Fox!

Every morning that I go to university, I leave the house at 6:35 AM to walk about one and a half miles over the hill to the bus stop to catch the first bus. I do this so I can be in the gym by 7:45 AM which allows me a workout of about 75 minutes before class. This activity in the morning is vital for me to keep my stress at a manageable level. I find that if I am sedentary, I have no energy, I get sick much more often and my stress rises. In short, I am happy to report while I have not seen a change in my weight, I have seen an improvement in my strength. I am a long way from the strength I had when I was 19 years old but I hope to regain much of what I have lost over the past 11 years.

To get to the point of this post, Terra and I live in a very urban setting some two miles from any amount of large green space. However, if you have ever been to England, you will know that the hedgerows are very dense. I have never seen quite this dense of vegetation anywhere I have visited. This vegetation is being used against me by a crafty little fox!

On three occasions, in my early morning sprint over the hill to catch the bus, I have come face to face with Mr. Fox! He likes to hide in the thick undergrowth and as I approach he will jump down right in front of me. He did this the first time in October. I thought it might have been a dog except for the tail and the fact I have never seen a dog jump from a standing position over a 5 foot wall with such ease. During the second week of November, from my desk, I saw him enter our back yard. We live one mile west of where I saw him in October. I quickly pointed him out to Terra and we watched him leap over our garden walls as if they were small hurdles. He prowled on top of the walls for about a minute before triggering a motion sensor light and darting off into the shadows.

Last week, he scared me as I have not been scared by an animal in my adult life. It was a particularly dark morning and I was rushing to make the bus loaded down with my laptop bag, my gym bag and my lunch bag. As I passed the thick overgrown hedges of Cotham Hill, no more than five feet in front of me he jumped into my path. He obviously had very little fear of me. He took one sniff and standing with all four paws on the ground elegantly bounded over a six foot wall into another hedge.

Evidently, Mr. Fox lives in our neighbourhood. I assume he lives off the garbage that is left out by the 45,000 residents of our neighbourhood. Due to the fact that hedges are so thick and most are unmaintained, he has many places to sleep the day way without being bothered.

Most English cities are surrounded by green space and Bristol is no different. I am amazed with the variety of wildlife that surrounds us even in a highly urbanized environment. This is in stark contrast to the lack of animals we saw in the Armenian highlands. It is nice to be able to see a bit more nature every day than I have been seeing.

If you decide to come visit and you are on a walk after dark near Cotham Hill, do not be surprised if Mr. Fox jumps out for a quick hello.