I was surprised that squirrels came to my food without hesitation in London parks. Then I discovered some much more interesting common life of the city.
The streets in Istanbul belong to cats and dogs just as much as people do, same as urban foxes of London. What’s different is that foxes avoid humans. However, it is possible to see a fox gliding through the street late in the evening or early in the morning. Probably it is after food.
We noticed them for the first time while having dinner in the kitchen one evening. Then we started to see them in combinations of two or three in various corners of the garden. After a long time, we realised they were five cubs. Like many babies, they are always after play. Some mornings we found a few of them who had fallen asleep on the bench or investigated our vegetables with curiosity. They dig holes on the lawn that we try to grow with care and brought pieces of goods from other gardens.
When my three pairs of shoes disappeared, it became obvious that they had slipped through the kitchen door we had forgotten. Some of them came back torn. As a solution our lodger bought a puppy toy made of red strings to nibble during this teething period which disappeared shortly after being placed on the terrace.
Londoners have different ideas about these animals who have found their way to live in the city. Some want them to be destroyed altogether or for fox hunting to become legal again, while some are carrying food to them with care. Just like all the others who share a place we think belongs to us.