June 24, 2014. Harper, Texas. Kit Fox.

Fortunately I was the driver so I spotted the fox on the road and slowed way down. Then I stopped and watched even though I was right on a curve on the road. Both Ken and I knew immediately that we were looking at a fox but the fox was small and the tail was almost as long as the body. The fox walked off the road and stopped to look back at us so we got a long and good look at this small fox. The fox had a dark stripe down it's back and along the tail, with the tip of the tail all black. We were puzzled but we both agreed that we had seen a fox. When we arrived at the Top House at the ranch, it did not take me long to read the Mammals of Texas book to tell me that we had been looking at a Kit Fox. There are four foxes in Texas and we had seen the endangered fox. It mostly is nocturnal but often they can be seen in the day time lounging close to their den of kits, which is probably what he was doing when we spotted him. According to the book, the Kit Fox is the smallest of the dog like creatures. It is a beautiful beast. Just three minutes down the road we spotted a whole herd of hares, the big rabbits with long pink ears. I drive more slowly on back roads that Ken and today it paid off by seeing a Kit Fox for the first time and watching a whole bunch of big rabbits. Some days you just get lucky.