I pulled forward, then began to back into my drive as is my habit. Trust me, you don't want to see me trying to hurriedly bug out at o'darkthirty in the morning. Especially not when my head is longing to return to visiting my pillow rather than clearly focusing on the rules of the road.
Out of the corner of my eye I thought I glimpsed the uniquely slinking gait of a fox scurrying across my street. He was coming from the West, heading East.
Of course I had to investigate.
I pulled into the neighbors drive. Yes, I could have walked, but I already had my 10K steps in (10,243 to be exact😏), so I decided to drive all of two houses down. When your mobility issues make you an easy target, you learn quickly to watch out for predators of all shapes and sizes. That's my rationalization, and I'm sticking to it.
Besides, the real reason is my feet and back were aching.
The fox was long gone--or at least hidden away in a great hidey-hole, so I returned home. Backing into my drive the second time, in the span of about a minute, I realized I was wrong about the fox.
Because a second young grey fox romped across my street, West to East as well, and headed for the neighboring cemetery.
I say it was a second fox; however, there is always the possibility it was the same fox--who was circling around the cul de sac and cemetery fence, as if playing Follow The Leader with itself. But as quickly as it occured, that scenario is highly unlikely. Even though foxs are known to be nimble and quick. So I'm going with second fox.
I've seen the neighborhood grey fox before. However, it was on the far side of the vacant field between my fenced backyard and a couple Main Street businesses. I've also spied an older fox downtown by the fire station and Nolan Creek. Both of the previous fox sightings were in the wee hours.
I've never seen fox this close to my house--or this early in the night.
While I feel perfectly safe from a fox family envasion I was glad Moggy met me, as I exited my SUV, without having to be called to go inside the house.
And I was especially glad that he came to me from a Southern direction.
Although Moggy is a senior cat (how can the time have flown by so quickly?!), and does not share my mobility issues, I didn't want to test his agility against a wild animal.
Even a wild animal who appeared to be playfully entertaining himself.
Wild is wild.