We were in a stand off, the fox and I. He had darted out from a small stand of trees in the neighbor’s yard, angling to cross the street and enter the woods beyond. I was in his way.

For a few seconds we took each others measure. I saw a sleek animal with perky ears and a bushy tail. He saw a long-legged creature with wires coming out of her ears. Neither of us was going anywhere.

I thought about my initial few fox sightings in this neighborhood, maybe half a dozen in the first 10 years. Now I spot a fox every few weeks. And last month, on one of the first warm days of spring, I saw a den of baby foxes a few feet off the Cross County Trail. They were sunning themselves on a rock, clambering over a tree trunk and batting at each other in a most fetching way.

Will foxes soon be as common as deer?  I hope not. I hope they stay elusive and cunning, playful and bold.  I hope they stay wild — for at least a little while longer.


(The baby foxes are in the center of this photo; you have to zoom in.)