A fox in the neighbour's garden...
We live in a part of the city on the edge of a park and our back gardens have some wild, wooded areas, so it’s not surprising we often see urban foxes around. These are of the red fox species, Vulpes vulpes.
I have to admit that personally I love to see them and we are lucky they don’t seem to do much harm in this environment.
The fox had a pretty face...
The other day when I was at my desk I saw a fox in the neighbour’s garden, rolling around on the grass like a big pet cat, playing. Luckily I had my camera to hand.
The fox rolled in the grass like a playful pet cat...
Imagine my surprise when a second fox appeared on the neighbour’s decking and the two greeted each other, almost as if they were going to have a fight.
A second, scruffier fox appeared...
But they turned out to be friends and settled down together to bask in the sun. I thought they might be mates, a sort of up-town girl and down-town man, as the second fox was a bit scruffy compared to the first, pretty one. I have been told since that foxes mate in January or February, so this was no courting ritual.
The foxes squared up to each other as if they were going to have a fight, but they turned out to be friends...
I know some people don’t like urban foxes but contrary to some beliefs, they don’t usually kill pet cats and dogs, don’t attack children or babies and don’t carry rabies.
[But hours after publishing this blog post, there was a big news story about an attack by a fox on two baby girls in their London home, which you can read here.]
They can occasionally get mange (caused by the itch mite Sarcoptes scabiei) but if they look scruffy in April/May/June it’s probably because they are moulting and the grey underfur shows through.
Here is a fox in the garden in winter...
We don’t keep chickens so there is no problem there and the foxes don’t usually mess with our rubbish bags in the street – the seagulls are a much bigger problem in that respect!
This crow (Corvus c. corone) was very fearful of the foxes and mobbed them and made a lot of noise...
I fear the foxes do occasionally take young wild birds or their eggs – certainly when I saw these two foxes the other day they were being mobbed by the crows, although they ignored them completely.
On the plus side, they do keep down vermin such as rats.
One thing I WOULD say is that they should not be encouraged or fed or treated as pets. They are still wild animals, even if they do live beside us.
There’ s a very good fact sheet about urban foxes on this link
I took this picture of a young garden fox in July 2009
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Nice one Pat.
A sight hard to forget is an urban fox running straight up a brick wall, as if it were a cat – definitely an acquired skill.
For the last 26 years I’ve lived in reasonably close proximity to foxes (that or there are a hell of a lot of them and hard to avoid). One night last week a vixen parked her cubs under my window, at about 01.30 while she went off hunting and, of course, they set up a terrible din.
Still, sooner them than feral cats in heat – and I have ear plugs anyway.
It’s a little-known fact, too, that most cats, and dogs, are quite capable of holding their own against a fox – they really don’t like confrontation.
Thanks, Ron.
We don’t get much noise from the foxes – and never seen any little’uns, sadly.
But we have dozens of cats, some feral, some belonging to neighbours.
You’re not wrong about cats and foxes. Our neighbour’s cat has almost a flirtation with the fox – see the picture at the top of this post…
Living in a rural part of Florida, we see our share of wild animals, wild pigs,deer,bobcats,gators, black bears and foxes…We realize they were here before us and it’s us that evaded their territory, not the reverse. When the weather is extremely cold ( in the teens) I do have feeding areas far back in the woods for deer.I plant corn and leave it go wild for winter.. As far as the others, the farmers who have chickens and farm animals provide the rest with food.
It’s not always easy living with them but they don’t really know any better..we do..what better way to experience life than first hand….Thanks for sharing..weedbychoice
Thanks as always for your comments and insights.
I love hearing about your contacts with nature. You certainly have a “big country” over there in America with all that wildlife!
Best wishes
You are lucky to have foxes and not to have to worry about rabies. In part of the US, rabies is a huge issue. Raccoon rabies is now all up and down the east coast, and foxes can certainly catch and carry. Friends of mine down in Maryland were terrorized by a rabid fox, while building an art studio. Such a shame. I don’t think NYC has ever had a wild fox, at least not in Manhattan. We do occasionally have wild coyotes make their way onto the island for a visit. ANd we did have a dreadful raccoon rabies epidemic, but the raccoons that remain in our parks are healthy – thanks to an intensive hand-trap-vaccinate-release campaign over many months. The issue of urban wildlife is sooo fascinating and complicated. Thanks for this post – and many others, as well.
I’m on a 15 acre goat dairy farm surrounded by woods in Northeast Florida. About six month ago I saw a pack of about 5 red foxes hanging out on the front lawn in the evening. More recently, an adult red fox has shown up on the front lawn every morning to take a nap or a shortcut to the other side of the woods. I love being exposed to wildlife and wish no harm to this beautiful animal, but I’m concerned about the safety of my tiny baby goats and the safety of little kids when playing on the farm. I’ve also noticed a huge reduction of birds on the property since the foxes showed up. As a birder, this is a bit of a bummer. Any suggestions for protecting my goats, kids and birds?
I’m afraid I have no idea what to suggest, as I am no expert on this subject. But this article I came across may give you some ideas…
http://www.thefoxwebsite.org/urbanfoxes/urbanconflict.html
Best wishes, and I hope your livestock and the foxes can live together in harmony!