lurking in garden
photographer watches fox
— divided by hedge —
fox watches photographer
dog shut indoors for art’s sake
Share this:
Tanka #10
Skip to content
Sarah Potter Writes 
Fabulous – I really enjoyed this and the last line made me smile.
LikeLike
Thank you, dear Bunny 🙂
LikeLike
You have actual foxes in your garden?
How cool is that!!
When I moved into my house 12 years ago, I could still hear jackals moaning in the veld. Now, alas, they’ve all been chased away by the infernal humans!
LikeLike
That fox in the photo has had my garden as part of his territory ever since I’ve lived in the present house (for the last 10 years and probably before that). I think he’s very old. He used to be very deep red, but now he’s grey around his muzzle. When our old dog died and we were dogless for a while, he used to come and sunbathe in my flower bed in the afternoons. Also, some cubs started coming in to play sometimes.
The foxes round here have a good life. They enjoys the best of urban life, with bit of food left out for them by people, while also having the woods and South Downs nearby.
I also have an albino squirrel that comes into my garden sometimes, and a lesser spotted woodpecker. The animals are really quite tame, once they get used to you. The seagulls are a bit of a nuisance, though, especially when it’s nesting time–screeching, dive-bombing people, and walking across roofs in hobnail boots!
LikeLike
Lovely!
LikeLike
Thank you, Cindy:-)
LikeLike
The dog is the clever one in this tanka, right? a nice photo too
LikeLike
Yes, dog is super clever. Mr Fox sometimes baits her at night, though, by walking on the rockery outside the uncurtained kitchen window near her bed. She leaps on the table and lets out low, menacing growls at him. Once, he left a poo on the step outside the door that leads from the kitchen into the garden, just as a challenge!
LikeLike
Is this a picture taken near where you live? Like very much the poem, too…
LikeLike
Yes, Mr Fox was in my next door neighbour’s garden, having already strolled across mine, stopping for a nonchalent scratch in the middle of my lawn.
I’m glad you liked the poem. Thank you 🙂
LikeLike
We have lots of deer coming to taste our plants (almost every night), but I have never seen a fox in my yard. I’m sure they must be around though.
LikeLike
My mother has deer that visit her garden and help themselves to the food on the bird table. One afternoon while visiting there, I saw a doe with her fawn.
There are lots of foxes in the UK, especially since they banned fox-hunting. Even in the middle of towns, you see them, and, where we live in a residential area, they saunter along the pavements, sometimes in broad daylight.
LikeLike