]

DaveinMa-- the whole wild turkey roosting/sleeping on fence rails and in trees is incredibly disturbing IMO. Turkey dropping STDs?

[NK]

daddy-- does fox pee CURE that condition?

[Ignatz]

--But if I get a venereal disease instead of some weird..--

I would think rabies might be a somewhat more likely risk.

[daddy]

Hey,

I think TM's got a crimefighting sidekick.

[NK]

daddy-- strangely enough I've seen that sidekick at the darien YMCA (sans poodle), she benches 250lbs super-sets. impressive...

[Ignatz]

--DaveinMa-- the whole wild turkey roosting/sleeping on fence rails and in trees is incredibly disturbing IMO. Turkey dropping STDs?--

We've got about fifteen that launch off our driveway up into the big Sugar Pine behind our house every evening.
Come to think of it I had to go on antibiotics last week for what the doc said was a urinary tract infection. Hmmm.

[Sue]

rse,

I thought you might like to read this tribute to Sgt. Higgins from another one of our home grown warriors.

[daddy]

"does fox pee CURE that condition?"

NK,

I think that super power belongs to a different SuperHero.

[NK]

Ig-- don't be goin' under that Sugar Pine at night.

[NK]

OK Daddy-- gotta go, I openned that link, I think the Firm's server filter just self-destructed.

[Stephanie]

OK Daddy, that was just creapee...

[Sara]

When I was visiting my daughter at one of those Orlando area "gated communities," I opened her front door to leave for the day and was confronted by a 7' alligator not more than 2 feet away and looking less than happy. They hiss at you, you know. I was supposed to be meeting my daughter at her work for lunch and had to call and tell her I wouldn't be there. That damn alligator spent hours sitting in the breezeway outside her door.

One year in the late '80s I left Baltimore to drive to California and between Baltimore and Wyoming I counted 144 dead deer on the side of the highway. I've seen what happens to a car that hits a deer at high speed and figured at least 144 people had new cars that week.

I've had coyotes prowling in my driveway here in Calif., but the worst was a Blue Heron who swooped in and committed mass murder in my backyard. There was so much blood, you would have thought the Manson family had been there. All my Koi and two of my turtles gone from the pond.

[lyle]

We have a condo in Sun Valley, ID. The local paper reported that, two winters ago, eyewitnesses saw a wolfpack kill...a mountain lion. I honestly didn't think that was possible.

[jimmyk]

I've seen what happens to a car that hits a deer at high speed and figured at least 144 people had new cars that week.

Not just the cars, I know of cases where the drivers didn't survive either. Supposedly October and November is the high season for deer-car accidents, as it's mating season and the critters are on the move.

[NK]

"Not just the cars, I know of cases where the drivers didn't survive either."

Absolutely-- if the car catches the 250lbs deer at the wrong angle, the deer winds up through the windshield and in the driver's seat. Not good.

[Manuel Transmission]

We have enough baldies around here that any small pets are referred to as eagle snacks. A few years ago a local contractor had a pet banty rooster that he used in local cock fights. A neighbor saw an eagle swoop down and snag the rooster and fly off with it. Apparently some distance later the eagle dropped it and it fell into the water near a local dock. They fished it out and wrapped it in a towel and gave it back to the owner. That poor rooster was a wreak ever after. Was afraid of his own shadow. Needless to say he was retired from his fightin' days.

[lyle]

Gosh, MT, so many aspects of that anecdote seem like a metaphor. Obammy as the bantam rooster is what got me thinking...

[Sara]

Deer vs car

[NK]

No airbag? pick-up truck?

[lyle]

We were driving home just three weeks ago and witnessed this same thing to the van ahead of us. Ugh. Deer tried to jump (of course) and went right through the windshield.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Some friends drove across Alligator Alley in a Mustang II (brand new, so there's yer time stamp) and popped a deer in the dark. It pinned the doors into the body when it shifted the front bumper into the front quarter panels. Only the passenger window would go down after that, so all three of them had to use it to climb in and out of the car.

The other incident was a friend's father was killed when the deer went through the van windshield.

I give them a wide berth.

[They work, deer wonder instead of wandering in your way.]

Get deer whistles for your front bumper and keep 'em clean.
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[Melinda Romanoff]

kim-

Did you see the NOVA film I stuck up the other night?

[NK]

MeLR-- what is your GDP guess for tomorrow's announcement?

[cathyf]

No airbag? pick-up truck?

If the deer jumps, it will sail right over the airbag sensors in the bumper and come through the windshield.

A couple of years ago my G.S. co-leader was driving after dark and the deer just appeared out of the dark, and she had no time to react at all. It jumped, so the air bags didn't deploy. It hit the windshield on the driver's side and the wrapped around the car and smashed the side mirror through the driver's window and into her face. Fortunately all damage to her healed, and her daughter in the passenger seat got showered with broken glass but not cut. The car was totaled.

That's what happens when you build the 4-lane along a freaking creek...