Fox Trot

I'm not really afraid of anything. Big Sis always says that I'm the one that goes off into the dark, even though I can plainly hear the scary music (ie...every scary movie ever made). I always answer with, "Yep, but I'm wearing hiking boots instead of stilettos, and I'm carrying a machete."

Shortly after we bought our place here in the deep, dark woods, we were working on the house after dark one night. It was one of those nights with no moon, where the dark seems to devour any light that comes its way.

I heard this strange noise in the distance, so I went outside to listen. I heard it clearly once I was outside. I had no idea what it was. I crept to the edge of the house to try to see what was making that sound. Then I heard it again, unbelievably close to me, as if whatever made the odd noise moved at the speed of light. Needless to say, I showed my chicken side and ran back into the house with a loud, "What the hell was that?!" So much for my tough chick routine.

After a lot of time digging around online, I found the sound. A fox. I never knew they did anything but yip and look cute.

Then, just last week, I heard a noise outside and thought something had somehow gotten into the henhouse. About halfway to the coop, I realize the noise is coming from down in the woods, near the fox den (we have at least three on our property). I did check on the chickens to make sure they were snug and safe, just in case, but I was pretty sure it was just a fox, carrying on a loud argument (at a safe distance) with the neighborhood dogs (which were barking like mad). Here's a cool youtube link I found, with video and sound. The sound we hear most often around here is the one at the beginning of the video (Vixen Barking).

This time I wasn't freaked out by the noise. I knew it wasn't a brain eating zombie or anal probing alien, so I wasn't too worried. I've learned a lot of things, living here in the woods, that I never would've known if I'd stayed in the city. Identifying fox calls is just one of them. ;)