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Reynard's Questions & Answers!

 

There's a fox in/near my garden. What do I do?

Foxes will hang out near humans if they perceive an advantage in doing so - that is to say, if they feel reasonably safe and there is a food supply nearby. A vixen will make her home underneath a shed or in a woodpile and raise her cubs there if the site seems reasonably free of humans. Foxes are playfully curious, and will often visit near humans if it suits them to do so.

To encourage foxes onto your property, abandon an area of your garden and let it go wild. A medium to large sized brush pile makes a great home for a fox, for example; or a loose pile of branches; or any sort of platform with loose, diggable dirt underneath. The area must have open access (no fences or impassable shrubs enclosing it) and will need to be away from roaming dogs; no vixen will raise her cubs where a dog might come by and find them. Young children are also a no-no, foxwise, because kids are usually noisy and unpredictable. If there is water nearby or a reasonable food source, the fox is more likely to find the area attractive.

If you know of an area where foxes live and their home is destroyed or disturbed (by developers, for example), chances are the foxes will move. Foxes hate bulldozers. Many developers are not that keen on foxes, for that matter, and will try to trap or poison them if they can. There's not much you can do in that case; the fox will find a new home on its own, and any attempts to create a new home will seem highly suspicious. Your best bet: do nothing, and see what happens.

If a fox does make its home near your garden, you'd do well to stay quiet and calm in the vicinity of its home, never getting close enough to be threatening and not acting in a suspicious or intimidating manner. A fox will allow you reasonably near - fair is fair, after all - but only so long as you don't pose a threat. What a fox finds threatening varies from fox to fox, so the best plan is to keep your distance. And rejoice quietly.

What do you call a group of foxes?

A group of geese is a gaggle; a group of lions is a pride. A group of foxes is a rare and lovely sight, beautiful to behold. But if you need something shorter for everyday conversation, a group of foxes is called a skulk.

How many different kinds of foxes are there?

Depending on who you talk to, there are perhaps 21 species around the world.

What is a fox's home called?

A fox’s home is called a den.

Is a fox likely to eat my pet?

If your pet is a dog or cat, chances are your pet is safe.

Very young puppies and kittens are in that indeterminate range; if a fox is really hungry, the puppy or kitten is very young and nearly helpless, and the two find each other out in the middle of nowhere... maybe. However, any animal that can run, fight back or scream for help or who smells of humans will probably not find itself on the menu. Foxes are too wary to bother.

How big is a fox?

Red foxes are usually a little larger than your average housecat. They are 15" from ground to shoulders (standing), and about 26" from the tip of their nose to the base of their tail. Foxes often look bigger when moving because they have a disproportionately long tail, anywhere from 12" - 24" from base of tail to tip; this makes the moving fox 48" long!

Do foxes have really keen eyes?

Sadly, foxes have very weak eyesight which is mostly geared towards detecting movement. If you see a fox and stand very still, there is a fair chance the fox won't see you.

On the other hand, the fox's hearing and sense of smell are way above average.

What is a fox's hearing range?

A fox can hear sounds up to 65,000Hz at a range of up to 160 feet. This is substantially better than humans, whose hearing tops out around 22,000Hz at best.

How fast is a fox?

A fox can hit 35mph running flat out.

What are male and female foxes called?

The male fox is a dog; the female fox is a vixen.

What are baby foxes called?

Good question! The three most common answers are:

  • Cub
  • Kit
  • Pup

In Ireland, baby foxes are most commonly known as cubs.

What is a fox's tail called?

A brush.

How many cubs are in a litter?

The average is four; three-five is common.

What do foxes eat?

Just about anything! Foxes are omnivores, and while they seem to prefer meat, they also go for nuts, berries, fruit of all sorts, vegetables, and even grains! Red Foxes who have decided to live near humans (for whatever reason) will eat pretty much anything a human will.

Do foxes make good pets?

*sigh*

In a word: No!

The problem is the word 'pet.' Most people take it to mean a handy companion, a non-human pal you can emotionally bond with, an animal you can keep in an apartment and drop off at a friend's house (or at the vet) when you want to go on holiday.

Domesticated animals (dogs, cats, rabbits) can be tamed and trained to be in-home companions, but even they require care and maintenance if they are to thrive. A wild animal cannot thrive in a house, apartment or back garden. The best a human can do to live with a wild animal is to adapt their home and lifestyle to that of the animal, which implies owning a large farm or a lot of acreage and having the resources to devote all your time to raising wild animals. Most people don't have the room or the personal resources to devote their entire lives to raising an exotic animal. Those that do are either professional animal trainers or fur ranchers, and in neither case do they see the animals as 'pets.'

The animal's interests aside, there are a number of very practical reasons why foxes don't make good pets. First off, owning one as a pet is illegal in Ireland. To own one at all in most places you have to be licensed as a breeder (which means dedicating a lot of land to the operation and being approved by the government), or you have to have a special permit allowing you to own an exotic animal - the latter becoming more rare every day. Owning one without the proper permit or license means your 'pet' is subject to confiscation and will be destroyed if discovered.

Second, most vets are not licensed to deal with exotic animals and can lose their license to practice at all if they do so 'under the table.' Foxes in captivity need regular attention to keep them healthy since they are not free to take care of themselves, so skipping the vet is a bad idea.

Legalities aside, most pet-vets don't have a clue how to treat a fox; it's not part of their training.

Third: foxes smell. They can't help it; they like the way they smell. The odour is strongly similar to that of a skunk - not what you want neighbours to call the Gardaí about.

Fourth: foxes are playfully destructive. They like to dig, and they don't have any problem shredding your mattress or cushions; they think carpeting is a challenge since they can pull up fluff and they also like to gnaw on things for fun.

Most of all: a fox will never be happy in captivity. Foxes need a lot of room to roam, and they want to do so according to their schedule. They are territorial and like to pick their own territory. Confined to a room or a small garden, they will pine away and be miserable - not the sort of thing anyone should do to their animal soulmate.

It is possible to have a wild fox for a companion, if you are willing to do so on his (or her) terms. Doing so involves many of the same skills as hunting, except the shooting you do will be with a camera. (Better yet, with a sketchbook or digital camera; the 'click' of a normal camera will scare away many wild animals, initially.) If you are quiet, patient and non-threatening, it is possible that foxes will tolerate you being in their territory after a few weeks. The trick is to be as consistent and non-threatening as possible, to allow the foxes to get used to your being there. Once you are part of a harmless landscape, they will accept your presence - as long as you remain non-threatening.

In other words, you can become a fox's 'pet' - living according to his lifestyle and at his convenience. It will never work out the other way around!

What about a fur-farm fox?

No – they don’t make good pets either.

Foxes raised to be pelts are not bred to be loveable; they are bred for the beauty of their fur. It's a miserable existence to be sure, and the foxes grow up fearful - eager to be fed and scared to death of the person feeding them. Fox cubs are not trainable the way puppies are trainable, so getting them young is not a solution. It looks cute in The Fox & the Hound, but again: there is a huge difference between cartoons and real life.

Releasing fur-farm foxes into the wild is not a good idea either. They are not prepared to live in the wild, and are often more prone to disease due to inbreeding. The only way to help a fur-farm fox is to keep them from becoming fur-farm foxes in the first place... but that's another story.

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