Summer finally released the night skies from its hazy grip. The brightness is beautiful.
It is a relief to glimpse the winter stars again, to see Orion hanging over the chilled horizon at dawn and sunsets bleached pink by autumn’s erratic weather. But not everything accustomed to flight is actually up there. Take an aeroplane, for example. By which I mean: really take an aeroplane. Pick it up in your teeth and sneak it past a trailcam.
(Video below online – direct link for email readers.)
It’s a toy Spitfire I think, and so far I have failed to unearth either its original owner or the cache where the fox eventually grounded its stolen treasure. At least the aeroplane will have plenty of gardening gloves, golf balls and pilfered dog toys for company.
Admittedly, there is more to growing up than burglary. That change in the seasons has teased out of the young foxes a much thicker coat. Age has cost them most of their gangly teenage look. This is a new kind of fox, one primed for the winter.
All their inquisitiveness has written in their minds a rich map of the land: blackberries and wood mice, gaps under fences and corners for keeping watch.
All useful, practical things. But still with room to remember where the best toys can be found.
Leave a Reply