The Fox and My Hound
A playful musing
We have a family of foxes that live near the river behind our house. These past few mornings, we have gotten to interact with this curious and lovely animal. This morning, the playful fox barked at my dog Wiggles as we walked along the levee trail. The fox seemed to be trying to lead us away from its den and its children. We could see the tiny pup foxes in the murky morning light at the forest edge.
My dog Wiggles is practically a wild beast, even though she is a domesticated dog, she has a deep carnal impulse that pulls her into rash decisions whether its aggressively chasing a squirrel or rabbit, or darting excitedly towards another dog. It can be difficult to tell whether she’s curious or aggressive. I’ve seen her chase down a squirrel and crush its tiny body once before and she caught a bunny once too, but when I yelled “Drop It”, she politely dropped the hare and let it hop away. She’s rarely caught anything, yet she engages in this wild chase quite often. I guess I allow it, but frankly I can’t control these impulses of hers. No matter how much discipline I provide, she can’t seem to help her deep urge to chase and pounce.
On our morning walk, the fox was most likely the more intelligent creature. I say this because we watched the fox knowingly interact with Wiggles and it seemed to anticipate all her movements. In the dawn light, the fox’s bark coming from its mouth was a profound thing to see.
We left the levee and continued on our morning romp. As we turned towards our home, we witnessed a breathtaking sight. The fox was “playing tag” with the neighbor dog! It was a playful game. One would give chase and the other would give chase and it was a fun match. No aggression, no sound, just two animals engaged in play. A wild fox and domesticated dog!
Then, my “tame” dog saw this and gave a hard chase. It’s hard to tell with Wiggles…she ran with a purpose and what was that purpose? Is she going to catch the fox? Does she want to kill it? Smell it? It’s so hard to tell.
The neighbor dog and the fox had something beautiful worked out. They seemed to have a pact. Wiggles on the other hand was a wildcard. You can’t be sure what you’re going to get. This was disappointing to me, but it wasn’t a surprise. We wish for our pets to have knowledge and restraint and we long for wild animals to keep their safe distance for their safety and ours. The two beings are now overlapping. What do we want their interactions to look like?
I want to watch in awe and in wonder as they play and live out long and peaceful lives in harmony. Maybe wild animals only want what we want: To have fun, to eat good food, to be with family, to feel safe. One of my greatest desires is for that to be reality. The animals of earth can feel safe.
