Fox and I: An Uncommon Friendship

This is a beautifully written book that often reads like poetry, but always with facts and insights about the world around us, that are just beyond the grasp of most people.Catherine has a Phd. in zoology. She loves being alone in the Pacific Northwest, suround by planta, grasses, flowers, foxes, voles, weasels, and field mice. She knows the names of all of them with an encyclopedic knowledgeShe said facts "stick to me like shards of metal to a magnet."I've been reading it for several days now and I'm nearing the end. I'm enjoying it so much I don't want it to be finished. I'm 82 years old and love to read, always have. In the first grade I was first to learn to read in a class of 55. I admit it, I'm a nerd and love nerdy things, but I'm a healthy nerd who started lifting weights at age 9 because I wanted to look like my two muscular heros, Supeman and Tarzan. I ran 5 miles per day for 45 years, did an annual cross state bike trip. I also admire really smart people and Catherine Raven is smart,It is a good book.

I love nature, and I really love the perspective this author brought to her uncommon relationship with a fox. I bought this book because I love foxes. I always have. I’m not sure where this love came from exactly; it’s been with me for so long I cannot remember the seed that planted it. One day not long ago, a small fox followed me down my driveway on my way home from a hike. I was enthralled. Long story short, I too have an uncommon friendship. Not with just one fox, but 3. Like the author, I struggle with the judgement that comes from “humanizing” wild animals and creating relationships with beings that should not socialize with people. But the foxes have casted their magical powers over me, and I can no more help myself than the author of this book could.

Like all friendships, common bonds form the basis for this mutual connection between author Raven and a wild fox on her isolated land in central Montana; they both interact easily with nature, are boundlessly curious, wary of most humans, and lack daily company. For Raven, the burgeoning relationship is as rewarding as it is perplexing as she reconciles this unique bond with her scientific training as a biologist -- and her realization that she seems to have formed a deeper connection with a wild fox than with most people.Raven is a wonderfully gifted writer whose descriptive prose often immerses readers in enchanting paragraphs that transport readers to her magical Montana landscape. Consider this evocative passage about a nighttime encounter with Fox’ playful offspring “Riveted, I strained my eyes to watch their undisciplined performance in the moon’s light, and my other senses diminished as if I were dropping slowly underwater. Gulping air, holding my breath, I fell into the night with unfettered foxes swimming all around me.”The pace may not be for everybody; some hikers are destination-focused. Raven is the knowledgeable and eloquent guide you want if you would rather absorb, savor, and reflect on the nuances of nature surrounding you.

I was drawn to this book out of a lifelong love of "The Little Prince", but I found so much more. Catherine Raven has told her story in a moving book full of her love of nature and her need for connection with the world in which she lives. A poetic stream of consciousness punctuated by her visits with "Fox". Their relationship is almost magical as she struggles to draw a line between embracing the gift of friendship from Fox and trying to keep her distance as a biologist. Her extensive knowledge of the flora & fauna in the wilderness in which she lives and works illustrates her obvious difficulty with human connections versus her preference for the solitary life she leads. She touches very briefly on her own life story, but it's just enough to give the reader an understanding that all she is experiencing in this world she has created for herself is actually filling a great need in her soul. Fox is her friend, no matter how hard she tries to keep her professional distance. Their curiosity about each other was always destined to become something more powerful. This book had a profound effect on me for many reasons, and spending this time in Catherine's world was not only a great learning experience, but a wonderful lesson on how closely connected and comforted we are to all sentient beings around us.

A woman, a fox, a remote setting populated with creatures with distinct personalities—Fox & I has all the makings of a fairytale. But despite its fantasy quality, this book is very much a real-life story of a rare friendship between a curious fox and a reclusive woman who knows a lot about nature but may have a thing or two to learn about being a friend.Former national park ranger Catherine Raven writes with exquisite detail about her natural environment and the creatures she shares it with. Her depictions of such animals as magpies and voles are honest, not romanticized, and her description of fox kits in the moonlight, pure poetry. And really, who but such a keen observer of nature would match her interior decorating scheme to the colors of prairie smoke flowers? Or adorn a stairwell ledge with feathers and twigs in mini-vases made from rifle casings?Before meeting “Fox” (who’s never called by any other name), Raven, ever the conscientious scientist, avoids humanizing wild animals. In the course of the book, her understanding shifts to encompass not just data, but also imagination and intuition. Does she become a better scientist in the process? Who can say? A better human being? Undoubtedly.

Historia fantasiosa y sentimental. Apta para amantes de animales.

Good writing but there are many missing pages just blank. Can not read a book like this which is a shame.