I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve jealously watched Springwatch as some lucky sod spoke about the foxes they could watch through their patio doors. They saw them regularly, they’d say, and when the cubs came out in Spring they’d watch them playing on the lawn. I’d listen with an increasingly green complexion, in awe of how fortunate they were. Foxes weren’t a feature of any of the back gardens I’ve frequented over the years, and the last place I lived in didn’t even have one- so it looked that the fulfilment of a fox garden dream was still going to be a long way off.
And then, last Friday, I became one of those lucky sods. I was in the kitchen, playing a podcast, when a casual glance out the window revealed an orange pile of fur in the long grass. I just about remembered to take the chilli off the heat before scrambling upstairs to get my camera and stumbling back into the kitchen, but this fox had decided to stay a while- so long that I finally managed to breathe again- and I couldn’t believe my luck as I watched him/her curl up in one of the last remaining sunny patches.
He/she (I’m not good enough at foxes to be able to say if it was a male of female, juvenile or adult) stayed for a good 20 minutes, snoozing and grooming. But if there was a moment that made me catch my breath, it was when he/she trained those big amber eyes on the window. I have no idea whether they could actually see through it – they probably would have seen something approximating this emoji 😱 – but its a memory that’ll stay with me for a long time. Fox, you’re welcome back any time. Lucky sods club- it’s wonderful to finally join.
