Would a fox eat a cat?

[shiloh]

In my experience out here where I live - no. However…

I have a lot of red foxes in my area and about a month ago one came through one night and was hanging out at an abandoned house about 100 ft more or less from my house. He stayed there howling and yapping for about 30 minutes and I heard him later in the evening on other parts of the property. In the morning one of the outside cats did not come for breakfast. Long story short we never saw the cat again and all I ever found was two shreds of fur and what I’ll just call “something else.” (Miss that cat - he was very sweet.)

Since mating season is coming apparently and the weather has been warmish I hear foxes nightly around the property but none of the other cats have disappeared.

Could this have been a one-off? Could it have been something else? We haven’t had coyotes here in a few years.

[kasjordan]

They absolutely will.

[Calamber]

Yes, they will, have lost a cat that way.

[Hiddenspot]

I watched our barn cat chase a fox away and boy was he scared. BUT I attribute this to an unusually smart and tough barn cat. Normally I think the fox would win.

[oliverreed]

Yes, they certainly will. Saw a neighbor’s cat just barely win a race with a fox - cat made it under the porch in the nick of time. I don’t let mine out any more.

[jen-s]

In a heartbeat.

[NoDQhere]

I think it depends. We have foxes here. The vixen will come into the yard in the middle of the day, walk past numerous cats and grab a chicken. (She is quick, I stop her if I can) Every Spring she raises her family, and thins out my flock of chickens, but I have never lost a cat.

I think a lot of the time foxes get blamed when it is owls.

[AKB]

In our neighborhood, all of the barn cats were fine despite a healthy fox population. When coyotes moved in, not only did they kill a lot of foxes, but they decimated the outdoor cat population. I have not seen an outdoor cat for a year. Most of the coyotes moved on a few months ago. The fox population is rebounding. It will interesting to see if people get new barn cats. The foxes do better job of rodent control than the barn cats did, so i am not missing the roaming feral barn cats.

[MadeYaLook]

I think a lot of foxes get blamed when it is a coyote.

[Nezzy]

[QUOTE=MadeYaLook;7965053]
I think a lot of foxes get blamed when it is a coyote.[/QUOTE]

THIS

[GotGait]

A rabid fox killed two of our barn cats.

[Nootka]

I have seen a fox in Virginia chase a cat. That said… I think Coyotes are way more to blame.

[shiloh]

Oh, for sure I know coyotes will kill cats - they wiped out our entire population (14 cats) in less than a week at one barn I boarded at. I admire them, they are interesting but I don’t want them anywhere near my place because they are so awful that way. I hear them howling far, far away in the foothills nearby. I hate when I hear that yip-yip-yip they do as a group because I know they’ve caught something. shudder…

I like the foxes and I love that they are around but now am concerned that maybe I have one that may have developed a taste for kitteh. No-one else (knock on wood) has gone missing but they all seem to be savvy whereas missing kitty was too sweet and trusting.

[Big_Tag]

The foxes I have seen around here are not really much bigger than a cat. In fact, growing up we had a big indoor/outdoor male and he had a little fox “buddy” and they would be playing in the yard around dawn (the fox’s yapping would wake us up), and it was most definitely playing, not in any way aggressive/predatory. This was an abnormally large cat, but he was considerably bigger than the fox, who I suspect was an adolescent.
I love foxes, and by happenstance today had a very unfortunate run-in with one; he was huddled up against a neighbor’s front door, covered in mange. I called the police and they came and shot him; I felt horrible but the poor little guy could barely walk and looked terrible

[JanM]

I think it depends on the size of the fox. Around here they are mostly gray, and big. In Colorado (we had a family that raised three little ones right behind the library) they were usually red, and not really big.

Of course, I’m sure a nice, plump chicken would be the preferred meal over a better equipped fighter, such as a cat.

[JBD]

http://youtu.be/jofNR_WkoCE

What does the fox say?

[shiloh]

Well, I know one kitty he won’t be eating. I looked out my kitchen window at about 5pm and there was Rocky Cat sitting on top of the back barn at the very peak of the roof. Don’t know how he got there but I don’t think he’s a contender for a snack unless an eagle came by. lol!

[Calamber]

We had no coyotes where I lost my cat, and I heard and saw the fight.

[beowulf]

I think it depends. Most areas, a fox is about the same size as an adult cat.

Here, no – I’ve seen and witnessed many cat-fox encounters. Feral cat colony here is not threatened by the fox, but the coyotes will dive in and skim off the stragglers. A few times the farm next store bought big bags of kitty food for the colony in the winter – fox would come along and do exactly what is in the video below - VERY amusing.

Fox are largely opportunistic. If you’re letting your kitten plod around in the woods, that may be a decision reconsidered especially near vixen dens. But an adult cat is fast (if not faster) and much more intrepid a climber. Most opportunistic predators don’t want to expend energy for a fast meal and would rather stick to something easier like mice. Not to mention a fox can lose a fight with a cat. Fox don’t deal much damage to things their size – they have a hard time fending their kits from other predators.

Here, the most common culprit is owl.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPDEGF9OAFo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBTFJf11RDc

[JanM]

Actually, here in Alabama hawks are a big problem (they’re huge), and in NM we had a lot of issues with newcomers who let small dogs or cats run around outside. People warned them, but they still let them out alone. I’m sure that your kitty will be fine on the roof though. That’s a funny picture.

A friend who did rescue with a breed rescue group was walking a bunch of Papillon pups (spelling), and the hawks flew circles over the group on every walk. He or his wife always went out with them on potty breaks, because of the hawks.