Redondo Beach Foxes

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“It only takes one clever fox
to best a thousand men.”
Nina Varela

 


While driving home the other day, I saw this Dynamic Message Sign (DMS), “FOXES IN AREA”. I pulled over to take a photo. That’s my blue car in the bottom right. It’s hard to read my license plate but it reads: IBLUFOX. Yes, I’m a big fan of the fox, so much so I nicknamed my car, “Blue Fox”.

Over ten years ago, I saw a red fox on my daily evening walks. When I got home and told my husband, his response was: “We live at the beach. The only foxes I’ve ever seen are the bikini clad ones.”

I wish my husband was alive today to witness the City of Redondo Beach announcing foxes in the area.

In California there are two populations of Red Fox – the native Sierra Nevada Red Fox, a threatened species found only in the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges, and the more common, non-native Red Fox. Non-native Red Foxes were introduced decades ago for fox hunting and fur farming.

In my neighboring area of Palos Verdes, back in the 1920s they had fox hunting. Obviously, the foxes they released “outfoxed” the riders and headed to Redondo Beach to be closer to the ocean. Their populations have grown and gradually spread.

The fox, the smallest member of the dog family, is a highly adaptable species that inhabits mostly forest, chaparral, and desert regions, but can be found in nearly all habitats. There are three types of fox common to Southern California, including the Gray Fox, Red Fox, and Island Fox. The Southern California Kit Fox, a subspecies of Kit Fox, died out in Southern California in 1903.

Foxes are more solitary in their habits than are others in the dog family. They are territorial and can be aggressive, especially during the breeding season. Their once-a-year breeding season corresponds with the availability of food.

Despite the fact that urban foxes use human buildings for shelter and human refuse for food, their contact with humans is quite limited. Most people who live in an urban area have never seen a fox in the city. Foxes keep a nocturnal schedule, and in the nighttime are often mistaken for dogs when they are seen.

Red Foxes, the most commonly recognized fox, are known for their cleverness and have the largest range in North America. Although they are close relatives of the Gray Fox, they are considerably larger, normally ranging in size from ten to fifteen pounds. Their coats may be reddish or gray or even black, but their legs and feet are always black. The tail is tipped with white.

Socially, the fox communicates with body language and a variety of vocalizations. Its vocal range is quite large and its noises vary from a distinctive three-yip “lost call” to a shriek reminiscent of a human scream. It also communicates with scent, marking food and territorial boundary lines with urine and feces.

With all our fires and oil spills the last few years, our wild life has had to relocate and adapt. The bright side is some of our wild life thought to be outsourced by fires, and over building in rural areas have actually been thriving.

It’s exciting to witness one of my favorite animals in my own backyard, the Redondo Beach foxes.

Shine On

Musicophile

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“Music is the soundtrack of your life.”
Dick Clark



The definition of a musicophile is an avid lover and enthusiast of music. Point of fact, a musicophile’s passion is deeply rooted in the artistry, history, and emotional experience of the music itself. If this definition is true, I believe most people would call themselves a musicophile.

My love of all styles and types of music began as a child. There was music always playing in our home. My parents had a large collection of albums, 45s and even large reel tapes. I learned how to use the record player long before I could read.

Recently I read Oliver Sacks 2007 book, Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain. In this book, Dr. Sacks explores a range of psychological and physiological ailments and their connections to music. He wrote the book in an attempt to widen the general populace’s understanding of music and its effects on the brain. Sacks states at the outset of the book’s preface, music is omnipresent, influencing human’s everyday lives in how we think and act. 

For those of you not familiar with Dr. Sacks work, he wrote the book, Awakenings, which the 1990 feature film by the same name is based. In the book and movie he describes his medical experiences using a drug levodopa on Parkinson’s and post-encephalitic patients at the Beth Abraham Hospital, later Beth Abraham Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing, in New York.

Since the 1970s, there have been multiple studies on the benefits of music therapy for people with medical conditions, trauma, learning disabilities, and handicaps. Most of the documented studies for children have shown a positive effect in promoting self-actualization and developing receptive, cognitive, and expressive capabilities. 

For me, music can evoke a time in my life. Can evoke emotions and even the memory of pleasant scents from decades past. All this from listening to a single song.

During 2023 I published my first poetry book, Heartstrings, An Anthology From A to Z. All the poems in my book I always imagined as lyrics to songs. Then in 2026, I wrote, produced and put together a 13 track album, Dragonfly. I’ve uploaded the album to SoundCloud and will soon add the album to Spotify and Apple Music.

My life long love of music has come full circle, for this full-blown musicophile.

Shine On

Dragonfly

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“In the height of summer heat 
Dragonflies can be seen
All around day or night
With stealth like speed”

J R Malmquist



Happy spring everyone. Hope this post finds everyone happy and healthy.

My last blog post was over five years ago on March 26, 2021. Lots of my followers have reached out to me, curious about what I’ve been doing. I rarely check my blog emails and I apologize for not responding. I’ve been very busy the last five years creating and producing numerous material.

I’ve written and published two books. Also, one of my lifetime passions, music, has been in the forefront. This past month I finally finished writing, producing and putting together an entire album with 13 of my songs.

Currently, it’s only available on SoundCloud but hopefully, will soon be available on Spotify and Apple Music.

You don’t need to have a SoundCloud account. You can click the link below or go to SoundCloud and search using, J R Malmquist and pull up my album, Dragonfly.

https://soundcloud.com/j-r-malmquist/albums

Shine On