theartfulfox:

Yes, my friends, you read that title right. Today my wonderful foxy boy turned one year of age. I am stunned, awed, happy, sad, nostalgic… you name it. I am feeling so much today that it is crazy!

It is hard to believe that in just four-and-a-half more weeks, I will have had Loki for a year. I will be making a special blog post to commemorate that day. 

Anyway, today started out like any other day, except that instead of some kind of raw poultry, Loki got a steak for today’s raw meat. Originally he wasn’t going to get a special piece of meat, but I found six steaks in my freezer, so I thawed one out for him. Later my dad identified the steak as filet mignon. 

Present-wise, Loki got/is getting six Chuckit! balls. Chuckit! balls are his absolute favorite toys. I had to give him his two Chuckit! Ultra balls early because he finally destroyed his last Chuckit! ball. Today I gave him two Chuckit! Fetch balls, and I am currently waiting for my order of two Chuckit! Rebounce balls to ship to me. They are supposed to arrive on Friday.

Loki’s last present was also one he got early, and it was also his most expensive. I bought and set up a zip-line in my backyard on Saturday. I’ve been meaning to set up a zip-line for him for ages, but his birthday gave me the perfect opportunity to spend a lot of money on him.

  

For anyone that doesn’t know, a zip-line is a long length of cord that is secured between two trees or posts, with a trolley line that hangs down and connects to your dog. Or in my case, my fox.

 

 

Loki’s zip-line is 33 feet long and 8.75 feet in the air. I rigged the regular clip of the line with two extra quick snap clips so it connects to both his collar and his harness for extra safety. I’m lucky I did this because I actually had his collar too loose and it almost slipped over his head on me. I made sure to tighten his collar before he went back on the line again.

 

  

The first day using the line, Loki was really nervous and kept trying to run off in fear because he wasn’t used to the change. And, unlike other foxes, Loki does not like change at all.

 

Today is only the fourth day using the line, and Loki is running it like a pro already. He seems to know his boundaries and he only pulls when he is chasing a leaf or something similar. A sandhill crane flew over our heads while he was out today, and Loki was so excited and tried to chase after it.

 

Another thing I found out about Loki and his line is that he likes to follow me around. I don’t know if its because he is afraid and knows I am a source of safety, or because he really loves me and wants me around. I’d like to think it is the latter.

It is the cutest thing. If he is near one tree and I walk to the other tree, he takes off running to follow me once he looks up and sees me so far away. If he is next to me and I take off running, he immediately starts running to follow me.

 

As an experiment once, I started running, Loki started to follow me, and then I stopped. He ended up running past me before he jerked around and went back to where I was.

Obviously, I have been nailed with the trolley line more than once as a result.

 

Unfortunately, I didn’t have much time with Loki today. I had class until noon, but then I had to start work at 3 PM and I won’t be back home until 11:30 PM. I am hoping to make it up to him on another day.

Its not like he actually knows its his birthday, ne?

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To my Michigan-dwelling followers:

For the past two weeks or so, I had been doing research on cities in Michigan that allow domestically colored foxes. First I would look through a city’s code of ordinances. If foxes or other wild animals were not explicitly banned and I saw no other problems, I would contact the city manger about the validity of MI ST 342.43101, also known as Act 451 of 1994 and “the domestication law.”

Within the past couple days, I got into an argument with Wyoming, Michigan’s chief building official. He was insisting that foxes were not domestic animals - by his own definition - and I demanded that he show me proof of this. He unfortunately could not and repeatedly ignored my request of proof and official documentation, so I decided to do more of my own research on the Michigan government, and I stumbled across a trump card.

It is MCLS § 117.4j, which states that municipalities have “authority to pass all laws and ordinances relating to its municipal concerns subject to the constitution and general laws of this state.” Emphasis added. This has been held by case law to mean that a municipality is not allowed to enact an ordinance if the ordinance is in direct conflict with statutory law and scheme (Sherman Bowling Center v Roosevelt Park (1986) 154 Mich App 576, 397 NW2d 839).

This is the law itself (the third on the list).

And this explains the law and lists the reference.

A city cannot dismiss statutory law. The ordinances a city enacts merely adds to state law and federal law. So, according to this, a municipality is not allowed to say that a domestically colored fox is not a domestic animal. However, my city has a set list of prohibited animals. Our code of ordinances does not list any animal as “wild,” but instead merely bans them without explanation. In a city like this, if foxes were listed, this trump card would not apply.

Here is a link to MI ST 324.43101 if anyone needs it. 

I hope this will be helpful to anyone who is having trouble with their city official or the deciphering of their city’s ordinances.

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See you next time, folks, and I hope you all have a happy Easter!

-J.P.