Visiting Fox by Diane Alexander

Urban sprawl has brought humans into ever-closer contact with wildlife. Adapting to this new world, foxes make homes under porches, chase mice around sheds, and nap in backyard grasses.

If you live within the red fox's present range, there's a chance you could be visited by this prince of the canid kingdom. The best time to watch is just before dusk, when feeding birds and less human presence brings foxes from hiding.

By now you've learned that foxes are curious, even-tempered, and are source of little concern. Deciding weither or not you want to live with foxes, or discourage their visits, is a personal choice.

You can encourage foxes, and other wildlife, with a few easy steps:

1. Provide fresh water. Glazed or plastic flower-pot bottoms work well, placed on the ground. Refresh the water every few days, especially during warm weather. Clean water is the most important necessesity.

2. Remove harmful substances like rat poisons or weed killer. The foxes will eat your rats, moles and gophers, providing an effective natural solution.

3. Keep pet dogs on a leash, or inside a fenced area. Even calm dogs might suddenly chase after foxes or other wildlife if they become excited.

4. Educate neighbors and children by referring them to this website. Myths about foxes have lead to fears which are unfounded in our present day.

5. Leave out occasional food. See "Food Selection" for details.

6. Visit the National Wildlife Federation website for more tips.

Foxes are beneficial guests. They keep rodents at bay, preventing the spread of disease, and displace predators such as coyotes. Most enjoy watching foxes, but you may have some concerns:

1. Outdoor Pets

If a fox feels threatened, it will chase a cat from its territory. However, foxes do not consider cats or dogs prey, and will usually co-exist indifferently. Please remember that unsupervised pets can become lost, trapped, hit by cars, wounded by strays, or suffer exposure from the weather.

Solution: Foxes present little danger compared to other threats. Keep pets safely indoors at night.

2. Sounds at Night

Foxes can produce an array of unique sounds. They can be startling at night, and are most often heard during the mating season in winter, or during territorial disputes.

Solution: In most cases the calls are brief, and should disappear within a few days.

3. Leftovers in the Trash

Human foods, rich in fats, sugars and proteins, smell like candy to wild animals. They may leave your garbage spread out like a buffet, and become sick.

Solutions: Keep trash cans in a shed or garage. Only put them out on trash day. Buy cans with a twist-lock lid, or use a bungee-cord to keep the lids on tight. Never set out bare trash bags.

4. Crops

As an omnivore, foxes enjoy fruits, and might sample your prized strawberries.

Solution: Foxes rarely harm stalks, leaves, flowers, or roots. Instead, foxes commonly eat the mice and rabbits that would otherwise devistate a garden or crop.

Foxes are a natural and necessary part of the ecosystem. If you're still troubled by their visits, try:

1. The Scarecrow Sprinkler. A motion-sensitive water sprinkler that harmlessly startles away animals, day or night. Buy one from your local nursery, hardware store, pet store, or online.

2. Make your yard less inviting by eliminating sources of food and water, especially garbage and bird feeders, which attract rats and squirrels that foxes eat.

3. Erect a fence or plant hedges to reduce physical access.

4. Contact us or a wildlife rescue specialist. They may be able to humanely capture and relocate the fox to a safer area, or refer you to someone who can.

Avoid contacting a government agency except as a last resort. Standard practice for animal complaints is now to destroy, rather than relocate animals, due to recent budget crisis.