Running With Perseverance

Let me start by saying that I officially live in the city of Alexandria. My neighborhood is tucked between busy roads (two lanes in each direction, traffic lights at most intersections), and within a mile or so of several highways (the yellow lines on this Google map).

(Note to stalkers: I don’t live at the A, that’s just where Google pinned Alexandria)

(Or maybe I should say I do live at the A to throw any stalkers off?)

Apparently, the narrow strip of “woods” that border one edge our neighborhood is hospitable enough for a fox to make a home there. I first saw this fox a few weeks ago, when I was taking Tiger Lilly out for her o’dark-thirty morning walk. Tiger Lilly noticed it first–her behavior told me that we were not alone!

(The fox looks like this, our neighborhood does not have snow!)

I’ve seen the fox a few times since then. Usually it trots along the sidewalk on the other side of the street from us and then disappears behind a house, back into the woods. A few weeks ago it followed us for longer than usual, but still left us when we turned a corner.

This weekend was different. Tiger Lilly alerted to the fox at a place where the fox doesn’t usually follow us. I didn’t think it would keep following us further from the woods, so I encouraged Tiger Lilly to keep walking. The fox crossed over to our side of the street and kept approaching! Tiger Lilly barked, but that didn’t scare it away. I yelled a sharp “Hey!” and while it stopped, it didn’t retreat.

(The fox was stalking me like this.)

I was getting scared. I was about 1/2 mile from my house and knew I couldn’t out-run a fox. I looked for houses with lights on, but my neighborhood is pretty sleepy at o’dark-thirty on a weekend. I tried taking evasive tactics–zig-zagging back and forth to different sides of the street and walking/jogging/running while still trying to keep an eye on the fox.

I made it most of the way back to my street, but when I hit a dark corner of my neighborhood–a stretch a few houses long without street lights and no porch lights on–I couldn’t tell where the fox was and I was afraid to keep going. I saw the lights of someone opening their garage, ran over, and explained my predicament. The woman turned her porch lights on, but I still couldn’t see the fox. I decided that the lights and noise of her car might scare the fox away, so I just waited until she left. That seemed to work, and we made it the rest of the way home without seeing the fox again.

I really don’t know what to do about this fox. I called Animal Control, and the officer said that it is normal for a fox to “stalk” and to not be afraid of a dog on a leash. He said I should make noise, and suggested I use an air horn, but I’m not sure my neighbors would appreciate that in the pre-dawn hours. He also said that it’s very rare for a fox to attack a person, but that doesn’t give me much peace of mind.

I don’t feel safe walking Tiger Lilly in the dark knowing that fox is out there. I can rearrange my morning routine and do my workout before I walk Tiger Lilly, but there will come a time later this winter when I will need to walk Tiger Lilly in the dark in order to get to work on time.

Do you have any ideas?

Have you had any unwelcome encounters with wildlife?