Red Fox Suprise Visit

One humid morning, as I was hiking and exploring some off beaten trail in Arcadia, I stepped from the dense forest trees and into a jungle like parking lot that was overgrown with weeds and small trees. The anxious signal call of a blue jay drew my attention and as I entered the small clearing I noticed a small flock of birds chatting away in a small bush to my left. But immediately in front of me, stalking close to the ground was a red fox that now stared at and stalked me. 

It was ridiculously close at around ten feet. In most cases this red fox should have quickly turned and bounded away into the dark forest but it suddenly took three or four steps directly towards me as if to attack. I backed up, raised my hands and yelled as loudly as I could. I was not in the mood to be attacked by a sick red fox and wait in line to get some life-saving rabies shots. My yelling and odd behavior worked and it turned and disappeared quickly into the summer woods. The last thing I remember seeing as it scampered off was a fuzzy white tip on the end of its reddish furry tail.

Since that time I usually have seen foxes at dawn or dusk while I am in my car. So it was a complete treat to have a red fox trot through my yard and spend five minutes rolling around and scratching itself in the afternoon sun. I grabbed my camera, hushed the kids and had them watch through the kitchen window as I took as many pictures as I could. The general rule is that it is bad sign to see a fox during the daylight hours because it may indicate that they are rabid. But this fox was keen on scratching itself, rolling around in some dust pit and marking its territory with urine near the hulking oak in the far back of the yard.

After this red fox scurried away, I placed a trail camera in my backyard to see if I could get a night time picture. Instead of the red fox coming back for an encore, two gray foxes stole the show. Gray foxes are a bit more secretive and are excellent tree climbers. They also have a black tip on their tail and do not have the “black boots” on their feet that red foxes have. I learned that red and gray foxes do not have territories that overlap but a few years ago, my trail camera caught both foxes exploring a trail on the same night.

The trail camera pictures show both flash and infrared images of the gray foxes. The infrared images do not show color but the advantage is the lack of a flash which can spook nocturnal animals. If it was not for this recent camera technology, I would have to rely on chance and luck to observe the behavior of wildlife in the back yard.

 I enjoyed seeing both the red and gray foxes, but overall, the serendipitous observations of the red fox with family members will always be more memorable than observations made with technology.

Flash camera was in use for this gray fox picture.

Shooting Stars and Satellites

“There is going to be a show tonight!” This is what I used to think when I was younger and the sunset promised a clear, dark night time sky. Watching the night time sky is not unlike wildlife viewing. You never know what you are going to see. Sometimes it turns out to be a dud, other times a once in a lifetime event occurs.

Persieds

Even though the peak of the Persied meteor shower has passed, there is still a good chance to see one of the greatest misnomers ever created. A shooting star. If a star really grazed our atmosphere we all would be in big trouble. Shooting stars are really bits of rock, sand and dust that burn due to our atmosphere’s friction against the object. It may even be space junk burning up above our heads. A while ago Taco Bell tried to capitalize on this. An archaic Russian satellite was projected to enter our atmosphere and burn as it was being drawn in by Earth’s gravity. Taco Bell placed a bulls eye in the ocean and advertised that everyone would get a free taco if the satellite hit the bulls eye. It missed, but I remember that Taco Bell took out an insurance policy to cover its expenses if it really happened. Talk about good advertising. Hope that doesn’t catch on though. I would like to think about life, stars and far away galaxies when I gaze upon the sky. Not a free taco.

Within the next few days, if you look northwest and if the sky is dark you may see one of the brighter Persied meteors. This year the Persied’s were projected to be a dud because the light from the full moon prevents you from seeing the fainter meteors. But to me, it’s still worth to look because the moon is not bright enough to prevent you from seeing the brighter meteors or even a fireball.

Hearing a Meteor

Technology is amazing. If it is cloudy out and you still want to be a part of the action, I recommend using http://spaceweatherradio.com/ . The US Air Force's Space Surveillance Radar captures the ghostly “ping” of a meteor as it is burned in our atmosphere. I have to admit that the white noise can grate on your nerves, so I would rather use my sense of sight than my sense of hearing. But it is worth a try.

Satellites


When I was younger I thought the faint dots crossing silently over my head were high flying planes or even U.F.O’s. Now I know that I was seeing a human made satellite. And if you want to know exactly what is being seen orbiting the Earth, this site can tell you. http://spaceweather.com/flybys/. According to this site, at 9:06 pm tonight, if you look southwest you will see one of the brightest objects in the sky besides our sun and moon. The ISS or International Space Station. This spacecraft looks like a constantly moving, luminous point of light gliding across the sky.  These sightings along with meteors and summer constellations make me connect back to when I was a bit younger when I looked forward to a full night of star gazing. Before the Internet, video games and 4000 different channels on television, there was always going to be a good show if twilight led to a dark, star filled sky. 

The above picture is a Persied meteor as seen from the Space Station! Thanks to astronaut Ron Goran for taking this picture. I personally like our atmosphere. It looks tenuous and fragile in this picture and we should treat it as such. 

Alligators in Rhode Island

Maybe I should be calm about this. Maybe I should pretend I live in Florida. But I’m a little trepid about an alligator living in Rhode Island. In reality I know it is not a big deal. I’m not going to be eaten alive by a three foot alligator. But if I step into a muddy river or venture to Carr’s Pond, I really don’t want to worry about an alligator taking a nip at me.

I don’t know what would be more upsetting; injury from an exotic animal or the wait to see a doctor in the emergency room. It’s the latter. But I digress.

Last week a three foot long alligator was seen in Providence. It was in the Woonasquatucket River near Atwells Avenue. Someone said that this alligator snapped at them. The Department of Environmental Management said that they will not trap it and will just leave it alone because it cannot survive the freezing winters in Rhode Island. They also stated that people need a permit for exotic animals. With that said, here is the simple solution to people setting their exotic pets free and freaking me out as a result.

The Solution

When someone applies to have a permit for an exotic animal such as an alligator, the DEM inserts a GPS and ID number somewhere inside the animal. Where do they get the money to purchase this technology? They raise the permit fees to pay for this. This will be expensive but not for me. Exotic pets call for exotic and excessive permit fees. If this was done, they could use the GPS technology to find the alligator, catch it and fine the irresponsible pet owner who let it go.

In addition anyone who has an exotic pet, especially a pet that can inflict damage on you, should be required by law to let the neighbors know that they have this animal. If my neighbor had a mountain lion as a pet, I would think twice about letting my kids play outside without my hawk like eyes watching their every move. Awareness that your neighbors have an exotic pet would make us safer. And if we see a mountain lion in our backyard we can help expedite the process for getting them home by calling the neighbors instead of 911.  So there is your two pronged solution to the irresponsible pet owner issue.

Don’t think that your neighbor might have a mountain lion as a pet?  Remember Narla? Narla was a mountain lion that lived in Chepachet since 1996. Big Cat Rescue rescued Narla in January, 2010 because the owner of the cat could not take care of her anymore. At least this is a good example of a pet owner not letting their exotic pet into the vast wilderness of Rhode Island and freaking me out.