Fox and I: Wilderness, Friendship, Extraordinary Language

Wilderness

When I was a teen, I backpacked a lot, mostly in Southern California with its rugged mountains and granite boulders. Once I spent two weeks climbing around in the Bighorns in Wyoming. On these trips, my friends and I would periodically come across a fire tower and the park service ranger who acted as the watcher within. At the time, I had a romantic notion of that lonesome life. The individual on the mountain top, completely in touch with nature. I thought it would have been a good life for me, at least for a few years of my young adulthood.

Now that I am so much older, I understand being utterly alone in the wilderness—I use this word in the true sense of complete disconnect from society and communication with other humans—would have been too lonely for me. While I enjoyed being alone for stretches of a few weeks, I needed people over the long run, as I do now. But still, I have often wondered what a life alone in the wilderness would be like.

Fox and I: An Uncommon Friendship answers that question, in a story about a friendship between the author, Catherine Raven, and a wild fox. 

Friendship: The Core of Fox and I

Raven builds and lives in a tiny cabin in Montana wilderness while working out her next big life move. Though largely alone, she teaches classes in Yellowstone National Park. Mentioning the lifelong lack of emotional support from her family, she makes clear she can live alone for months at a stretch. Her background in biology, zoology, and botany inform her discussion. She enjoys nature around her and names trees, magpies and more on or near her property. But it’s Fox with whom she forms a friendship. This despite the fact that all of her education and training has led her to believe animals don’t have deep emotional lives. Yet, why shouldn’t she see Fox as a friend when he arrives on her property every afternoon at 4:15?

Raven and Fox spend time together as she reads The Little Prince (recall the prince’s friendship with a fox), watches over his pups, and observes the symbiotic relationship between Fox and the magpie ‘Tennis Ball.’  But nature is volatile. We know all that Raven loves—the trees, the magpies, the deer, and Fox—are threatened by the elements, by out-of-control fire. The relationship between Raven and Fox will come to an end. And we as readers will mourn its loss. 

Extraordinary Language in the Fox and I

Fox and I is a voicey memoir with appeal for those who wonder what it is really like to venture out alone in the wilderness. It’s also great for those who are interested in human and other species connections. If you liked the documentary film My Octopus Teacher, Fox and I may be a good choice for you. If you are a writer, you will be captivated by Raven’s descriptions of the natural world.