An Astro Story

A mile from our home, excavators are clearing the land to expand a rental home development. As the trees are pushed over, deer and red foxes are forced into our neighborhood. We’ve lived on Red Fox Trail for twenty years and never seen so many foxes, but we probably should have. Those you see on nature shows are beautiful and the talking ones in animated movies are witty. The foxes traipsing through our yard are neither.

‍

A new groundhog has moved into the woods beside our house now. I never knew groundhogs could climb trees until Astro proved it to me. He spotted the furry creature, raced across our backyard, and chased him up an oak tree. There the groundhog clung, shivering, until I took Astro inside. I’ve not seen our new neighbor since.

‍

Most afternoons, Astro and I love to sit on the deck and enjoy the sunshine. He also loves to chase any animal he sees. He doesn’t bother with squirrels, though, since he’s learned he can’t catch them. He chases deer deep into the forest until he’s exhausted. He chases the foxes down into the creek which flows toward the nearby highway. I follow behind him, whistling and calling his name because Astro doesn’t understand traffic is dangerous. (He trots into the middle of the cul-de-sac when any truck enters it.)

‍

Our last visit from a displaced fox was one of the more stressful ones. Astro spotted it, ran down the stairs and began his bah-roo, bah-roo beagle barking . The fox actually turned and ran toward Astro before his own instincts kicked in. He decided it might be smarter to jump into the bushes and undergrowth and lead my dog on a race he can’t win. Astro was thrilled. I was not.

‍

After a few minutes of canine ecstasy, he came running back to me, but he knew he was in trouble. He skirted around me and climbed the hill back to our yard and on to the deck. He wanted in the house to drain his water bowl; then he went looking for Margaret’s protection.

‍

He has a bright orange collar Margaret bought him because he’s done this before. It has an AirTag in it. It won’t keep him from leaving the yard, but it will help us find him if he doesn’t come home. He hates wearing it as much as I suppose those dogs forced to wear the vet’s “cone of shame” hate that. And, so, I don’t put it on him and risk another adventure chasing my dog who’s chasing a fox.

‍

I could fence the backyard and avoid all this excitement and agitation. A simpler, cheaper solution is to build a gate for the deck at the top of the stairs. I like that idea. I can even use the extra aluminum balusters we have from when we replaced the deck.

‍

Yeah, let’s go with a new gate. I’ll get my tape measure and sketch it out.

‍