OK, so I know that there are people who actually get up at 4 in the morning to go to work during the week. And there are even people who get up at 4 in the morning on weekends. But I'm usually sleeping soundly, deep in dreams, at 4 a.m. on any given day.
Not last night. Imagine waking to the ungodly sound of a fox, screaming its little mating call right under your window. It is a VERY loud sound, and you might even mistake it for a cat using up its ninth life. But, it's a fox. Making the sound only another fox in search of a mate could enjoy. It echoed through the quiet morning air. Heart pounding, I looked out of our second floor bedroom window to see if I could spot it. Couldn't. But it sounded SO CLOSE. So I stood at the top of the stairs, and it was even louder. I crept down the stairs (each step squeaking loudly) and peered out the window on the front door. The sound was coming from less than five feet away. That fox was on my front porch, which is a big wraparound porch six steps up. Making its God-awful sound. When I tried to peek through the front window at him, he saw the movement and ran down to the walkway below the porch, where he stayed a few moments, then, cheeky thing, he ran back up onto the front porch and started again. Eventually, I had to speak to my favorite husband, who wanted to go outside and suggest to the fox (with a shoe perhaps?) that he might want to take his love sickness elsewhere. When he heard my voice, the fox trotted away, and we didn't hear him again. He was a handsome fellow, very golden, and the size of a very large cat. By now, I was wide awake. I finally got to sleep around 5:00.
I wonder if Daily's heart was pounding? He'd been attacked by a couple of foxes in his early life before we got him. Survived both attacks. I'll bet he knew exactly what that sound was, and was glad to be safe inside. Imagine being a homeless person asleep in the park down below, waking to that sound. I think that's where the term "primal fear" comes from. Fortunately, it was not a wolf.
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3 comments:
Well, 1, there'd be a pack of Wolves; not a situation in which you want to find yourself. But just remember that eye-contact is actually essential should you end up meeting one in the wild. To not maintain eye-contact is like slapping someone in the face when they extend their hand.
2, Western settlers managed to kill all wolves on the eastern seaboard a LONG time ago; I think little Daily is safe. :D
3, and unrelated, it looks as though I'm going to be in the much-decried and now unaffiliated Kate Kennedy Club procession this year.
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/students/kkc/procession/index.html
-EO
Oh, also, PEOPLE KEEP GETTING MARRIED AROUND ME!
My wife and I had a similiar experience last night. We were woke up around 3 AM by what sounded like someone being murdered. Looking out the window, it was just a fox trying to woo aa female - which eventually showed up after about half an hour of the male yawlping his heart out.
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