Beth and I scouted a gorgeous fox sette a few weeks ago, and though it was still prety warm out, it was under 40 degrees, so we decided to try it first. We approached along the forest edge of the field, the dogs running loose ahead of us. They approached a bit of red earth just inside the forest edge.
The red earth was, in fact, a very dead fox. It appears that the young vixen that had dug the natal earth just up the hill from where we stood, had became entangled in thick vines when she exited the forest on her way home. Honey suckle had wound very tight around her tail, and another loop had hitched up around her loins.
She must have panicked when she got entangled, and tried to bolt away, but she was held tight and succeeded only in wrapping herself tighter in the vines. Perhaps she went into a state of catatonia, as a fox often will do when panicked. Whatever the case, she did not bite her way free. Looking back and seeing only the familiar vine, she may have thought she was being held by an invisible hand -- the invisible hand of God.
Based on her excellent condition and her state of rigor mortis (which is slower to set in during cold weather), I imagine she got herself caught early in the week and perished from dehydration sometime Saturday.
A cruel ending for a magnificent animal.
Few wild animals exit this earth painlessly, and a quick dispatch by car or hunter is, without a doubt, the best way to go. The other options are predation, disease, starvation, poison, infection and accident.
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