deliriouslove1970. The life & times of Gary and Denise Flanders. (Free and worth every penny. If you would like to compliment the editor, send to garytheflan@deliriouslove1970.com. If you would like to complain, call your mother.)

An image I received in 2009. I took this portrait with my original Nikon D1. We were living in Littleton Colorado at the corner of Ridge and Gallup. In our backyard we had a ‘genuine cement pond.’ One morning we noticed two red foxes wandering around back there. They came and went a few times. It was a male and a female.

Early spring that year we saw for the first time two young kits coming out from under the pool deck. All spring we watched them crawl out, play with each other, then crawl back under the deck. The female adult would watch them wrestle and keep a watchful eye on them. Then a few weeks later mom and the kits were gone.

For seven years in a row we witnessed the female come back to our yard. Some years it was the same ‘dad’ then a new male would take over. She had anywhere from 3 to 5 kits.

We had a small cat and were concerned about letting her outside with a protective mom Fox in the yard. At some point Scratchy Spot dashed outside and we couldn’t grab her in time. She was outside for hours and we figured she was a goner.

Looking and calling, we saw her crawl out from under the deck. That crazy cat went out there everyday and was, we guessed, a surrogate Mom/playmate to every batch of kits each spring. We wondered why mom Fox would allow it, but, perhaps animals know when someone who doesn’t look like them is an agent of the Creator’s love.