Wildlife Sighting on Glenview Road
Last night we decided to take a break from a living room painting project, politics, government bailouts, and waning 401K’s and headed over to Hackney’s for dinner, where forgettable meals somehow end up being very fun. One of our younger family members had a great deal of merriment mimicking the Dan Seals ad (the one that plays over and over and that I always think is a Mark Kirk ad when I start to see it), answering a number of questions with “You bet I do!”
We returned to Wilmette via Glenview Rd and guess what we saw? A beautiful fox crossed directly in front of our car right at the Glenview-Wilmette border where the train tracks used to be! We agreed that there was no doubt that it was a fox, as the headlights of an oncoming car illuminated it perfectly! It was sleek and healthy looking with a white tip on its tail and was moving north very quickly, as if on a mission.
I looked up some information on foxes and found that they can be very beneficial as they “displace predators such as coyotes.” I was happy to read that, as I received an email alert from the Wilmette police not long ago about a problem coyote. I also found a number of recordings of sounds that foxes make, which you might find interesting if you hear wild animals at night when the windows are open. I also learned that a fox may have a territory as large as 19 square miles.This fox may have been just passing through and we were very lucky to spot him. After a very aggrevating couple of weeks in the news, I took this a good sign, indeed.
We returned to Wilmette via Glenview Rd and guess what we saw? A beautiful fox crossed directly in front of our car right at the Glenview-Wilmette border where the train tracks used to be! We agreed that there was no doubt that it was a fox, as the headlights of an oncoming car illuminated it perfectly! It was sleek and healthy looking with a white tip on its tail and was moving north very quickly, as if on a mission.
I looked up some information on foxes and found that they can be very beneficial as they “displace predators such as coyotes.” I was happy to read that, as I received an email alert from the Wilmette police not long ago about a problem coyote. I also found a number of recordings of sounds that foxes make, which you might find interesting if you hear wild animals at night when the windows are open. I also learned that a fox may have a territory as large as 19 square miles.This fox may have been just passing through and we were very lucky to spot him. After a very aggrevating couple of weeks in the news, I took this a good sign, indeed.
4 Comments:
I saw 2 baby deer walking down Walnut Ave a couple of weeks ago. I, for one, welcome our animal overlords! ;-)
Do you think they live at Malinkrodt? I hope they made it safely home!
I really like the wildlife, too, even tho I must admit that a few years ago I had to evict 2 possums from a garbage can! Luckily, it was on wheels, and I just wheeled it over to the bushes and turned it on its side. The possums moved out.
I like to keep up with the wildlife, but I think we are going to see more cougars and eventually bears! I will try to occasionally share tips with how to live with the animals that share our neighborhoods. Luckily, its easy to share with deer, although one jumped into my car once up in Winnetka. I called the park rangers but it must have been okay, because they didn't find an injured deer. At first I thought I had hit the deer, but with a dent in my passenger side door, I realized that it hit me!
Publia,
I saw a fox run across Green Bay Road at Forest Avenue in Wilmette at about 9:15 Sunday night. I was the only one on the road, heading south when a good sized fox ran from the west side of the road across to the train tracks about fifteen yards in front of me.
I'll bet that is a different fox than I saw. I think they go north and south along the train tracks, and those train tracks don't meet up.
I do notice that our neighborhood rabbit population has declined, however . . .
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