Thursday, May 3, 2012

3:30 A.M.

The sleep was still in my eyes... 3 A.M., the streets were dark, barren and void of life, at least so I thought. I made my way through the darkness, rolling along the desolate side street, headlights leading the way. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the yellowish gleam of eyes piercing the darkness. A cat I thought. As I was rolling along, almost beside her, I noticed the big ears and a bushy tail-the unmistakable characteristics of a fox! Amazed and gawking at this elusive creature, I couldn't hardly believe my eyes. I had only seen a few of them in wild.

I had just turned my attention to road before me when another critter suddenly appeared directly in front of my car. "Whoa!" I screamed, jerking the wheel violently to the left. Tires screeched and squealed. My heart was pounding as I rolled my Chevy to a stop. It was a baby fox! It was just a little smaller than a Chihuahua and twice as cute. I had never seen a baby fox before. I looked into my rear view mirror to see if I killed him. All I could see was darkness. Not wanting to let it rest, I turned the car around to survey the area.

There they were! Alive! Both the mama and her cub were standing on the sidewalk staring back at me. My camera! I remembered that I had my small camera in my dashboard compartment, just for situations like these. This could be a photo opportunity of a lifetime for me. As I was fumbling around for my camera in darkness, the sly pair started to trot off in the opposite direction. Damn! I slammed the car into reverse with wild abandon, the game was on! The hunter and the hunted. I had to get a photo. Foxes move fast, therefore I had split seconds to stop the car, roll down the window, focus the camera and snap a shot. By the time I stuck my camera out the window into the darkness, the foxes had slipped underneath a wooden fence and into the night.....

Wildlife photography is not as easy as it seems..

4 comments:

jedwis said...

Drew...that is one damn good story and very well written I must say. You've got some talent. I used to love watching the wildlife shows, especially the African ones, with the predators attacking their prey. Very cool.

Toad said...

Another good story. Lucky Drew.

OrbsCorbs said...

My cat will get into the cutest poses. When I get my camera, he stops.

Better luck next time, drew. Nice story. I've never seen an adult fox in the city, let alone a baby, but I'm told they are here.

drewzepmeister said...

Thanks!