My Encounter with a Fox

Yesterday at dusk I ventured out into the freezing drizzle to retrieve my mail.  I inadvertently startled a fox, who had found a dry haven under my front stairs.  It was an unprosperous-looking fox with reddish legs and gray flanks, about the size of a large cat but elongated, like this one.

The fox took off in a panic through the shrubbery at the front of my townhouse.  When I walked down the sidewalk to the alley, I found the fox waiting for me at a safe distance up the alley.  He evidently wanted to get a good look at the obnoxious intruder who had driven him from his shelter.  After giving me a sour look, he trotted away.