The Front Porch

I was sleeping as sound as a baby when suddenly, at about three o’clock in the morning, I was awaken by a barking dog.  My big dog, Buttons, lives in the back yard and has a very distinguished and deep “Woof” that will sound different at times, depending on what he is barking at.  When a stranger comes, he barks a loud and distinctive, “WOOOF…WOOF…WOF.” But when friends come to visit, he barks a happy, “WO…WO…WO…WO.”  When the local skunk visits and eats the dog food, Buttons sits nearby (while the skunk ignores him) and his woof is high-pitched, as if he was crying as a child would, “He’s eating my foot!!  Stop him!!!  Get away, you pig!!!”

But the dog I heard in the night was different.  It sounded just like a little Yorkie dog was sitting on my front porch barking to come in!  Such a tiny little sound coming from a tiny dog!  Way out here where I live so far from everyone, how could a little dog end up on my front porch?  So I got up, went to the front door and flipped on the porch light. 

I saw my big cat, Alex, sitting next to his food bowl (full of crunchy tidbits) with his nose nearly touching the long pointed nose of a full grown fox.  The porch light never bothered either one of the adversaries.  Next to the fox, on the cushion of a lawn chair, lay three more of my cats, languidly lifting their heads to discover why the light was turned on.  Meanwhile, the fox continued to yip-yip-yip!  The cats lazily surveyed the area, and then closed their eyes again, stretching a bit to be more comfy. 

Alex glanced around and yawned widely, before he turned back to the sharp nose of the fox.  Meanwhile there was only one thing on that little fox’s mind – the food bowl!  He continued to bark his little Yorkie bark while Alex ignored him and never budged from his spot.  

I made a noise at the window and, with one look at me, the fox disappeared.  Alex yawned again and walked away from the bowl, before laying down for a nap.

As I continued to survey my front porch, I decided that the fox wasn’t a new visitor to the food bowl, because my cats seemed to completely accept him as a family member.  It reminded me of their reaction to the skunks, who not only visited the back yard dog bowl, but made a regular sojourn to the front porch food bowl as well, with the cats cautiously moving away from the pointy little tails.

I’ve been told that foxes and coyotes kill cats and small dogs.  Since I live so far out in the country, I’ve seen many wild animals and wondered if that accounted for a few of my missing cats. But I had to see, to believe, a big tom cat bully a big fox!

Wild animals are simply hungry and since my food bowls sit on their territory, they believe I put it there for them.  So we must share.  I don’t begrudge their presence around my home and delight whenever I catch a glimpse of one of the beautiful creatures.  If only some of my distant neighbors and other ignorant people felt the same way. When they see a wild animal, they almost salivate to get their hands on a gun to kill it.

All my baby skunks (who grew big on dog food) have disappeared and the calls of the coyotes are more distant as traps for their furs push them away (believe it or not!  Who wears coyote furs?).  One of the saddest things I ever saw was on a bitter, cold winter day, early one morning, a coyote was crossing the field behind my house.  He had traveled far for a drink of water and was returning, limping along as best he could on three legs, having lost a leg to a trap.

I missed some sleep last night but I’m grateful for the creatures, wild and tame, who surround my home and make my life richer for having crossed their paths with mine.  I pray they are safe and sound wherever they abide.

©2012 Linda Gatewood