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Cindy House's avatar

Lovely. Thank you, Rebecca.

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Rebecca D. Martin's avatar

Thank you, Cindy ❤️

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Carri's avatar

I love those encounters with wild beings in unexpected places, the thought that we never banish our more-than-human kin from our everyday world.

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Rebecca D. Martin's avatar

Oh, beautifully said, Carri. Yes.

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Tania Runyan's avatar

Sigh. Right.

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Jenn's avatar

Right.

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Megan Willome's avatar

Come visit me. There are lots of foxes. (Also, lately, skunks.)

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Rebecca D. Martin's avatar

Is it strange that I have a soft spot for skunks?

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Melanie Bettinelli's avatar

I long to see a fox in the wild. I've heard rumors of them in our own, but not in my neighborhood. I have seen coyotes though. It's always amazing when you catch a glimpse of a wild thing. My husband who grew up around here says there weren't foxes and coyotes when he was a kid. Things have got more wild. And that gives me hope.

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Rebecca D. Martin's avatar

Oh, yes, Melanie--to catch a real view of a fox in the wild, not just his tail in the headlights, would be amazing. What is it about the wild things? Something in us knows we need them, maybe. Knows how good they are.

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Amy Sondova's avatar

Rebecca, this is lovely! We have friendly neighborhood foxes that prowl around. I'm a fan because they take care of the rodent populations now that the feral cats are died out. Sadly, a one was found dead on the golf course adjacent to my development--bird flu according to the Pennsylvania State Game Commission. A red-tailed hawk was euthanized a couple of weeks for bird flu after a neighbor found the sick raptor in her yard. It grieves me because I think of these precious critters as my friends. I've wept over roadkill deer because they're probably the ones I see every once in a while prancing through the field between the developments--the lands their ancestors roamed without all this development and intrusion.

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Rebecca D. Martin's avatar

We have this deep appreciation and sorrow in common, Amy! Whenever animals try to cross the road--squirrels, deer, turtles--I quietly apologize to them. I want to say, "We shouldn't be here," though maybe that's not true. More like, "We shouldn't be here in this way."

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Kellie Brown's avatar

It's a meaningful reflection on what we stand to lose and possibly not regain. I'm so heartbroken. My Instagram animal of choice right now is the gentle otter. You know why that is. I'm enamored by their kindness to their young and their love of trinkets. They even have built in pockets to store their favorite rock. I admire the fox too. A noble creature. I love that it was the animal chosen for Robin Hood in my favorite Disney animated film.

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Rebecca D. Martin's avatar

My friend, the otter is your spirit animal. All the joy and community he thrives in. It's what you're moving toward. I saw a reel of otters playing yesterday, and thought of you. All that freedom and glee.

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