A Red Fox’s Karma
Animal Story, Deep Ecology, Ethics & Whole Community, Foxes, Wellness & Spirtuality | April 2, 2010
We visited Feather the red fox today after the deep snow of the night. She was her usual lovely sweet mischievous self, fur full and glossy. We brought her some guests, as she always likes to greet everybody, her little 
inquisitive black nose sniffing, examining, assessing. They were enchanted by her sweetness, agility, curiosity; by her eagerness to meet them and visit with them.
She is an elderly fox now, with the feel of wisdom that many living creatures seem to gain with age. Jean went to a fur farm some 11 years ago and bought her as a little kit. (It always astounds me that you can go “buy” a wild animal.) That is eleven years of life given to her; eleven years of life for that dancing diminutive piece of vitality. One out of 800 foxes!
So many questions: a Buddhist who visited her wondered aloud – what was her karma that she was picked out of 800 foxes, to come here and have a life? I don’t know, but I do know that she has done a splendid job helping people see the magic of foxes; of balancing the fact that yes they sometimes do eat chickens and cats. That difficult balance we have to find between loving a predator that is part of our family, say a cat, and also loving a predator that is not so close to us emotionally, yet acknowledging their right to live too.
So it comes down to family and tribal loyalty versus the recognition that we are all part of something larger.
Earthfire’s Mission in Action by Pat Hager
We had visiting foxes for almost a year. They were so lovely, and to my surprise, not at all frightened of my presence. They visited day and night. Sometimes I was unaware of their presence as I was watering the landscape. My husband said they would walk right past me through the trees or shrubs. Eventually they becamse aware of my voice and I could talk to them in the yard or on the deck and they would not be frightened. I had a challenge to obey the ‘laws of nature’ and not try to befriend them, and that was very hard as they seemed so loveable. I really really wanted to pet them. They had gotten so comfortable with me in the yard that they would allow me to come and go into the house via the deck where I had cat food that they were eating. They knew my voice and knew I was not ever going to harm them. I loved it when they arched their tails and pranced… they were totally stunning creatures. I loved watching their faces as they nervously looked around for either food or preditators. I miss them. They were a gift. Thank you for all you do. Thank you.
Comment by Dorian — September 20, 2010 @ 4:08 pm