Vulpine Visitor

When I woke up and looked out the window this morning I was delighted to see a fox right in the front yard. We see a lot of wildlife around the house but this is only the second time I can recall seeing a fox. Last time it was just a glimpse of one trotting across the marsh, but this morning I really got watch a show. She was carefully walking around the field, pressing her feet against the snow as she went. Then she would pause, pounce up, and dive head first into the snow, with her bushy tail waving in the air like a flag. A couple of times I could see her gulping down a vole or something as her head popped back up out the snow. Obviously the photo isn't that great, but I was taking it with my phone through the window while being careful not to scare her away. Amazingly she left almost no discernible tracks anywhere, even when examining the ground up close right where she had left a hole from sticking her head in. There were only a couple of places along the edge of the road where some softer snow had drifted up a little deeper where a few tracks could be made out. Quite the dainty creature.

What I really like about the extra is how the thin shadows from the grasses sticking up stretch out across the snow. It's a beautiful effect and I think the photo managed to capture the feel of it. We're supposed to get quite a bit more snow over the next week and I say bring it on.