Finding The Fox Den

Sunday was a foggy, dreary day. It would have been a good day to stay inside by a nice blazing fire while sipping hot tea and reading a good book. Or baking some nice calorie-laden oatmeal cookies and then eating them with a giant mug of hot chocolate with whipped cream on top while sitting by the blazing fire and reading a good book.

A strange phenomenon occurs when I see myself. When I look in the mirror I see a middle-aged woman who looks okay. A little on the plump side but okay. If I see a photograph of myself I am absolutely horrified. I see a ... nevermind. Suffice it to say I am horrified.

So on Sunday I chose to forgo the fireplace and the book and the goodies that went with them and I took the dogs for a walk out into the ponds. Neighbor Dean had said earlier that he found what he thought was the fox den. He told us where he found it and I decided I would try to find it too. Besides needing a little (lot) of exercise lately I seem to be sorely in need of blog fodder.

I put the dogs' collars on them, grabbed up their leashes in case we crossed paths with any other walkers, and of course the camera to record our trek.

Our focus was around the small clump of trees in the middle. There are two "islands", one behind the other here.

This picture is from the back side of those two "islands". When I walked around the first island (on the right, below) I found a little hole.

This hole is about eight inches around. At first I thought this was the fox hole. But upon further contemplation I figured this couldn't be it because the hole was too small for our fox. Also it was too easy to find. It was pretty much in the open.

Dean did say he found the den on the "second island" so I made my way over there. As you can see this island was a tangled mess of downed branches and undergrowth.

I may not have found the hole if it had not been for the dogs. They were sniffing all over and then concentrated on one area. It was really hard for me to get there.
I could barely see the hole and couldn't get to it from the front side.

I went around to the back and climbed over some logs and under some branches and through some brush and I got to a point within about 5 feet of the hole where I could actually see inside.
I managed to push just a little closer and then held my camera at arm's length and snapped a picture that actually turned out. This is as far into the den that I could see. The main opening was about 15 inches tall and a little wider at the base, getting a little smaller as it went deeper. It looks like it went about four feet in and then makes a turn.

On our way home I saw this "Jesus Fish" in the middle of the road, made by Mother Nature!

So my adventure was a success. We didn't see the fox, of course. I know he's still around because yesterday Dean killed a gopher and hung it on the fence out back. This morning his offering was gone.

If only the fox would concentrate on the gophers and not our chickens! ☺