Have you ever seen a fox? A real fox, live, close up, in the wild so to speak, not behind a fence at a zoo.

They are not cute or cuddly. They are not beautiful, fluffy feline creatures. No. Not a bit.
Foxes up close are cold, creepy, predators. Much more doglike than one imagines after being raised on Disney animations of adorable foxes. Believe me, foxes are not adorable in any way.

They are killing machines and nuisances. They rip open your bagged rubbish, they kill the harmless small wildlife like squirrels. They attack and kill your small pets - kittens are favorite snacks of foxes.

I've seen foxes when I had the farm in Jeffersonville, NY. They are common in the Catskills. But yesterday I looked out my kitchen window at the back garden and there was a fox. Ugh. It had that same cold, predator stare. It would, it's a wild animal. It's not cuddly Disney fantasy.

But it was an interesting reflection on the nature of cities and life and survival to see one in a London back garden.