Eyes of a Fox

   There is nothing more enjoyable after a long hard work week than to have a late lie in under the duvet on a Saturday morning.  Now, I do not make €200 an hour like Brendan Drumm (CEO of Irish Health Service) or €6,000 a week like Brian Cowen (Prime Minister); but, what I do earn I work hard for, and I look forward to not hearing that dreadful alarm clock buzzing so early in the morning.

   So it was with great dismay that I had to hear the thumping and banging going on outside my bedroom window too early on a grey misty morning this weekend.  When I parted the curtains and rubbed my eyes a bit I could see a row ensuing on the ground among three jackdaws.  These are black scavenger birds a lot like crows and rooks yet smaller.  Two of them were beating the beans out of the third and it was causing an almighty uproar.  It wasn't the first time I have seen such fights in the last few weeks, the politicians and press might tell us that it is gang or drug related; but, there is really no telling what fowl crime this lad had committed.

   Because they are smaller than crows and rooks these jackdaws, like us, will often fight amongst themselves as they have a fair chance of winning.  And, like us they will cease and desist in the presence of a common and more dangerous enemy, which is exactly what happened when a fox walked into the picture.

   The birds flew onto the flat roofed extension and were still within view as the fox nosed around and tried to act casual in the hopes that the loser would fall off the roof and she could claim her prize.  It wasn't to be.

   The vixen was magnificient, a classic example of a wild Red Fox with rusty red fur, a few black and white markings, a big fat tail and tiny feet.  She loped around outside the bedroom window for nearly five minutes as the birds were continuing the punishment beating above her, she was as light on her feet as a cat.  But the most remarkable thing about this animal was her eyes.  They were a sparkling bright golden amber colour and almost hyptnotic in their flourescence.  I would imagine that any wild rabbit or field mouse who meets the stare of this creature would have a bowel releasing experience on the spot. 

   The birds flew off with no casualties and the fox drifted away with no breakfast and I was glad the racket caused by the jackdaws got me out of the pillow palace in time to see such a great creature within a few feet, close enough to see her eyes and live to tell about it.