{"id":154,"date":"2007-06-09T16:17:20","date_gmt":"2007-06-09T16:17:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moobz.com\/?p=154"},"modified":"2007-06-09T16:32:24","modified_gmt":"2007-06-09T16:32:24","slug":"red-in-tooth-and-claw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moobz.com\/?p=154","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

\"fox_moobz\"<\/a><\/p>\n

On our street lives a man who lost his wife and then, progressively, his mind. The garden that they had tended together is a knot of grass and weeds and into that gathering wilderness came the foxes. Having dug themselves a foxhole they had a litter. The\u00c2\u00a0cubs chased each other round the garden whilst the vixen\u00c2\u00a0watched; sat\u00c2\u00a0in cover, eyes glistening.\u00c2\u00a0At the back window stands the man, watching. He opens the back\u00c2\u00a0door and the foxes scatter, but he is there to help; setting out dog food in bowls.\u00c2\u00a0As the years pass there are many generations of foxes in the area and a number of other patrons. The widow who runs the guesthouse loves to see them trot, heads level and steady, through the\u00c2\u00a0hole in the holly hedge. She is lonely and fills her life by filling her\u00c2\u00a0house with guests and her garden with foxes.<\/p>\n

Our generous neighbours are people who need to love. The flow of their affection has\u00c2\u00a0run sluggish in the absence of a companion. They fear the dust in their hearts.<\/p>\n

The foxes, however, have their own priorities. They are thieves; tearing at bin bags for chicken scraps; running away with gardening gloves and untended shoes; chewing through the straps of bags left momentarily by doorways and, by night, \u00c2\u00a0their gaze, mean and steady, is caught through door windows\u00c2\u00a0by housebound cats.<\/p>\n

As the population has grown, territory has been squeezed and battles are frequent. Today the loneliness of our neighbours had its flowering. A young fox, brush torn from its body, has lost a fight. Its life has blown across the gravel, away through the holly hedge to dissolve in the sodium light at the end of the alley.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Average Rating: 4.9<\/span> out of 5<\/span> based on 271<\/span> user reviews.<\/span><\/div><\/p>

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