A fox attacked the three chickens this morning just after dawn while we were still asleep. A neighbor walking her dog saw Simon chase the fox down and out of the pasture, but then the fox apparently circled around and came after one of the hens and chased her out of the gate and into the road. Long trail of feathers. No bodies. We found one hen, Fran, who hobbled from the pasture. She has some severe bite wounds on her back. No sign of Meg. It’s possible one of the other two hens is hiding – or that the fox carried one away and came back for another. It is also possible that the hens are in shock somewhere but it is most likely that the fox got Meg and Toots. The neighbor said she saw the fox run away, but then when we let the dogs out, they all went crazy barking by the pasture fence. Doesn’t look good though.

Periodically, the real world of real animals intrudes on a farm and makes itself felt. There is  no such thing as a no-kill farm. We’ll continue looking and listening and hope that the others got to hide somewhere.