Thursday, January 14, 2021

Moomin on a Leash


I took this photo on one of my sunny walks with Olga several weeks ago. Doesn't it look like I have a miniature hippopotamus on a leash? Or maybe a Moomin.

We're now in the middle of another cold, gray, rainy period. In fact as I write I hear the pattering raindrops on the windows. Olga is showing no sign of wanting to go for a walk.

I had a nightmare last night that three more issues of The New Yorker arrived ALL AT ONCE! I don't know why I have such magazine anxiety. Or am I transferring generalized anxiety about the state of the world? Hmmmm...



Here are more video clips from our garden cam, showing mostly our neighborhood foxes, including another clip of two of them together. You'll also see a few special guests. About midway through, when the fox is eating something, that's a bit of chicken I put out from Dave's uneaten chicken shwarma sandwich a few nights ago. You'll see the fox carry the plastic tray to a more private spot behind the bush, and then pounce on it as if it's prey. Pretty funny!

You'll also hear Olga jump against the side of the garden shed. I think she smells the foxes in that corner and they get her a bit riled up.

35 comments:

  1. Your garden camera is wonderful. Looks like the fox was pretty sure that the tray may have another secret sandwich in there somewhere. Clever foxes!
    Looking forward to long shadows again...will this ever end? I wonder ever year at this time.

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    1. That fox definitely did all it could to find every scrap of chicken!

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  2. I still marvel at what you find, and what you feed, in your backyard. So glad you've got that camera. I enjoy these videos. And I love that shadow photo of you and the hippo.

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    1. We try not to feed them much -- we don't want to attract vermin. But yeah, on a rare occasion they seem to appreciate it.

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  3. Foxes are not too keen on the remnants of chicken shwarma sandwiches. They prefer cans of dog food. As for the Moomin on the lead, there appears to be a circus performer on stilts at the other end of the lead. I was going to say "clown" but that may have caused offence.

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    1. On the contrary, haven't you heard about foxes in the henhouse? They LOVE chicken. And look how you managed to say clown without quite saying it.

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  4. Those two foxes looked like they were posing happily for a moment there and then all of the sudden that was over.

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    1. Yeah, one of them seemed not too keen on the "togetherness."

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  5. Your foxes with their night-glowy eyes! I love them. I'm sure that Olga does smell them. Has she seen one? Does she have an image to go with the smell, I wonder?
    The sun has finally come out here and it is a joy.
    You and I are so much alike in some ways. I swear- I woke up this morning remembering that I got yet another NY'er in the mail yesterday and I felt a wave of despair. But there's so much good writing and information in each issue that I can't possibly not try to read them all. The article I was reading last night before I went to sleep was about people who try to leave the Hasidic community and it reminded me so very much of people who try to leave the Mormon church. Don't ever let anyone tell you that religions are not cults.

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    1. Every once in a while when we let her out into the garden she streaks to the back wall, and we hear a fox scampering away. So she chases them but she's never come close to one as far as I know. They're VERY fast.

      I read that article about the breakaway Hasidic jews. Fascinating! I just read Lawrence Wright's huge article about the coronavirus. Guess that will be a book sometime soon!

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  6. Love watching those foxes in your yard. They very much appreciate the chicken you so thoughtfully put out for them. Yum, they said, yum and thank you.

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  7. I loved the little video. I wonder if the foxes can hear the camera click on. Sometimes it looks like they are looking right at it. I loved seeing that bird pass through. It's a good thing you had the link for Moomin. I had no idea what that was.

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    1. It makes a very, very soft click when it activates, so yeah, I think they hear it.

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  8. we have possums and it's the same with Minnie. she can smell them and is always checking out the places where they come and go from under the house. we've been having some nice sunny days, cold, our coldest yet, but sunny.

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    1. You should get a garden cam and make possum videos!

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  9. The foxes are busy in your garden probably because you make them so welcome by putting out food for them. That camera is entertaining!

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    1. I've only put out food three times in the last several months -- I don't want to do it TOO much. I think they like our garden because it's quite brushy in the back and there's lots of cover for slinking around.

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  10. Hi Steve...
    I like watching the fox. They are so fluffy looking and pretty. I never knew them to come that close to a house. I've only seen them growing up in the country crossing the road.
    I've been hiding from politics because the last I heard the idiot was still threatening Joe. He said if they do the amendment 25 they would make it bad for Joe. I've been avoiding the news. Hopefully things get better.
    I was reading on Ms. Edna blog that Pogo(her little dog) died. My sister and I both was sad. I have his photo on my console and a folder full of Pogo photos on my desk top.

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    1. Oh no! I'm sorry to hear about Miss Edna's dog. I'll leave her a comment.

      The foxes in our part of London look pretty healthy, but in some neighborhoods they're quite scraggly. I think we have a lot of woods around here so there's more space for them.

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  11. A Moomin - that was new to me. And yes the foxes are fascinating.

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    1. Yeah, I'd never heard of the Moomins before I moved to England. They're quite a thing here.

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  12. Fox, Steve is watching you!

    I sometimes think about the differences between animals and humans. Rather than dwelling on the more unsavoury (human) traits let me stick to just one distinction. There we are, Gordon Ramsay, Dave and I cooking up a storm when an animal will just make do with whatever it finds. Talk about pot luck.

    U

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    1. Yeah, they're not choosy! It's all about survival, after all, not pleasure.

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  13. I love your fox cam! They're so clever & cute.

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    1. I like them too. I'm so glad we have them here.

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  14. We just don't realise how busy our quiet gardens are!

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    1. That's exactly why we got the camera -- we wanted to know what was going on out there at night!

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  15. I see your point about the hippo shadow cast by a very low sun. The fox scent must fascinate Olga.

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  16. Foxes in London? My sister, who lives in suburban Boston, has woods behind her house where she has set up a mini camera and films all sorts of wildlife.

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    1. There are TONS of foxes in London. We don't have raccoons or possums here and I think they're basically the UK equivalent.

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  17. Hello, Foxes. Allow me to introduce Miss Olga. You'll get along famously. You and your hippo look good together.

    Love,
    Janie

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    1. Ha! I doubt they'd get along -- although I have seen videos on YouTube of foxes and dogs playing together, so it does happen!

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  18. Moomin' On A Leash - Love Those Shadow People - Seriously, Really Have Enjoy The Correspondence With You Guys And Olga Girl Over The Years - Your Random iPhone Shots Are A Hoot And Also Entertaining - As Always, Hide An Uncle T Treat Under Olga Girls Pink Blanket For Me - Be Well - Stay Strong - And Thanx Again

    Cheers

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