Reynard the Fox strikes again!
The innocent looking fox is actually a fierce and dangerous creature, as anyone who has read the Reynard stories should know. Apart from being able to trick bears and lions and, err, cats into their near-destruction, this particular one seems to have downed a prey considerably larger than itself. Ever the trickster, this fox uses its innocent expression and appearance to look, well, innocent.
Picture above taken from an article by Staatsbosbeheer about the Oostvaardersplassen here; picture on the left taken from an Utrecht Book of Hours.
I’m not surprised that you’d be a fan of the fox.
Years ago we had a cat who was somewhere around Koala bear level aggressiveness and she chased a fox out of our garden which was hilarious.
Luckily the fox gets it revenge in the Reynaerd storyline. It lures the cat, Tybeert, into a trap set in the chicken pen (actually set for the fox, of course) and Tybeert gets caught in a snare. The chicken pen is owned by the local priest, and the man of the cloth rushes out in the nip and with his wife and children (!) but the cat, badly mauled and after having lost an eye in a struggle with the family, manages to break free and castrates the priest for 50%.
It is a gripping tale, with the conclusion that the fox ALWAYS wins.