IT WAS as surreal a moment as I've ever experienced in my suburban front yard.
Looking out the front door a little before midnight last week, noting the soft focus of a full moon through some thin clouds, I was struck by how the odd lighting made the yard come alive.
Only when it moved slightly did I notice the slight, stealthy gray fox in the middle of the yard.
It was fun to watch the wiry animal aglow in the moonlight.
Things quickly got more surreal.
Two blurs near the bushes became visible--babies.
The young, called kits, began suckling from the mother.
I'd seen this fox one time before, and had dealt with my concern that if it was hanging this close to humans, it might be rabid.
But I'd been relieved to see the fox scamper off quickly when we took note of her. And she looked clean, healthy and in control.
I was still cautious enough not to get close to the fox. But I also was concerned for the animal's welfare, knowing it--like many locally--was probably dealing with loss of habitat.
As I watched, the fox and her kits eventually ran off toward a neighbor's house, where a run-in with a dog sent the mom and young scooting in different directions.
I'm curious now about where the foxes live, and am concerned about whether they can coexist in a neighborhood where cars come and go, and where the opportunity exists for trouble between pets and the foxes.
As someone who grew up in the country, I feel a little guilty that these foxes and other animals like them are forced to live in suburbia.
As we tear down more and more natural areas to make room for subdivisions and shopping centers, animal habitat is shrinking.
I don't blame builders, governments or folks like me who simply need a place to live. But somehow, we're all responsible for doing what we can to help maintain habitat for wildlife.
In 20-plus years in our city subdivision, we've had amazing wildlife sightings.
We've seen possums, snakes, moles, voles, a goat, deer, squirrels, groundhogs, a chipmunk, a red-tailed hawk, a cooper's hawk and birds ranging from woodpeckers to doves to cedar waxwings.
And now, these foxes, which on a subsequent night got into a wailing tangle with a neighborhood cat.
I was thinking about all this on the way out of the neighborhood the next morning when I was greeted with another nature moment.
Near a retaining pond at a nearby fire station, I spotted a mother duck and four ducklings.
Fed by a neighbor, the ducks are a regular presence there and aren't really savvy about avoiding cars--in fact I often see them sitting in the middle of the road.
It's a shame this family and others don't live in places where they don't have to worry about traffic.
I hope we can be good neighbors to them all.
Rob Hedelt: 540/374-5415
Email: rhedelt@freelancestar.com