That fox was back last night and met with an unfortunate, but necessary demise. When I went out to lock up the tractors at about 9:20 I could hear before I was out of the carport that the chickens weren’t calm. (Chickens “announce” when they lay an egg and that’s how they all sounded but shouldn’t have at dusk.) Bruce came out to go with me (that was the Lord, as I usually go alone or while someone else is doing barn chores). Just I said “Bruce, some thing’s not right, we need to hurry – Bruce, run” you could hear the chickens starting to flap against the roof, screaming – for a chicken, though it does sound very child like. That fox had been in the tractor, caught one bird, pulled it through the open trap door and had just attempted to make his escape with it when Bruce got there. It dropped it, and therefore wouldn’t leave. It never ran more than 25 feet away and after several minutes of pacing it just sat down and stared at us! He was very bold. I guess he knew he’d killed dinner and wasn’t leaving without it. Bruce retrieved his 30/30 and I went to the barn, praying he would drop the fox. He did, but it took a second shot to kill it, so I still had to hear it scream. I don’t know why, but I have a hard time with that. A wounded, crying animal sounds so human-like, so pitiful. Anyway, he was a beautiful creature and I really dislike the hard facts, but we had no choice. I started to kick myself for procrastinating, I should’ve gone out a little before 9, but the truth is, doing so would’ve just put off the inevitable to another day. At least now it’s done.
Well, that’s one more chicken saga for the “Compilation of Clayton Family Stories.” It amazes me how such dumb birds attract so much mischief! 
I need to get. I’m in the middle of canning tomatoes and have taken a long enough break. This is a first for me as I’ve never done it alone. Lynn and Momma are both gone today and we’ll end up losing some of them if we wait any longer. We have a great crop this year; very surprising with as little rain as we’ve had! God’s provision is wonderful! He saw to the bounty and provided a new canner, something I’d really been wanting, as a gift from our neighbor. He is so good!