About a week or so ago, Michele heard a strange screaming. We looked outside just in time to see Precious Mae running up the stairs with another animal right behind her. Both animals ran under the deck and when Michele went outside to join the fray, a fox ran out from under the deck and disappeared into the wilds of our backyard. Now the fox has been back almost daily – almost always in the dark and at a time of the fox’s choosing – and we think its den is nearby.
All of us, including the fox, are fascinated, although Precious has been staying inside alot more than usual. A couple of days ago we heard the screaming again coming from under a table at the edge of the deck. Precious was backed into a corner and the fox was jumping up on the deck, screaming in a very un-canine way, and jumping down. Precious was silently watching. Michele grabbed her iPhone and sat at the edge of the deck in the dark where she took this short video.
In Virginia the cats seemed unfazed by a fox. They would sit on the fence and stick their tongues out. But the fox would chase them, maybe just for fun? Here in New H. people warn against foxes in regard to cats, but we have far nastier critters that definitely take cats … Coyotes, or more accurately cow-wolves or coy-dogs, plus fishers and Hawks. Maybe even owls. Depends on relative sizes. Yes, that is a horrendous scream.
Coy-wolves!
I understand they definitely prefer chickens!
Well, so do I.
The local animal control people said that foxes are mostly fluff. They might weigh 12-15 pounds, and my cats at that point were about 12 and 14.
When I saw the fox chasing Precious Mae up the stairs I was terrified for her. But then I looked on-line to see how often a fox kills a cat and what I read over and over was that in an interaction, the fox is the one that usually comes out the worst. She is bulkier than he is, the fox is a skinny thing so I am hoping for the best. She refuses to stay inside all the time. He is certainly afraid of her. One night, when she was blocking his way on the path he kept looking up to me on the deck as if to say “Hey lady, will you help me out here?” Then, with me watching, he gave her a wide berth and managed to run around her toward our front door. As if I would somehow protect him from her. How backwards is that?
Poor animal, must be confusing. I yell at him if he gets too close to Precious and then speak in soothing tones when she is safely inside.
The animal I wonder about is mountain lions. Do they kill cats or, as Steve says, do they give them professional courtesy?