Mt. Rainier- Cascade Red Fox

 A big thanks to Whittaker Mountaineering for helping to make this series on Mt. Rainier possible!

There are many cool animals on Mount Rainier.  Some of them are not exactly “cuddly” looking.  They’re big, with big teeth, or dangerous claws, or maybe they’re dirty and they stink.  You don’t want to pick them up and pet them.  You don’t even want to be near them.

But animals like the Cascade Red Fox are a different story.  They look more like something you want to pick up and play with.  Unique among foxes, they have bigger ears, softer thicker coats, and bushier tails that are quite large compared to their bodies. 

Unfortunately, too many visitors to Mt. Rainier have let the “cuteness” of these unique foxes get the best of them.  While people aren’t picking the foxes up and taking them home, they have been feeding them.  And there’s a good reason why that’s against the park rules.

Mt. Rainier has a lot of traffic flowing throughout the year.  When people throw food out to the animals from their cars, it draws the animals closer to the road.  Sometimes the foxes will even build their burrows close to the road for this very reason.  And it’s not hard to figure out the problem there.  The foxes aren’t so cute and thankful after being hit by a car.

Feeding the foxes has also created a “pest” problem at campsites and visiting centers.  The foxes have begun snooping around camps and getting into cars, looking for food.  This puts both the fox and the campers in a dangerous situation.  Each is capable of harming the other.

The population of Cascade Red Foxes is already a concern on Mt. Rainier.  Feeding the foxes not only ruins the wild element of the park, a big part of what makes one desire to visit the mountain, but it makes it even less likely that one will be able to see these foxes in the future.

Please remember to respect the Park and its inhabitants.  More information on the problem of feeding Cascade Red Foxes at Mt. Rainier can be found here.  For general information on wildlife in Mount Rainier National Park check out this field guide, available from Whittaker Mountaineering.

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Body of Death, Body of Life (John 5)

John 5:25-29:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.  “For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself;  and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.  “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice,  and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

Though I don’t know exactly what Christians’ bodies are going to be like after the resurrection, it’s not difficult to imagine the possibilities.  Bodies of glory.  Imperishable.  Of the new creation.  Something very cool.  Something of awe.

What is harder to imagine is what the resurrection will be like for the wicked, those outside of Christ.  It’s clear from this passage in John 5 that the wicked will also be resurrected, to eternal punishment.  Which means that they too will have eternal bodies. 

Matthew 10:28 –

“Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

The body of the wicked faces the same fate as the soul.  And this leads to that which is so hard for me to picture… what a body of eternal punishment will be like?  A body that is not ever destroyed, yet is continually destroyed for all eternity.

Thank the Lord, for He has given us the way to eternal life… through His own blood.  We do not have to worry about what that eternal body of punishment will be like if we come to Christ, to the eternal Life.