Martin the Fox had met Tina the Vixen when she was only seven months old. Instantly they fell in love and decided to live together. They found a den under an old hemlock at the head of Breeches Lake and they spent the winter months without much worry.
Martin used to go hunting and bring some meat to share with Tina. In April of the following year Tina gave birth to three beautiful cubs and they named them Kim, Tim and Jim. The three cubs were blind and deaf for the first two weeks but soon, helped with the milk from their mother Tina, they became strong and playful in the spring.
They loved jumping on top of each other. Tina would forbid the kites to go outside the den during the day, as it was too dangerous. Only at night they could explore the surroundings.
One day Kim left the den and did not return immediately. Martin had to go and find him before a coyote or an owl would find and kill him. Martin found Kim about 3 Km. away from the den. This was very far and dangerous so he reprimanded Kim severely: “Next time, if you leave the den this far, I will not come and get you”.
But Kim was so happy exploring the nature around him, that he repeated the escape and this time Martin did not go looking for Kim. Tina was very sad and begged Martin to go and find Kim, but Martin would not go.
In the end Tina left the den looking for her son Kim. She did not find him either and after two days of searches she gave up.
By the fall that year Tim and Jim had left the den this time with the parents’ permission and they went to create their own families on the other side of Breeches lake.
Before the first snow, in November, Kim returned to the parental den and presented Martin and Tina a young vixen that had agreed to be Kim’s wife. They had to go to Loon Pond to find a proper den hole. There were plenty squirrels and frogs at Loon Pond. But they had to be careful as there were also a few coyotes who were vicious and deadly.
One day Kim, while hunting for food not far from a nearby farm, encountered a young coyote who instantly decided to kill and have lunch with poor Kim. Before the fight started, Kim confronted the coyote and said: “Dear friend, you and I have the same instincts and hunt similar type of wildlife. I know you are bigger than me but I just got married and would like to build a family. If you have mercy on me I will show you a great place, not far from here, where you can hunt two or three large chickens, far more tasty than my bones and skin. If after that you think that I am not speaking the truth, you may very well kill me there and then”.
The coyote, in listening to young Kim, agreed to the arrangement as Kim was very small and bony and the promise of two delicious chickens was too strong to resist.
“All right. Bring me to the chickens and if they are available I will pardon your life”
Kim brought the coyote to the nearest farm and showed him the back end of the chicken yard. More than a dozen chickens and hens were pecking the grains on the ground. When the coyote entered the yard the chickens run wild and shrieked with fright. The rooster run away to warn the farmer who came with a two-barrel gun and shot the coyote dead. By then Kim had left the farm and soon he joined his new bride.
They lived happily in the new den for many years and by November they always went to visit Kim’s parents and enjoy a good meal together.
Comments