John and the family were away camping at the weekend at Arduaine, Loch Melfort. They had a visitor to their campsite - a fox. (These are John's pictures.)
This animal has never been domesticated and yet is not
really a wild animal either. While mostly associated with slyness and cleverness, I always think of a fox more as a marginal animal .... and this photo is a good example as it shows the animal lurking on the fringe of the camping area. In literature I seem to recall the fox being used as a symbol, or a name given, for people who live on the margins
of society.
This stunning photo reminds me of lines from D H Lawrence's short story The Fox where
2 women are struggling on a farm in rural England about 1919 and they have a problem with a fox. I vividly recall the lines about them having eyeball to eyeball contact with this fox:
"For he had lifted his eyes upon her and his knowing look entered her brain. She did not so much think of him: she was possessed by him." [1]
He was writing in the early days of psychological studies and psychoanalysis. This particular scene was all about willpower, i.e. who was going to get the better of whom.
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[1] Source: Doris Lessing Guardian article of 2003. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2003/jan/04/classics.dhlawrence
[2] Wikipedia states: The word shenanigan (a deceitful confidence trick, or mischief) is
considered to be derived from the Irish expression sionnachuighim,
meaning "I play the fox".
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