Photo by George Seiffert
Gray Fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus)
The gray fox is a small, agile, omnivorous mammal found from southern Canada to northern Venezuela (South America). Although the gray fox was once the most common fox in the eastern United States – and is still found there – it was displaced by the pressures of human advancement and deforestation, which allowed the red fox to predominate. The gray fox is resourceful and very shy. It is fairly common but hardly ever seen in the wild, both because of its elusive nature and because it is active at night and sleeps during the day. It is known for its unique ability to climb trees while hunting, to reach its den, or to escape predators. It is sometimes called the “tree fox” or “cat fox.”
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What do you love about this particular creature?
What do they reveal to you about God and our faith?
You know she’s there, but you can’t always see her. She is elusive, she is wild, and she is more likely to show up in the mysterious dark than in the glare of daylight. But if she wants to find you – oh, lucky you! She will go to any lengths to search you out.
In case you wondered, I’m partly thinking of the gray fox, but mostly of the Spirit. The Spirit won’t necessarily climb trees to find you, but She will certainly look for you and find you in all kinds of other surprising ways – through dreams, intuition, and coincidence, through your practice of mindfulness and gratitude, and in the surge of love you feel when contemplating the wild beauty of the gray fox and the rest of the living world.
Author - The Rev. Dr. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas
The Rev. Dr. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas is a priest, author, and climate activist in western Massachusetts who had the pleasure this summer of watching four red fox (Vulpes vulpes) kits wrestle and play behind the barn.
God of surprises, you are wild and free, and you reveal your presence at unexpected times and places. Give us grace to trust that you are close by, even when we don’t perceive you, and to honor the gray fox and all wild creatures that need space from human contact, that every form of life may flourish by your guidance and to your glory. Amen.