Red Fox

My Fox Wasn't As Healthy as This Beauty

 
Last week I saw a  very lean red fox in front of my house, trotting down the road in that nervous way that fox have, alert for danger at every corner. The back side was scruffy so I'm keeping watch, hoping it isn't mange. I have yet to see it again but perhaps it'll be by. It had that deep rust red, with all the characteristic markers of fox -- black legs and feet, long face-- so it wasn't a small coyote. These Eastern Coyotes get pretty big.
   One night, I passed a neighbor's yard while walking the dog and saw in her tall pines two large owls, swooping down and hunting in the moonlight.
A feral cat has adopted my outdoor space. It comes for food routinely: 7 am and 6 pm. Sometimes I catch it playing in the yard, leaping after bugs and pouncing on a large round rock. It gives the rock a few back paw kicks while hugging it with its front legs and then runs off again. It has a clipped ear, the sign of a trapped and spayed/neutered feral. When it rolls on its back, I can see patches of white fur, other than that, it's all black. It looks like a halloween cat because its so long, so I've called it Boo. I wish it had a more distinguished name. I'm open to suggestions.

A Spicebush Special

• And this blue-tailed wonder is a spicebush baby, the Papilio Troilus or a "Spicebush Swallowtail." Last week I was a little concerned about my young spicebush that I planted in the fall (purchased at Nasami Farm in Whately, MA) because many of the leaves were eaten and the stems that reached closest to the sun were barren. Then I found a folded leaf and opening it very slowly and carefully, I spotted a large caterpillar with a very bright, greenish yellow body and a huge black eye that seemed to be staring at me (just nature's design intended to provide some defense for the juicy little being.). I closed the leaf as one would tuck a baby in a blanket and this morning I spotted this beautiful spicebush butterfly.