God is a Crappy Shot

It has been a long time since I put out a little food and photographed the fox (and occasional raccoon and deer) that come through the neighborhood.

Mange, which along with distemper and rabies, is the natural killer of fox in this area and around the world, seems to have struck two of the fox that visit the front yard. One fellow is in a pretty bad way, and will probably die soon, the other has just has a touch of mange at the tip of the tail, and will probably recover, as otherwise he seems to be in fine fettle.

Suburban fox populations are often very high due to the presence of bird feeders which draw both mice and fox, which will eat both the mice and the spilled bird seed.  

Mange is a natural, if horribly cruel, process and a solid reminder that no wild animal dies with a morphine drip and quiet classical music on the stereo.  The best a wild animal can hope for is to have a long and reasonably healthy life and, on its last day on earth, be shot dead by a well placed and unseen bullet.  This is actually the death we hope for ourselves, albeit with God as marksman.  Sadly, as mange and so many other cruel diseases make clear, God is a crappy shot.
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