On my chosen summer-route in the Calanques, a group of runners greet me with a bonjour while I keep to the quiet of the early morning. A bit later and farther down, I notice that a fox is walking ahead of me. He does not run and hide. Instead, he stops, turns his head, and looks at me while I look at his scrutinising eyes. What an unexpected moment.

Feeling at ease, the fox sits down and starts scratching himself with his right hind paw. After all, this is his intimate habitat, not of those visitors who always seem in a hurry. He must sense that I admire him and keep quiet. It’s the second fox, now in another area, I get to see in one month.

He gets up and slowly walks towards me. There is no threat, neither from him nor from me. He stands still, maybe less than two metres in front of me, and looks up. For awhile we keep looking at each other. As he is a French fox I express my true appreciation and say tu es beau.

He must like my individual spirit 😉 but decides to move on, goes back to the side of the path and still doesn’t walk fast or run. At one point he stands still again, looks ahead of him, and then keeps going. It seems that foxes are solitary hunters and this unafraid fox illustrates it bravely.

As much as I love this encounter with the Calanques fox, I also feel a little concerned, the fox carries an expression of being hungry and tired. Heatwaves are also difficult for fauna and flora. For most wild animals it must mean long days of looking for food and water or go without.

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