The Fantastic Mr. Fox

For all I know, it's Mrs. Fox, but anyway... I went for a walk today that started with an annoyingly slippery schlep up a hill along the edge of a snow covered hay field, and then proceeded down a somewhat less slippery (mostly) dirt road with a covering of ice in many places. I said hello to the usual horses, saw precious few birds, and was pleased to find that I can identify some small number of birds by their call alone. Among which were a Cardinal and a Red-winged Blackbird both of whom seemed to already be getting into Spring mode and singing their actual tunes instead of just making *chip* noises. On my return as I was just about to start sliding back down the hill, I saw a red dot way across on the other side of the field. I pointed my camera at it and affirmed that it was indeed the fox I hoped it might be. So I stood there as still as I could, snapping photos, as he ran along at an angle that began to bring him ever so gradually closer. My back was to the paved road I had just crossed and I could hear a car coming up the hill, and see that Mr. or Ms. Fox was intending to cross the road at the point where the road crested the hill and started back down slightly. All I could do was watch and hope they didn't arrive at the same point simultaneously. Fortunately, the car got there first, though not by much, and this shot was snapped just before the fox shot across the road to safety. Phew!