Foxy Lady
This pretty lady was far too approachable.
Red Fox Vixen
She’s clearly gotten too many handouts from people and lost her healthy fear of them. The ear twitch captured here may be disapproval because she is getting photographed instead of a handout. On the other hand, her muzzle is pretty grey, so she may have adapted to her habituation, as it were.
When WC refused to feed her, she turned her obvious charms on the neighbors.
Maybe the nice lady?
And the neighbors were unable to resist.
Hmmm. Stale bread.
Not bad, but it could use a little butter, or perhaps a bit of chardonnay.
Just a bit dry
Habituation and food dependency rarely ends well for the animal. The association of food with humans usually results in the animal being a pest or worse. And animals that are pest are killed. The adorable looks is much less appealing when the wild animal pads into your kitchen, after tearing through the screen door. Or, in the case of Stony, the young male grizzly at Eielson Visitor Center in Denali National Park, who used to help the tourists eat their lunches back in the 1960s, when the bear takes your lunch whether you want him to do so or not.
So please don’t feed the critters. Let wild things be wild. Otherwise, they will be dead.
That is a foxy lady. Don’t be too harsh on her, a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. It’s a short life for those on the edge, as you note. I have to confess I’ve been bad. I left a box of discarded apples out for the ladies who stroll through the neighborhood this time of year trying to put a little weight on before winter. They were looking pretty lean and rose petals don’t really pack on the pounds. They looked at me the other day as if to say, what is up with you people, you quit watering the grass a month ago and all that tender green stuff is gone, how far into town do we have to go, as they headed down the hill to Main Street. As long as they don’t run in packs, don’t bite me, don’t have a cougar trailing them too closely and don’t get into it with the herd of turkeys that walk up the middle of the street like a parade of Pilgrims, I’m happy to live with the little dears. No telling what the future will bring, and it’s already here anyway.
grkwillariwren
September 29, 2012 at 5:09 pm