One of the most familiar hunting strategies in the fox’s arsenal is the "mousing pounce", which is employed when hunting small mammals. When prey is detected, the head and tail are raised and the ears cocked forward – the fox remains motionless, listening and watching intently. The fox approaches its quarry slowly, stopping frequently to listen and, when it gets within striking distance, it rears on to its hind legs, bends its knees and jumps up, landing with sufficient force to break a thick crust of snow and with its front paws on its quarry, which is quickly snapped up. Recently, researchers in Germany have found evidence that foxes may be able to use the Earth’s magnetic field to accurately judge the distance to their prey. I have been fortunate to observe this behavior in my back yard in Colorado - on one particular occasion, a breeding pair were “mousing” quite close to each other…a couple’s “dance” that became the inspiration for the title of this piece.