Foxes

A fox scratching itself  in a valley below Mt. Tabor, about half an hour after sunrise

Even in the valley the night was cool and the dew was heavy enough that the barking dogs, roosters, alarm, and dawn call to prayer weren't needed; being cold and wet was enough to wake me up. The sun rose in the north (well, at about a 90-degree angle to where the sun had set. Don't even ask) over the scrub-oaks on the hillside, and the tall pines soon glowed orange. Eventually the hill slid into a narrow valley and the path met the main trail. A fox perched above, thin and tense.

Fox crossing the trail

A fox. I had seen fox-like animals before, grizzled-brown tanim which ran like rabbits. But this was pale and sat motionless. I walked past as slowly as I dared and changed lenses. After a few seconds the fox decided that it had somewhere very important to get to very fast. I walked on, but saw another fox on the other side of the trail, which after a little while got up and walked past me.

More foxes seemed likely. I waited at the crossroads. As long as I stayed fairly still they ignored me, crossing the path, scratching in the sunlight, walking lightly and quickly. One or two actually walked straight at me, head low, staring, close enough that it was easy to see the texture of their gray and brown fur, close enough that it was easy to see 

Fox staring at me. Read what you like into its expression.

how small and catlike they were, close enough to put anyone on edge, but the bluff charge didn't work, because when they approached within ten feet or so I instinctively made some sudden move which scared them off. Mostly they acted as if I didn't exist, and seeing a fox cross without a footstep away from me fifteen feet ahead was almost as jarring as seeing one that wanted to run me off. I didn't stay long; for one thing, as the sun rose higher the foxes melted away. But for that half hour in the early morning in the narrow valley north of Mount Tabor, they stalked around the crossroads, fearless.

Fox scratching by the side of a dirt road