A Fox Sighting
the origin of little fox
A Fox Sighting
It was around 7:30 and the sun was beginning to set. Our lanai has groupings of plants to provide a modicum of privacy, and anyone or thing that approaches makes a loud rustling sound when it gets close enough. At first we thought it was a opossum, with its long repulsive snout, but even in the diffused light this critter wasn’t ugly enough. What it turned out to be was a small, red fox. Was it looking for a drink in our pool? Did it want to eat our cat for dinner? I think there was more chance of it being the entrée considering our cat weighed 17 pounds.
That we didn’t scream, and kept our voices soft and non-threatening, the fox hung around long enough for me to determine it wasn’t rabid, but simply curious. There’s a family of them on Hole #1 in St. Johns Golf and Country Club. There are signs warning interaction and prohibitions to feeding. But despite attempts to keep the foxes in their natural state, they have become quite domesticated. The visitations increased, and within a few months, they became regular. However, construction in our neighborhood increased as well, and the preserve adjacent to the fox den soon became a street, replete with homes, inhabitants, and an amazing number of vehicles.
The sightings stopped, and the worrying began. Where did they go? Were they killed in construction or poisoned by a frightened homeowner? Did the county trap them and relocate them elsewhere. Perhaps I’ll never find out, but the beauty of that fox, and the sense of my Virginia homestead never left me.
I started Little Fox Realty in February 2006. There’s been no contact with the Sierra Club as yet, but I do think about the beauty of North St. Johns County and how it has thus far made a place for all creatures. I have seen deer running up the third fairway. I barely caught a massive turtle eating everything he could and trying to hide in the process, and had to get help to get him back into the lake…he was so large. The herons remain as mesmerizing today as they were the day I moved here. The hawks, the alligators, even the snakes have an attraction and beauty.
The concept of the PUD (planned unit development) with its green space and vistas makes not only a comfortable, convenient, and commodious way to live, but it makes room for those who were here first.
Little Fox Realty can show you around, as they say. We know the area, the developers and their products, and if you ask us, we’ll tell you where some foxes are. www.littlefoxrealty.com. Please visit.
2006-08-10 21:50:45
