We have a new animal living here. I went out into the barn this morning and heard a noise coming from an area of the barn where the barn cats sometimes sleep. I turned around to say good morning to the cats and this other animal came out. He stepped out into the aisle, looked at me for a few seconds, and then ran out the door. I got a great look at him. I have no idea what it was.
He would be about knee high on me, maybe just a little shorter. He was mostly red with black flecked through his coat. He was very skinny and had very short hair. His head was triangular when he looked at me straight on. He moved sort of like a dog when he ran. He didn’t seem to be really afraid of me but didn’t want to be in the barn when I was there. None of the horses or cats seemed to be upset by his presence.
If I had to put a name on him I would say he was a very tall fox that somebody had bodyclipped. His hair was very short and his tail hair was the same length as the body hair. No bushy fox tail. I’ve seen foxes around here and they are much smaller with big tails.
I came in and told the husband that there was something strange in the barn. He said that he saw it when he was driving down the driveway two days ago. It was standing in the driveway and it ran to the side of the barn and peered around the side to watch him. That sounds like a fox’s curiousity. He didn’t say anything about it because he couldn’t identify it either and he thought that I would say he was crazy. He’s describing it as a cross between a possum and an extremely long legged dauchsund. Perhaps he’s an undersized coyote. I’m under orders to carry my camera with me at all times when I go to the barn so I can try to get a picture. The husband has decided to name him Beauregard. It fits him.
[…] The other thing I noticed is that they are not obeying the first law of prey animals – when most of the herd is sleeping, always have someone awake to act as a lookout. I know that’s the rule and I’m not even a prey animal. But today, Spirit, Prize, and Nugget the neighbor horse were all sleeping so soundly that they totally ignored the lawn mower. Not one of them was watching for hungry mountain lions. Not that mountain lions are likely to show up in the pasture but we know there is at least one unidentified large carnivore hanging around. Come to think of it they weren’t to upset about it sleeping in the barn with them so I guess they just aren’t too worried about becoming someone’s lunch. […]
I can’t wait to find out what kind of critter is visiting you! The coyotes we have out here have big bushy tails, and taupe-brown coats, not at all reddish. You’d think the barn animals would have been riled up by a strange carnivore, huh?