Reynard visits Sisters

My days usually start out darn good. When you're past the "Big Eight-O" and make it through the night it has to be a good morning. But Kris Kristovich of Sisters has the wonderful habit of starting out my days just a little better, and last week his e-mail did it again.

"Morning, Jim, attached is a series of photos of what I think is a fox. I was out this AM, tip-toeing across my deck in bare feet looking for bluebirds when I saw this orange piece of plastic off to the left. As you know, I hate plastic, but then it moved...

"I thought it might be a cat, but it looked bigger than a cat so I went and got my 10X binox.... WOW! A fox! Back in, got the camera, and made adjustments on the run... And then some quick photos just as my wife walked over the side of the hill and got a quick glimpse of it."

Kris' wife Penny did get a quick glimpse of a fox, but not just any old fox - old Reynard himself, the infamous Red Fox, Vulpus vulpus.

Reynard, as most parents and children know, is the subject of many stories, songs, fables and parables. Its flashy good looks and its ability to live close to people, plus its well-developed senses of sight, smell and hearing have undoubtedly contributed to this notoriety. And one cannot ignore the fox's reputation for cunning and intelligence. Several well-known expressions come to mind that testify to the fox's wily and busy ways: "sly as a fox," "foxy," "outfoxed," "crazy as a fox" and "busier than a pregnant fox in a forest fire."

The red fox is common in most of North America, from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Florida and Mexico to Alaska, and is native to Kodiak Island. Aside from Alaska and the Northwest Territories, the rest of North America was filled up with red foxes imported from Europe in the early 1900s for fox farming operations. When the bottom dropped out of the fur market during the Great Depression, fox-farmers just turned their stock loose.

Coyotes and wolves went to work eliminating these wily competitors, but because a fox is foxy, enough have survived over the years to keep their numbers going.

Red foxes are members of the dog family, and their regular appearance is similar to dogs, wolves and coyotes, and they all have a common ancestor. The European red fox is the same species as the American red fox. There is also the so-called Silver Fox, a man-made mutant that was a hot fur item for several years. We also have our native Grey Fox, Urocyon cinereoargenteus, resident of the Cascades.

Archeologists discovered red fox bones in 6,000-year -old Native American sites in the Columbia River Gorge, evidence that they were once "native" to all of North America.

The red fox measures 22 to 32 inches nose to start of tail, the latter 14 inches to 16 inches long and once a hot item on the fur market. An adult fox weighs from six to 15 pounds, and the males, or "dogs," are usually heavier than the females, or "vixens."

In our part of the country, a pair of wild foxes will use a marmot den to raise babies - known as "kits" to some people, "cubs" to others. They also set up housekeeping in an abandoned badger den, coyote home or enlarged ground squirrel burrow.

In 1921, the New York Times reported The Fur Exchange in St. Louis, Missouri auctioned off over 11 million fur pelts for a total of around $10 million dollars. Among the furs were red fox skins that went for 25 cents each for small skins, and $4 for larger ones.

Today, you can buy a vintage silk-lined red fox fur collar for less than $20, or fox tails for $9.95 each, (the minimum quantity is three). If you really want to splurge, you can buy a cape made from several fox furs, complete with glass eyes for $45. On the other hand, you can go for a full-size red fox fur coat to the tune of $1,500.

Today, animal rights groups resist the killing of animals for their fur, sometimes conducting dramatic demonstrations to get their point across. Consequently, the desire to raise fur-bearing animals is at low ebb.

In that light, it makes one wonder about that red fox Kris observed wandering around the Sisters airport. Is it a relative of the original red foxes released in Central Oregon in the 1920s-30s? Did it migrate down from Canada or Alaska, or is it someone's "pet" that decided it would be happier on its own in the wild?

If anyone has the answer to those questions, I would be grateful hearing from you: [email protected]