Fox

Recently I was jogging with Zoe the Dog, as I do most mornings before work...

I'll get back to the story in a minute, but first some background. I am usually up early enough so that it is still dark outside, so I usually wear a headlamp for our jogs. This habit stems from the time Zoe and I almost ran directly into a gigantic sewer rat on the path behind the sketchy hotel we lived in in College Park for 2 months when we first moved to Maryland.

So far in the town we live in I have had much more pleasant encounters with wildlife than during our time at College Park. Many mornings I see a large gathering of deer on the path along the lake near our house that I run by. We also often see rabbits, ducks, and geese. One time we came back from church to see a bald eagle standing on the frozen pond right by our house. We also have owls that hang out in the tree in our yard (Zoe does not like this). And, one day while Zoe and I were playing frisbee a fox ran right in between the two of us.

I use to see foxes all the time when we lived in Colorado, including a gray fox that lived near our house, which as it turns out is quite a rare animal. Any time I have ever encountered a fox they have been very timid and have completely left me and Zoe the Dog alone. This is why what happened the other day was a bit frightening...

Back to the story. So I was about 1/4 mile from our house when I heard one of the most terrifying noises ever. It sounded like a child screaming. Click here to hear the what I heard (NOTE: put headphones on and turn the volume up to get the full effect!). I quickly reasoned in my head that it had to be some kind of animal, and so continued running towards our house.


I thought that whatever had made that noise had stayed behind, until I heard it again. I turned around to see a fox following us along the path (thanks to my headlamp!). Due to my past interactions with foxes my immediate thought was that this thing must be rabid. My dog has had a rabies shot, I have not. I then sprinted towards our house and got both of us in the front door as fast as possible. The crazy fox followed us all the way to our yard on the side of our house. Even after we went inside it just stood their repeatedly making that crazy screaming noise.

According to the website where I got that noise clip, that sound is their territorial response. Thankfully I have not heard that sound again, but it is also kind of nice to live in a place where crazy foxes are the only thing to worry about rather than mountain lions and bears (though I have told Becky numerous times that I could defend myself against a mountain lion - and yes I realize this makes me sound like Dwight Schrute - and no I don't really believe this).

_