Lessons in (Wild)Life

It was not a typical morning. The dogs wanted out the back door instead of the usual front door. My husband was still home before going to work, even though he’d typically be gone by then. And I needed to go out on the back deck to check on something, and I never go out on the deck in the morning. I would be sipping coffee on the couch watching the morning news or Way Too Early since my husband got me addicted to the program. But, instead, this morning, I was leaning over the rail of the deck and talking with my husband when we both saw something move on the drain ledge of the pool. It was a small shelf on the pool wall under the skimmer basket, and something with a pointy nose was moving. I thought it was a racoon, but a racoon is too big to fit in that space. My mind went to: possum. But as we approached, we realized it was a drenched baby fox. I raced into rescue mode. We tried the pool skimmer, but it was too narrow and weak. The poor baby couldn’t get in. I went and got a small, round table between the loungers and inverted it, converting it into a makeshift basket. But it was deep, and the fox was afraid to get in it. So, I went to find something flat and sturdy. In that time, the fox started swimming out of the hole, and I quickly scooped it up in the “basket.” I lowered the drenched little thing onto the pool deck. She was weak and shivering. We rounded up towels and carried her to our garage, where she slept for an hour while we tried to get a hold of a wildlife rehabilitator. The rehabilitator called us back and was willing to help our little fox. So, I carefully lifted the fox bundle with now-dried, fluffy orange tufts of fur into the cat crate. She rode peacefully and quite contentedly in our back seat to the rehabilitator’s. The rehabilitator was a skilled, warm, kind woman. She took care of our fox, and two days later, she called to say the little fox was doing well, and she’d like to release him in our back yard. Me, the ever-worried mama, wondered if the baby fox could survive on its own or find its way back to its mama. The next day, I was looking out the slider window, and I saw the mama fox sitting on the hillside – with our little fox!! They played and kissed and romped around and over each other for a good 20 minutes! I have never actually cried happy tears, and suddenly, my cheeks were drenched. It was like a sign from God that he was going to take care of this little fox and his mama, and he’d let me see that. I was elated … almost as much as the next day when I saw the mama and baby fox again, but this time, the baby fox was tumbling over his sibling!!! Now, I have two little babies to watch grow up in the woods behind our back yard! Throughout this week of wonderment, I found a new spirit animal – a brave, strong, fierce little fighter – our little baby fox. And I will carry her spirit into my next cancer battle if this cancer does come back.