Twilight Scavenger

It was getting dark but the evening air remained hot and humid. The patio door of our house was open and so I slipped through without being noticed. After walking down to the fence at the very bottom of our garden, I decided to have a nose around.  Trixie, the neighbour’s cat was sprawled out on the roof of dad’s shed. She just yawned as I approached and sort of nodded in my direction. Trixie always took notice of my garden rules and so I let her use the shed roof from time to time. Well! I am a Lhasa Apso and always treat other creatures firmly but fairly.

Emerging from the bushes

“Poppy”. I heard mum calling me from the back door and so I barked a couple of times to let her know I was all right. However, I wasn’t entirely sure that I was. The reason for my concern was a strange noise coming from the bushes on our side of the garden fence. It was a rustling sound as if something was brushing against the branches. Mum called me again and started walking up the garden to join me. Just as she arrived at my side, a small animal emerged from the bushes. Mum stepped back in alarm but I am a Lhasa Apso! I stayed exactly where I was. The new creature was small and brown and white in colour. Surprisingly, it looked a bit like a very small dog except that it had sharply pointed ears and a very bushy tail.

Standing my ground

“Be careful, Poppy”. Mum called.”It’s a fox cub and it might be dangerous”. I looked back to see that mum had now retreated down the garden and was calling me from the back door. The little fox cub seemed rooted to the spot and just stared at me nervously. As far as I was concerned, there was no way that this little creature could harm me. To illustrate my point, it began to back away towards the safety of the bushes. I felt a little guilty about that. I mean,  I must have been a frightening sight for such a small creature. Suddenly, the fence started to shake and a loud barking noise filled the air. As I watched, a much bigger creature burst out of the undergrowth and stood in front of the cub defiantly.

The great retreat

“It’s a vixen!” said my dad as he made his way down the garden path. “She won’t attack you, Poppy. She is just protecting her cub”. My dad knew quite a lot of things about animals. I didn’t understand all of his words but I knew that I was safe. The vixen took a long look at us and then both animals vanished into the undergrowth. Our fence shook once more and then they were gone. I remember wondering how they managed to get in the garden in the first place because I can’t do it and I can jump really high. I looked over at Trixie, still sitting on the shed roof but she just yawned and turned away. Typical of a cat.

After all the excitement, my dad couldn’t stop talking about having a fox in the garden. He seemed to be really happy. Mum and I weren’t so impressed.