I had just settled into my favorite chair on the screened porch, Ivy sniffing at the floor. I looked out onto my rear-facing driveway and the access road beyond it. The morning was quiet aside from the early-rising birds. It was then that I saw a fox walk down the drive from the road, and continue past our driveway. It was hidden behind our neighbor’s hedge when Ivy suddenly stopped, no doubt catching the fox’s scent. I stood and approached the screen—Ivy at my side. We focused our attention hoping for a closer look at the fox, when it retreated from the hedge and entered our drive. It looked about, nose-to-the-ground near the sage, clematis, hosta, and bird bath.
It glanced up and caught us staring. It looked disheveled, its white and reddish coat in need of a brush. The face, long and narrow; the prominent tail, orange and fluffy. After several moments, it turned in the direction of the road. It appeared to be heading toward a neighbor’s home—the one with the five cats that freely roam the neighborhood snatching birds from friendly feeders. Instead, it turned and suddenly, from behind it, an orange animal, low to the ground, scurried in pursuit. I wondered why a cat would be following a fox. It wasn’t until they were both out of sight that I realized the orange fluff was a kit. And, that momma, undoubtedly, had been searching for it.