70 Nebraskaland • December 2025
THE LAST STOP
The fox was locked in.
As I drove my vehicle out of the
parking lot at Nebraskaland Magazine
headquarters on the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln's East Campus, the
red-furred beauty had only one focus
— the cottontail rabbit in the thicket
right next to the street.
The fox would enter, zig-zag its
way over and beneath the constant
barrage of limbs, and emerge from the
other side. Then the hunter would do
it again.
I had seen various animals hunt
like this before, but this particular
documentary playing out in front of
me involved the quarry as well.
The pursuit of the fox remained one
step ahead the entire time. When the
fox went left, the rabbit emerged right.
By the time the fox exited, the bunny
had doubled back, re-entered the
thicket and was gone again.
While this was going on, I watched
from my vehicle, camera hanging out
of the window, driving back and forth
as the fox repeatedly entered the
thicket.
Eventually, nearly nightfall, the
fox gave up its pursuit of the rabbit.
The predator crossed the street and
disappeared into a grove of trees, well
aware that its hunt for that day's meal
was just beginning.
A red fox pauses during a rabbit hunt near a plum thicket on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's East Campus.
JEFF KURRUS, NEBRASKALAND
By Jeff Kurrus
STRIKE ONE
