TOWNSHEND — I read, with considerable interest, the story about bears in your Aug. 3 issue.
Last spring, a bear was seen in Townshend on lawns along Route 35 close to the West River Valley Assisted Living building, where I reside. They were raiding bird feeders, so they must have been pretty hungry.
In my 75 years in Vermont hunting, fishing, hiking, and snowshoeing, I have seen only two bears, and both were in the woods.
I had thought, up to this spring, that I had seen just about every form of wildlife in Vermont, but I was mistaken.
This spring and continuing up to this day, I have seen and photographed grey foxes. I have seen, tamed, and photographed a red fox, so the grey fox was a complete surprise.
I have also learned that the grey fox, a beautiful animal, has retractable claws and can climb trees.
Every day and night, I feed dog food and leftovers from our kitchen to at least one fox.
Reading about this animal, I learned that it has migrated east for sometime finally reaching Vermont.
Enclosed find a couple of pictures I took from my window overlooking a field and woodland.