"They are wild and free, when the rest of us feel trapped."

May 19, 2020 8:58 AM

Canada’s largest city was politely abiding by a strict coronavirus lockdown. But when a family of foxes set up a den in a prime Toronto location, all bets were off: NY Times | non-Times link
posted by Johnny Wallflower (9 comments total)

h/t Fizz
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 8:58 AM on May 19, 2020

I finally saw one of the Beaches foxes on Sunday afternoon, happily trotting lakewards across Queen Street with a squirrel in its mouth. Either the foxes have already depleted all of the lakeside squirrels, or the squirrels have become wise to their wiles.
posted by Flashman at 9:40 AM on May 19, 2020 [2 favorites]

As the article notes, Toronto recently barred access to High Park, one of the biggest parks in Toronto, for the duration of the cherry blossom bloom. Normally this brings out huge crowds, which obviously the city wants to avoid, so they decided it was easier to block all access for the duration.

Predictably, people protested this. Unpredictably, the protests came almost entirely from urban planning folk and green space advocates, who at first glance seem like they should be miles apart from the traditional stereotype of a "took muh freedoms" lockdown protester. The argument seemed to be that closing off entire parks was draconian and unnecessary, a brute-force solution that meant the city didn't trust its population to do the right thing and remain physically distant from one another.

This article is a prime example of why the city was absolutely 1000% right. Look at all those idiots in the photo. The city's population can be trusted to keep away from each other during cherry blossom season? Bullshit. Give them a few foxes and the need for selfies is more important than making sure people don't fucking die needlessly because we can't stay six feet away from each other, let alone AT HOME, when there are cute animals around.
posted by chrominance at 10:49 AM on May 19, 2020 [18 favorites]

I haven't seen any foxes in my Ontario backyard (which is too bad), though they are welcome to come by if they thin out my squirrel population and leave the rabbits alone. I have, oddly because I live in a small city, seen for the first time a wild turkey in my backyard. My partner thought it was a peacock at first as it seemed more likely then a turkey to be in our backyard.
posted by Ashwagandha at 10:56 AM on May 19, 2020

I live east of there by the bluffs and have pre-Covid footage of fox pups, turkeys, and have seen but not photographed coyotes and deer. Welcome to Toronto’s ravines and waterfront. :) Our neighbourhood turkeys are so bold I used to see one every day on my way to the GO station and our neighbourhood FB group named her Guilda.
posted by warriorqueen at 11:11 AM on May 19, 2020 [2 favorites]

I see foxes in my neighbourhood (North York) maybe once or twice a year. I remember coming across one on my walk home in the evening and following it a bit unsuccessfully trying to get non-shaky, non-blurry video with my phone to show my kids. Rabbits are a bit more common but I still get excited when I see them.

Closing High Park was the right decision. We go every year and every year we are disappointed by the number of people climbing on the trees and pulling off small branches. Yes, most people don't do this but enough do. It would have been the same situation with social distancing. On Saturday the weather was nice so we went to a local park to have a picnic. We saw a group of people come in multiple cars and have a 30th birthday picnic party. Pretty sure they didn't all live in the same house. I'm really glad that May has had such cool weather because it's encouraged people to stay in.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 11:16 AM on May 19, 2020

In London, UK, we have way too many foxes. If I go for an evening walk around my suburban neighborhood I will see one, pretty much guaranteed. You can hear them fighting every night. They often spend the day sunbathing on my neighbors shed roof. They're well beyond cute status and into pest status. Actually maybe not the babies. They're still cute!
posted by leo_r at 1:48 PM on May 19, 2020 [2 favorites]

Foxes have taken up residence in my mother's inner suburbs neighborhood. They seem to do very well there; a couple of Christmases ago, I saw one crossing the street that was huge, as big as a collie, and the very essence of fox-ness. Thick deep red fur, huge bushy tail, clearly a fox in the prime of life.
posted by tavella at 3:25 PM on May 19, 2020 [2 favorites]

This article is a prime example of why the city was absolutely 1000% right. Look at all those idiots in the photo. The city's population can be trusted to keep away from each other during cherry blossom season? Bullshit. Give them a few foxes and the need for selfies is more important than making sure people don't fucking die needlessly because we can't stay six feet away from each other, let alone AT HOME, when there are cute animals around.

Actually, once again it looks like editors have chosen a photo that conceals the distance people actually maintained (at least in the non-Times link). Those barriers they are using are something like 8-10ft long. The people in the crowded photo are actually probably reasonably spaced apart.

If it bleeds it leads has been replaced during this pandemic with "If we can shut down a major public health resource it leads".
posted by srboisvert at 3:28 AM on May 20, 2020