(no subject)

[urocyon]

Can't sleep right now, because I was running my mouth (upon request, this time) and managed to get myself more upset than vatine. Gotta love those conversations which just leave you feeling like a total idiot, and a whiny one at that. Say what you want about cheap Lidl cider, even small quantities make an excellent sleep aid. :)

I popped out the front--with its two doors serving as a cat lock--a little while ago, and spotted the neighborhood fox again. It was trotting down the sidewalk on the other side of the street again, pausing to sniff at people's trash bags. I'd wondered what had ripped into a couple of ours before, since there just aren't a bunch of dogs running around loose here, then I spotted that fox doing just that. A few weeks ago, when Ingvar was in the States as it happened, it started turning into our front gate while I was at the door, then just trotted along to the next house when it spotted me. That's the closest I've been to a fox, so far. My first reaction upon seeing the thing is still, "It must be rabid, the way it's acting," improbable as that is in the U.K. The only ones I saw in Virginia were usually crossing the road in the middle of the night, well out in the country, and avoiding humans as much as possible. (Never saw the couple of rabid ones which wandered out of the woods and into the neighborhood when I was a kid, before I was herded inside--nor the rabid dog, for that matter.)

Edit (about 2:30): I just went to the door again, and the fox came even closer, just 10-15 feet in front of me! It decided to turn in the gate and follow the walk around to the back. Ha, we forgot to put out the bags for collection before heading for bed--didn't think there might be reason for gladness. ;)

On a related note, apparently people in the Roanoke (VA) area in particular are getting bitten by every sort of rabid animal imaginable lately. My mother was laughing about its being a shock, having actual Appalachian people trying to pet friendly-acting foxes (and everything else), but I guess a couple of generations in suburbia can do that. It's perhaps a bit less surprising after seeing a documentary on Fraser Island dingoes, with one resident complaining about tourists doing ridiculous things like crouching on all fours with biscuits in their mouths, trying to lure a dingo over for photos!

Comments

[reddragdiva]

The foxes around here are remarkably unafraid of people. They'll run away if you go toward them, but if you're more than six or seven metres away they'll just watch you go past.

[jhaelan.livejournal.com]

I recall seeing foxes near Old Street at 08:30 on a busy Monday morning; they 're becoming entirely suburbanised

[urocyon-c.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I realised there were the urbanised foxes here, but it's still pretty impressive seeing one up close. :)

[arkady.livejournal.com]

The foxes in the UK don't have rabies - in fact, no British animals do - but I'd still be wary of a bite from one; they're scavengers and their mouths are full of germs. To be honest you're far more at risk of picking up ringworm from one.

That said, I've been in touching distance of foxes before now; alas, the ones that patrol through my back garden won't comenear the house anymore because my cat keeps beating them up, but I've been "escorted" along the street quite often by a fox that was quite happy to trot beside me, practically touching my leg.

I've also handled an injured juvenile badger, but I really don't advise anyone else to attempt that!

[urocyon-c.livejournal.com]

Hmm, ringworm wasn't something I'd considered. Nasty bites, yes. One place where my mom worked, foxes and raccoons wandered into the canteen all the time, and bored people kept trying to play the "try to get $ANIMAL to eat out of my hand" game--more like the "how many fingers will I have left?" game, really. *shakes head*

Sounds like an impressive cat!

Hah, that sounds familiar. So far I've stuck to baby rabbits, squirrels, and birds, but would probably try to handle a badger if it needed help, inadvisable as it may be. :)