My wife and I bought a small farm in Littleton, Colorado, in 1990. Overlooking the valley of the South Platte River, the area was a mosaic of fields, ranchlands and housing developments. On our evening walks, we were occasionally treated to the sight of a fox, hunting along the edge of a pasture.
Since that time, most of the fields and farmlands have become suburban neighborhoods and, ironically, our fox sightings are now a daily event. One of the last remaining open spaces in the area, our 3-acre plot has become a refuge for displaced wildlife and a pair of red fox live beneath our barn. Each spring they produce a litter of pups, which roam our property like pet dogs; even the parents lounge on the grass or curl up on the mulch pile, oblivious to our presence. Remnants of their prey litter the fields and their eerie cries jar us awake on cold winter nights.
In a way, our farm is a microcosm of what is happening across the globe. Suburban sprawl, industrial pollution, the drainage of wetlands and the clearance of forest are eliminating natural habitat, displacing wildlife and changing our planet's ecology. If we are to protect the species that remain, including our own, we must stop the destruction of wilderness.
