Big Cats and Foxes

I've been having some weird fox things happen to me this past week. I'm starting to be a little concerned about this.

Eyes in the Night -

This has happened to me twice. I let Penny outside in the backyard to do her business. I wait a few minutes, then open the door to look for her. Our yard is not fenced. It goes from grass to woods, and the neighbors on one side are only separated from us by a line of shrub-like trees. I mostly have to monitor Penny outside because of my neighbors constant need to put bread out in the middle of their yard. This is for the birds. Penny thinks it is for her. And since dachshunds are the type of dog that will eat until they explode, she has to be monitored. Anyway, back to the eyes. I open the door to get her back in the house. She's not anywhere in my sight. Darn. Get the flashlight. Since the woods are at the back of the yard, it is pitch black out there. I can see out about 20ft or so, then darkness. I call Penny and shine the light out there. Suddenly, I see 2 eyeballs in the light at the edge of the woods. Oh good, there she is. She starts running towards me. As she moves forward, I realize I am STILL seeing eyeballs back there at the edge of the woods. Wait. Penny is running across the yard, I can see that it is her as she nears. What the heck is that back there in the woods?! Cat or fox? I don't know. That was the first episode.

Second episode happened last week. Same thing, I shine the flashlight out there looking for Penny hopefully somewhere in the yard. I see her eyeballs. 'Come on, Penny!' I yell. She starts running towards me. Suddenly, rustle rustle near the bush 10ft from the door. Out pops. . .Penny! Huh?! Penny is running towards me down the yard. . .isn't she? No. She's here by the house. Then WHAT is that animal out there?! It gets closer but it's so dark out I still can't make out what it is. Suddenly, it dives for the neighbors shrub line and disappears. I could make out something red like and in the size realm of a cat or fox. Hmmm.

Jumanji Revisited -

Have you seen the movie 'Jumanji'? One of my favorite scenes is when the aunt is stopped in her car and this whole line of stampeding animals goes by then the rhino comes by about 5 seconds later and she is just watching it run by. The look on her face as she turns her head from left to right both times just cracks me up.

The other night I was cutting through a residential area in my car on the way home. It's late. It's dark. Not a soul around or even any cars. It's just quiet houses and me. I come to a T type of stop and have to go left or right. As I look left, I see this dog trotting down the sidewalk across the road from me. He's all alone. Just mildly trotting down the sidewalk. I sit and watch for a second to make sure he isn't going to cross the street in front of me. He doesn't. He just continues down the sidewalk like he's out for some nightly stroll around the neighborhood. As I watch him go from left to right, I see as he gets in my headlights that he is not a dog. He is a fox. This is my Jumanji moment. Just sitting watching this fox trot down the sidewalk in front of me as he never leaves the sidewalk and just continues down it until he is out of sight.

Back to the backyard. Cats. We have a number of cats who think they own this yard. They walk through. They sit in the grass. They hang out under the trees. They stare at the bird feeders. They are annoying. What they don't do is run. These cats are HUGE. Big old tomcats. A white one, a black one, a browny one. All big and all not scared of anything. Penny tries to chase them once in a while. They just hold their ground. Not scared. Not worried that a 30lb brown slow moving torpedo is heading right at them. I think they only move because Penny is making so much noise that it hurts their ears. (People two roads over can probably hear Penny barking. They make up for their size with their voice. Come to think of it, I've met a fair amount of short people who fit that description too.)

So, I'm now on the hunt for finding out what exactly is in the woods. Cat or fox? I was hoping it was something exciting like a badger. But I'm sure it is probably just one of those big cats wandering around at night like they do. Mr. TeamKing has a good laugh ever time he sees me grab the flashlight like some psychotic housewife looking for intruders. Oh well, glad I entertain someone.