I have little fox hanging around. Someone suggested I call a local hunt to see how to care for it. It seems pretty young. It doesn’t seem afraid of people. Here in the South, we are taught that if we see wildlife during the day they may be rabid, but this little one just looks lost.
Any advice?
Little, as in born this year? If so, truly no evidence of Mom or siblings? If that is the case, best bet would be to alert your local wildlife officials. The little tyke would likely not be big enough to hunt on its own, over the summer they learn how to do that from Momma. They are indeed fearless at this young age, a friend once had a tiny one gallop into her barn while she was tacking up a horse- that one was determined to have been orphaned, and we worked with wildlife officials to get it cared for til it was old enough to release back into the wild via an artificial earth built on land belonging to a willing farmer.
Oh lord. I know foxes are wild creatures and should be treated as so.
But I’m having flashbacks to a certain Disney movie and wishfully thinking that all cubs must be as cute, sweet, and harmless as Tod.
Of course it probably does not help that I grew up with a mother who fed the fox population and treated them to get rid of mange. She would go drop the feed outside, give a call, and they would come, waiting about 15 feet away until she went back to the barn. If Mother was late they would stand around where the food should be, looking eagerly towards the house.
I was told I should worm him with ivermectin? I am hoping the local hunt will call me back.
It is not all that unusual to see foxes during the day. Last year after our local vixen got killed on the road, I would see her 3 kits at the edge of the woods. I put out some dog kibble and chicken parts for them about every other day and left them alone. I know 2 of them made it, as I still see them pretty regularly hunting along the ditchline between the fields.
Yes, you can worm him with Ivermectin. I injected some into the chicken parts for “my” little guys. They don’t weigh very much so don’t overdo it.
I hope you get some photos of this cute little critter. Foxes are about as photogenic as it gets for wildlife.
thanks. And I was already thinking about pictures. He is very cute. Seems to want to interact somewhat with me.
Here is an adorable little fox that was brought to my Vet’s office…http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=206113&id=360781083199
While baby foxes are cute, cute, cute…I have to caution you to be very very cautious regarding handling any wild animals…especially very friendly seeming foxes. They are a major carrier of rabies and one of the first signs is unusually friendly or tame behavior. There have been several rabid foxes, bobcats, racoons and kittens in the area.
Awww, he’s adorable! Looks a little frightened in the first photo, which turned into tired by the last photo.
How do y’all make sure you don’t overdose the ivermectin?
I’m planning to use ivermectin sheep drench on my dogs as a heartworm preventative, and I have heard all kinds of cautions about how carefully one must measure the dosage to avoid ivermectin poisoning. I think the sheep drench is 0.08 concentration.
What concentration ivermectin do you use for the foxes?
OP - I’m not too far south of you, probably. Last week the paper reported a woman being bitten by a fox. Fox later tested positive for rabies. I hated to hear it, because that means people will start randomly shooting foxes.:no: Anyway, not saying your young one is rabid, just urging you to use caution.
That baby fox is so cute!!
As for fearless foxes, they seem pretty common. I used to go out late to feed my horses in their pasture and every now and then a little fox would just be chilling out near my horse trailer. I wouldn’t even see him until I got really close and he moved a few feet away. Scared the mess out of me! I would try to shoe him away and he would just stand there staring at you until got quite close to him, then he would scamper a few feet off and turn back to stare. I considered rabies, but it’s a pretty populated area and my nan, who lives in front of the horses, is known for throwing food out “for the birds.” He wasn’t acting frightened or angry or confused, just not scared. It’s been a while since I’ve seen him though.
Foxes are pretty cool critters to have around. Helping with the rodent population and what not.
We have had a momma fox raise kits in our pasture and barn area for the past 3 seasons. I have noticed that, when she first weans them, they hang out close to the den(s). As they get a bit older and braver, they move away and seek their own territory. Sometimes 2 hang together for a short while, but mostly they seem to go it alone. Interestingly enough, I have seen the mom drop by and appear to “check on” her kits as she gradually weans them. It’s distinctly different from the way she stays with and watches over them closely before weaning. I am guessing she may just spend longer and longer periods of time away from them until they are totally on their own, but I am not an expert on fox behavior by any means. They are still pretty small to my mind even once she has totally weaned them, so maybe that is what you are seeing?
It wouldn’t worry me at all to see a young kit out in the day and fairly fearless of people. From what I have observed in the litters raised here, they do go out in the day quite a bit, particularly when first weaned and trying to find their own food. Too, they don’t seem very afraid of humans at all at that point. I think they get older and wiser very quickly and learn to avoid both daylight and people.
There has been a rabid animal in rougemont already this year so do be careful!
I too have had pairs of red foxes breeding in my area. First they denned in the abandoned and overgrown RR bed that makes my propery’s southern boundary…then they moved under a nearby abandoned house. They literally decimated my chicken flock. From upwards of 20 birds at the beginning of last summer I now have 3 hens and 3 roosters. That is including the babies I raised over the summer trying to replace the ones the fox was eating. Total of probably 2 dozen chickens lost in a single year. They think nothing of entering my barn. I’ve gone out in the morning to feed and found fox scat in the middle of my barn aisle. Rude creatures. Once the county tore down the abandoned house they were denning under they seem to have moved on. Now I have a Bobcat. :sigh:
Talk with a wildlife rehabber. In our area, I think the rehabbers are not allowed to take foxes in and rehab them. A rehabber can tell if you should put out dry dog food and worm with a very low dose of the ivermectin liquid. The ivermectin paste is too strong for foxes and can kill a fox.
We have a couple of fox families in our neighborhood. They have all been named by the neighbors. Since the foxes came to our neighborhood, our barn has not had rats and our house is free of mice. I love watching the foxes patrol the barn and circle the house. They are quite intelligent. One female figured out the we toss milkbones out to get the old, lazy dogs out for a few minutes before we go to bed. Often times, she is sitting by the back door at 11pm, waiting to get the milkbones that the overfed dogs leave behind. Our dogs are so used to various creatures being in the yard, that they don’t mind sharing with the foxes.
Enjoy your little fox. They are treasures.
I have one I named Margaret. She likes to come to the sidelines of the arena and watch me ride; sitting like a cat mesmerized by my 20m circles. I sometimes wonder if she was an instructor in a past life. she gets so focused watching me.
Fox are a welcome friend at my barn. they find mice tasty
Thanks for the tips. I put a few dog biscuits out where I have seen it drink, so I’ll see if they are gone in the morning.
I worked in wildlife rehab until very recently. We take in plenty of little ones this time of year. The problem we must be very very careful with is that at a young age they habituate VERY easily to people.
As for worming, we always used Pancur. Foodwise, we gave predominantly dogfood.
If they are young but look to be good weight, leave them be. If they look scroungy and thin, call the wildlife resource where you are or a rehabber facility and they would be able to give advice.
