Luke 9:57-58 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” Foxes are very cunning and our local ones were very active, we had at least 3 coming and going in the street and in the garden. They behave a little like errant teenagers and are brazen thieves. Colin told me that he would regularly find toys in the garden that the fox had stolen from kids in the neighbourhood. While he had been in NZ, his boys had told him that the fox had stolen all 600 golf balls from under the tree where he'd placed them. Yeah right we thought. We were very suspicious that the boys had sold the balls to make some money. However shortly after I arrived I caught the fox red handed (pawed) on video stealing a couple and jumping over the 6 foot high back fence to wherever he was taking them in the copse out the back.
Later on we put a chicken carcass in the garden to see how long it would take before the fox sniffed it out. Within no more than a few minutes of sunset I spied something moving out of the corner of my eye. He quickly moved out of sight behind the pond, then left within seconds and went directly to the chicken and it was gone in the blink of any eye. They are very fast moving and focussed, they don't waste a moment.
With a fox, there is always a feeling of danger, even if there is no real danger as fox attacks are pretty much unheard of. They don't let you get close enough to them! They will stare you down with their sharp eyes but usually after that they will just run off.
10 interesting facts about foxes from wikipedia
- Very agile, more so than a dog - easily able to jump a 2m fence. Claws assist with climbing.
- Binocular vision with eyes like a cat with the slits
- Acute auditory - can hear squeaking mice at 100 metres
- Nocturnal
- Omnivores eat insects as well.
- Quite opportunistic, don't lie in waiting for long but use a pouncing technique. They are very active, if they turn up they will take it or kill it and they will hide the excess for later eating about 1kg per day.
- Mark out their home range - stable. Live in family groups with up to 8 subordinate foxes, who lie down to the dominant one (male)
- Reproduce once a year in Spring, average litter is 4-6 kits - born deaf, blind and toothless. Vixens remain with their kits 2-3 weeks. Kits begin to leave their dens at 3-4 weeks. Feeding up to 7 weeks. By 3-4 months they are long legged, sinewy, in proportion to an adult and full grown by 6-7 months. In the wild they typically don't live past 5 years, (usually 1-3 years)
- They burrow and build a den, tunnels up to 17m, average 5-7m
- Produce 12 different sounds, 5 octaves. The "wow wow wow" call can be confused with an owl
People find them endearing and feed them which is why they are thriving in places like Bournemouth. The study by scientists at Brighton and Reading universities revealed the number of foxes in UK towns and cities is around 150,000, equivalent to one per 300 people. They were surprised to discover the steep increase in urban areas which has happened at the same time as a decline in the countryside. The surprising thing is that in England fox hunting was banned in 2005 so an increase in the countryside population would be expected. But I suppose foxes are very smart and word must have got around that there is easy food in the cities and they are now protected 😊
Having been hunted for it's fur since BC first by the Greeks (350 BC), the Romans (80 AD). One of the most important animals harvested for the fur trade with its silky smooth pelt. The winter fur is dense, soft, silky and relatively long (they moult in April)
So things are looking up, it's a good time to be a fox in England. But not everyone likes them. They are in the 100 worlds worst invasive species.
And they generally are represented badly in literature.
In Celtic mythology the fox is a symbolic animal. ⁃ Wise, cunning, sly, trickery, quick thinking, attractive, seductive, shapeshifter
In European folklore they represent trickery and deceit (Reynard the Fox)
In the Cotswolds witches were thought to take the shape of foxes to steal butter.
You might be wondering where I am going with all of this. Well even in scripture, foxes are spoken of negatively. For example, Jesus called Herod a fox;
Luke 13:31-32 At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.” He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’
It is true that they are cunning and they have to be because they live a life filled with danger. But their representation as evil like the Devil (who uses his cunning tricks to fool mankind) is perhaps a little unfair and besides, in physical confrontations, cats usually have the upper hand 😊
Probably my favourite movie is The Shawshank Redemption. In that story Andy Dufresne is condemned to life in prison on the false accusation of the murder of his wife. There's nothing like a good redemption story especially when the person isn't guilty.
There are some characters in the Bible that are really sad, where there is no redemption in the story. I've always felt a bit sad for them;
- Cain
- King Saul
- Esau
- Judas
Genesis 25:25 The first was born so covered with reddish hair that one would think he was wearing a fur coat! So they called him “Esau.”
But his younger brother Jacob was the sly one much more like a fox. If you know the story, Esau sold his inheritance to Jacob for a bowl of soup so he could satisfy his hunger at the time. Later on when he realised his mistake he wept bitter tears but he couldn't get back his inheritance, it was too late.
Hebrews 12:16-17 See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.
That's what many people are doing today in our liberal society. They don't realise their mistake until too late and they pay a heavy price having fallen for the Devil's tricks.
They have given up their birthright for a bowl of soup and they live a life of regret the rest of their lives and find it hard to forgive themselves even if they are a believer.
So what if you're the one who's made mistakes and paid a heavy price like Cain, King Saul, Esau and Judas. Is there a way back for you? Definitely, 1000 times YES!!!
If that wasn't the case we could not call the Gospel a redemption story. It would not be good news for everyone but it is. Jesus comes and he will do you the reverse exchange. He exchanges back the bowl of soup for the inheritance. Eternal life in exchange for our sins.
The Gospel is an invitation to a party and it's for everyone. Accept the invitation. Come to the Cross and receive back again what has been stolen from you. Especially you foxes 😉
Finally, a tribute to Glen Campbell who died this week...
