Update on The Adventures of Jeremy the Fox

You kind of have to search for him. Jeremy. He is the much loved fox at Towl Park. There is a group of about ten of us who have kept this little guy alive since he first appeared stumbling around the parking lot in May. Back then, he was a tiny little thing, obviously an orphan. He had a bad case of mange and you could see his ribs. He also had no fear of humans and was an unabashed beggar.

We all tried everything to get him help. Called The Humane Society. Wildlife Rescue and Rehab. Nothing worked. They all either said that they couldn't find him or that he was elusive. We all knew this was ludicrous. Jeremy was not overly friendly, he never let himself be touched, but he would come to within a foot of humans and was a common friend to all the fishermen and women, who would throw him fish that were too small to keep. With a little patience, he could have been easily caught.

I grew to love Jeremy. He was the perfect pet for someone like me. I would sit on my bench at the water's edge and, if it wasn't crowded, he would show up and sit down contentedly next to me, his paws crossed one over the other. He never once made eye contact with me but we sat for an hour or two, enjoying each other's company. I always brought him one raw egg and some carrots, which he heartily enjoyed. It was the closest that I have ever been to a red fox and I found his beauty almost intoxicating. He was a lovely red furred boy with black feet and black tips on his ears. His face was wreathed on either side with white stripes.

I thought a lot about him as we sat side by side after he had enjoyed his treat of an egg and carrots. He was aloof, didn't want eye contact. But something about him seemed so admirable. He was small for his age, but wily. He had to be to have stayed alive. His fur was unkempt. His patches of mange worried me, especially after I did research and discovered that many foxes died of it. T and I  and our small group of Jeremy lovers looked into a homeopathic treatment for it. T ordered it from England and we began putting it in his feeding place: a small log about twenty feet into the woods. T and our friend, Padric had begun to bring him food. T brought eggs and sandwiches of peanut butter and honey at night. Padric brought him sardines in the morning. T and Padric began to spread the mange treatment on his food. Jeremy waited a short way up the hill and would respond to T's whistle when she brought his dinner at night. He would then wind his way down the hill and once T had set down the food and walked away, he would come and eat. Padric said that he did the same thing every morning.

After a month, Jeremy's mange was completely gone. His bright red fur shone like silk. No patches. He was unbearably beautiful.

It is now getting cold. Jeremy is no longer a baby fox. He is full grown. He is still very small and still a little skinny, but he is alive. He must have a den because he looks healthy.

The fishermen and women report that while Jeremy still enjoys a fish now and then, that he doesn't venture nearly as close as he used to. When I sit on my bench, Jeremy no longer comes to eat his egg and carrots while I am sitting on the bench. If I set them down and go back to my car and sit and wait, I will see him come and eat his treat. But, he has no interest in wiling away the days with his old lady friend anymore.

Age has made him wiser. Humans are no longer of much interest to him, except to provide food.

I don't blame him. A fox must be a fox. I do love watching him, though, even at a distance. I love seeing his healthy coat and feeling like maybe we had something to do with that.

Jeremy isn't ours. He is not a pet. He is wild. But, he still has friends. We are all Winter walkers and will keep leaving him food. T once saw him chasing another animal in the woods. This pleases us. He had no one to teach him how to be a fox, so he's had to learn on his own. Maybe he will find a vixen someday. If that happens, I suspect we will see him even less.

He will have a family. I hope so very hard that this does happen. Everyone deserves somewhere to belong.

Still, I feel as if Jeremy was a gift to us. I loved the hours I spent observing him. I enjoyed having him sit close to me as we watched the ducks on the pond. He came at a time when I really, really needed some calm beauty in my life. My life had seemed like a series of one set of bad news after another. Sitting with him made my heart go someplace warm and calm.

I owe him thanks.