Saturday night Zeke and the fox met. I heard Zeke barking out on the front walk, so I went out to investigate. The fox was in the driveway eating cat food. I shouted at the fox (I’m assuming it’s a female), but she ignored me. So I opened the gate to chase her away. The fox still ignored me. Before I could do anything Zeke pushed out around me and took off after the fox. This the fox did not ignore. The fox ran down the drive and into the woods with Zeke not far behind. As the fox ran across the road it seemed to get a little more distance between her and Zeke. There was absolutely no point in trying to do anything, so I went back inside. I told Leah that if the fox was not faster than Zeke, Zeke was going to catch it and kill it.

I pictured two possible outcomes. One, Zeke would end up a couple of miles away on the road at the base of the mountain, covered in mud and with his tongue hanging out. The other was that I would find him in the woods with his face covered in blood. I went into the woods down in the direction they had run, which is in the general area where I think the fox couple may have had a den in the past. I stood and listened for a while, but heard nothing. I called Zeke and clapped my hands. Still nothing.

So I turned around to go back home. As I got to the entrance to the driveway, I saw the fox right back where it started, looking for more cat food. Zeke was nowhere to be seen. The fox ran away from me, but in more of a trot than a gallop. I think it knows about my bad knees. A little while later when I took Lucy out for a short walk, I saw Zeke in a neighbor’s yard. He seemed a little abashed.

So I was wrong about the outcome of the chase. I had only considered that the fox would be either faster than Zeke, and thus escape, or be slower than him, and thus be eaten. I left out the possibility that Zeke might just be outfoxed.

Perhaps not as smart as he looks