I think the family of red foxes may have come out of hibernation down by our auction warehouse on South Walnut Street. I checked in on the building several times during our rainy spell because of some roof issues we have and one day when I left, driving around the back of the warehouse and across the county property, I caught sight of a bushy red tail disappearing into the stacks of concrete chunks stored there.
I am not sure it is really time to come out of hibernation. This winter and spring have been so unusual. I am usually tipped off about the end of hibernation when the skunks start dying by the dozens on our roads. I have not noticed that phenomenon so much this year. However, the weather has been so nice one would think even the skunks could be fooled.
I am looking forward to seeing our red fox family again. They were fun to watch during the past summer and they got some nice fan mail after I wrote about the adult waiting on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe train to go by before he crossed the tracks one Monday morning. The most endearing thing about him was that after the train went on through, the fox looked both east and west before crossing. I found that astounding that he would know to look!
Anyway, I am glad to have them back. I hope maybe Janet Post, our chief photographer, can get some shots of them this year. Then we can share the family with all of our readers.
Sometimes there is not much going on in the fist-pounding world of opinion columns and we get to write about the nice surprises in our lives. I guess this is one of those weeks.
— SUSAN MARSHALL