Health & Fitness
WHAT DOES THE FOX SAY?
Now that’s a very good question! The Norwegian musical group Ylvis seems to be pondering that very question in their 2013 song of the same name. The YouTube video of the song has been hugely popular. Toddlers to grannies recognize the tune. The riddle of what the fox says is never solved in the song.
I love the song, I think because of a personal experience with a fox sighting. As a grade-schooler, I was herding the cows home from the pasture in the late afternoon for milking time, following along behind using the well-worn path the cows had cemented into the ground over time. Suddenly off to my right on the hillside I spotted a red fox. It was an awesome and very memorable sighting – one that I still think about from time to time. What did the fox say? Absolutely nothing.
Children who visit the R.H. Stafford Library in Woodbury have a chance to talk about and write about things in nature with volunteer staff at the Science Museum of MN Collectors’ Corner every Tuesday afternoon from 4-7 p.m. and every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Kids can bring in natural objects that they have found and done research on. They can draw a picture of something they learned about on a trip to a National Park or a beach in Mexico. It’s all an effort to get young people interested in their natural surroundings. I wonder if anyone has reported on a fox?
The fox lyrics along with illustrations by Svein Nyhus have become a picture book. Washington County Library owns several copies.
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This winter, let the fox be your muse. Find out more about foxes – what tracks do they leave in the snow, what do mother foxes “say” to their young, and more. If you are lucky enough to experience a fox sighting, share the thrill with others. Enjoy the Ylvis picture book and other tales about foxes. My personal favorite – “My Lucky Day” by Keiko Kasza. The fox in the Kasza tale proclaims, “This is my lucky day!” But is it really?
Library Woman is Joey Halbach, Community Relations Librarian for Washington County Library. Contact her at: joey.halbach@co.washington.mn.us
