The little crippled fox has been eating cat food in the driveway for some time now. It was looking pretty scruffy, so on Monday we gave in and have started putting dog food out in a bowl a little distance from where the outside cats eat. We thought the fox ate the food Monday night, but it was too late and too dark to be sure. Tonight we got confirmation.

The fox eats

But I didn’t get a shot of the really good part. Before this, Leah’s cat Zoe was chasing the fox around in the driveway. From the kitchen window Zoe looked almost as large as the fox. The fox was definitely trying to stay away from Zoe, but it didn’t look like she took it too seriously. She certainly wasn’t going to leave the food.

One of our neighbors told us tonight that her critter cam has caught this fox and one kit recently. She said her husband has seen more than one kit, but that was some time ago. The critter cam has also caught a coyote within the last couple of months, so it’s possible the one kit is the only survivor.

She also told us her camera has caught Zeke a couple of times when he has gotten loose.

I noticed that the fox was putting its bad foot on the ground tonight when it stood or sat. It still holds it up when it moves. The injury is more than a month old, so I don’t know whether it means anything positive or not.

We were on our way back from eating a quick supper in town and saw a turtle in the middle of the inbound lane of Huffaker Road. He was not moving. This is the second time in the last two weeks we have had to move a turtle off the road. This one was about a half mile from the previous one. It was definitely a different turtle, because it was significantly bigger. If I spread my fingers as wide as I could, I could barely pick him up with one hand.

… and stay out!

I didn’t want to take a picture while he was in the middle of the road; Huffaker is not a busy road, but people tend to drive at a good pace. So I waited till I put him down in the grass, and then, of course, I couldn’t get a good shot of anything but his shell. I wish I could have taken a picture of his front feet, because the claws looked to be particularly long and thin.

Neither of the turtles was moving when we found them. They were both partially retracted into their shells, and didn’t react much when I picked them up. I have no idea what they’re doing just sitting in the road. I would guess they were attracted by the heat of the pavement, but I’m not sure why since the days have been so warm.

It was raining on Sunday when I took the dogs out for their last walk of the day. It was around 10 pm, and dark on the downhill side of the house, despite the floodlights on the corners. Fortunately, Zeke alerted again and I didn’t step on this fellow.

Salamander? Newt?

I think it’s either a salamander or a newt, but I don’t know enough about them to determine which. It was about five inches long. At first I thought it was a huge slug because I couldn’t see the legs. I have never seen one of these anywhere near our house. I’m not sure where he spends his days, or hides out during dry weather. Zeke also has not seen one of these, so he had to bark at him to let him know who was boss.

Of course I didn’t have my camera with me, but the salamander/newt stayed close to where I first saw him long enough for me to get the dog back inside and go back out with a camera.  I shined the flashlight on him and took a bunch of photos, but this was the only one that was even close to in focus. It was so dark I couldn’t see him in the finder without using the flashlight. That’s what happens sometimes with the point-and-shoot, but I didn’t want to take our SLR out in the rain. That was a good decision, because I managed to drop the camera.

I don’t usually use the flashlight when I walk the dogs through this area because it’s fairly easy walking, but now I’m going to have to use it to avoid stepping on this fellow or any of his friends.

Dogs have a thing for peanut butter.

Lucy with her Lucy-sized peanut butter bong

Zeke and his Zeke-sized peanut butter bong

We make them work for it. It’s messy work, but they seem to like it. It’s pretty much the only work they do, except for barking at foxes.

Of course dogs like a lot of things. Like chicken, fish, hamburger, bacon, steak, steak fat, baked potatoes, french fries, bread, apples, not oranges, not to mention treats made specifically for dogs. And they like ice cream. A lot. And it turns out that they like marshmallows a lot, too. We found that out when Leah bought a bag of giant marshmallows — each one is a meal! The dogs gather around with an expectant, imploring look, which is usually enough for me to pull a little bit of mallow out of my mouth and give it to them.

But cats and marshmallows? Never.

Smokey tries a marshmallow

Well, OK, maybe one little taste. With Zeke watching and hoping that he doesn’t like it.

Actually, he didn’t like it all that much. More for me and the dogs!