Little Foxes Spoil the Vineyard

Recently I read the biblical account of Samson. In one part this incredibly strong man gets revenge on his enemies, the Philistines. He captures 300 “foxes,” ties them together by the tails in pairs, fastens torches to the pairs, and releases them into the Philistines standing grain to burn the crops. Sounds X-Men-ish.

I have to admit, I’ve always felt skeptical when I read that story. How can a guy catch 300 foxes, tie them in twos, burn the crops,  and still get home for Tebow’s weekly miracle? Is that possible?

The Hebrew word translated “fox” in the story means “jackal.” So it’s likely the animals were the Golden Jackals that proliferate in Southern Israel where the story occurred. They are apparently “more easily caught”[1] than foxes.  Jackals are more sociable and run in herds. They would more naturally run even bound to another.

Israel has jackals. One study shows, “From 2006 to 2009, the [Israel Nature and Parks Authority] culled the jackal population in the Golan Heights, shooting about 1,000 a year.” In spite of killing an average of 3 a day, “50 percent more need to be culled in order to significantly reduce the jackal population…”[2] In the Mateh Yehuda area each community with a dump supports about 50 jackals.

Did Samson work alone? The Bible seems to indicate this. But it’s possible he had help.

People catch jackals by baiting steel jaws, snares, or cages with food. A study that required the Golden Jackal to be trapped in the Modiin area of Israel reported a “high success rate in trapping”[3] 21 jackals. On average two nights with a trap set to capture each animal. New Hampshire trapper G. Malcolm Locke caught 200 foxes in 26 days in 1945.[4] If there is a record, it might be Pete Leggett of Maryland who took 1220 red foxes over 53 days in 2003.[5] That’s 23 a day. Less than two weeks to bag Samson’s quota.

Tying the tails together would have required restraining the jaws. Samson was pretty good with jaw bones.

In order to destroy the Philistine crops they must have been released over a wide area. The Palestine of today is more than 2400 square miles. Burning one or two fields wouldn’t have made much of a stir. The torches would have burned out soon, so the 150 pairs could not have been released all at once. I think it took time, but the Bible leaves us guessing.

In the movie “Evan, Almighty,” the animals just showed up at Noah’s Ark. God made it happen.

That’s the supernatural element.

In Samson’s case, God could have brought the jackals. He’s God.

But one thing we do know, there's nothing about the conditions in Israel or the ability to trap animals that rule out the biblical account.

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[1] http://www.bible-history.com/eastons/F/Fox/

[2] http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/israel-becoming-a-paradise-for-jackals-1.336310

[3] http://www.oie.int/doc/ged/D9459.PDF

[4] http://www.trapperman.com/trapperman/TTGMalcolmLocke.html

[5] http://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/2007/08/trapping-and-cull-of-wild.html

Christmas and Political Correctness

“Merry Christmas,” I said.

“Merry Christmas,” answered the employee of a large business.

I was surprised. I thought to myself, “she said Merry Christmas, that is cool.”

Many of course are obliged to say, “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings” by their employers or by their own personal choice. Society dictates that we be politically correct. The reasoning of course, as you know, is that some folks celebrate Hanukah and some are Muslims or Hindus who don’t observe Christmas. So political correctness dictates they should not be forced to say “Merry Christmas.”

When I lived in India we used to say “Happy Diwali” to many people when that major October holiday rolled around. I didn’t celebrate the holiday per se, but we enjoyed the fact that many did celebrate it. I was not offended to say, “Happy Diwali.”

We now live in a world where people get offended too easily. Litigation is out of control. In fear we lose our freedoms in order to try to soothe this infraction of “accepted norms.”

Too bad. We are way too serious and way too easily offended.

I sincerely do wish you a Merry Christmas, or a Happy Hanukah. God bless.