Foxes, Hawks, and Squirrels

Last night, in the darkest hour before the dawn, out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement outside the Hub window. I turned in time to see a Grey Fox scamper by. Quickly going outside, I saw that there were two of them. They didn't stick around long enough for me to get a good photo, and in seconds I was staring at the empty space where they had been standing. I followed them around the corner of a cabin and into the dark beyond. They had already crossed the long driveway at the edge of camp, and I could hear their footsteps as they crunched through leaves down the slope leading down to the meadow. I you look closely at the picture below, you can see the vague shape of one of the foxes at the corner of the fence by the cabin. I guess they don't like paparazzi. This is the first time I've seen foxes in the middle of camp.

Soon afterward, the sun rose.

Later, at home, Penelope the chicken started bucking up a storm. We noticed that all of the chickens were huddled on the right side of the yard, and none of them came running to the door to get snacks. I soon spotted the cause: a Cooper's Hawk, probably the same one that has been dining on doves, was perched on a wire nearby.

A squirrel crouched nearby, finishing something that looked suspiciously like one of our avocados. He dropped it soon after, and started toward the hawk.

The hawk, either full of dove or shocked to see its prey calmly approaching, elected to leave the wire...

...and find a new place to perch.

The squirrel eventually made it to the next pole. The hawk eventually left the area. Kind of anticlimactic, but fortunate for the squirrel.

Now, I'm back at work for the last night of the week. It has been another relatively easy week, with fewer than 70 kids in attendance and good cabin leaders. There was a tiny bit of rain a couple of nights ago, just enough to get the ground wet.