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.

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

A fox’s home is called a den.

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

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.

Good question! The three most common answers are:

A brush.

*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!

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.