Red foxes on my property

CoastieRon

CoastieRon

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Found that we have a family of red foxes on our property in Andover, MA. The property isn't huge (2.8 acres), and we can see our neighbors through the woods.

I'm not concerned so much about foxes being on our property, as they have been doing a good job keeping the rodent population down. However, I am concerned about how familiar they seem to be with humans.

I think the foxes we have seen so far are pups, and I don't believe we have seen the mom yet. Looks like we have 4 pups from what we have seen.

I post this in the hunting/trapping section because I'm probably going to get the best answers here. My questions are as follows to the NES brain trust:

Do I have reason to be concerned?

What can I do to mitigate contact between the foxes and my kids and the new pup that is coming next month?

Should I just let the ecology of the property run its course? (This is the first year we have seen them since we have owned the property).

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We've had a family in our 'hood off and on for years. Once in a while I see one going through the yard at dawn, but they've never caused a problem with people or dogs. Supposedly they keep the rodent population under control. The kits are fun to watch. I wouldn't worry about them.
 
We've had them around our place forever. As long as they can't get to the chickens we're fine. Never bothered the cats. Plus they cart off the squirrels and chipmunks that we shoot.

Now the coyotes on the other hand...
 
We had one in our neighborhood. Never had any problems. Don't worry about it until you see something troubling.

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If you don't have chickens or such on your property enjoy them! Advice is don't leave trash barrels open or try to feed them and you'll be fine to exist together.

Fox become an issue only when you have chickens / raising rabbits or start feeding them.
 
I've had sporadic families of red foxes for the last 6+ years, never had a problem with them except they are omnivores and will often get to the ripe blueberries before I do. They never come closer to people than what I see in your photos.

Teach your kids that these are wild animals and not dogs, don't let the kids approach or feed the foxes and you'll be fine.
 
They make an ungodly scream at times. Probably best if the family is familiar with the noises. The sound they make makes you wonder if a young child is being eaten alive. I'm not kidding.

And don't be surprised to find clusters of feathers in your yard. They love birds. And they also enjoyed frolicking in our sprinkler system.
 
richc said:
They make an ungodly scream at times. Probably best if the family is familiar with the noises. The sound they make makes you wonder if a young child is being eaten alive. I'm not kidding.

And don't be surprised to find clusters of feathers in your yard. They love birds. And they also enjoyed frolicking in our sprinkler system.
Click to expand...

I've seen the feather clusters! They are eating very well.....


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richc said:
They make an ungodly scream at times. Probably best if the family is familiar with the noises. The sound they make makes you wonder if a young child is being eaten alive. I'm not kidding.
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Yea they do... We have a family of fox across the street. They do harass the neighborhood cats. Have seen them chasing cats through my yard after dark on more than one occasion. No fatalities as far as I know - when I discussed with neighbors their cats all came home.

Look at them like this. They eat a ton of mice. Mice - are the primary transmitters of Lyme to ticks as nymphs who then pass it onto us later. So less mice - means less Lyme disease and other tick bourne diseases. So whenever I see them I just let them do their thing. They come in my yard a lot because we always have rabbits around too. But again - never had a problem with a fox. They're around here a lot. I think they're cool looking. But their cry/scream is blood curdling...
 
A couple of years ago we had two families of foxes...at dusk the mom would sit at the edge of our lawn and the kits would come out and "hunt" on our lawn. One would stalk the bug? grasshopper?...then the other would jump on the sibling's back...and a "fight" would ensue! ;^) No issues with them...and they eventually moved on. (Only one issue...the one thing...the next morning we would find dead moles/mice/snakes from them....)
 
We had a red fox family some years ago. One by one, they were eaten by... something. We'd find what was left in the morning. [frown]
 
Fox are friendly critters...

We have a bunch of them around the house...

You just need to keep an eye on them for Mange or Rabi's...

I had one with real bad mange that I took out because it was starting to go mad...

I get a lot more Bears than Fox in my area... We get a lot of Dear, Turkey, Porcupines and Owls in my yard...
 

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fencer said:
They will likely stay as far away from you as they can. I would not be at all concerned
Click to expand...

I have two that have been living on my property but don't seem to bother much. The fish and game told me that they dont want anything to do with people or pets but if I wanted to get rid of them to put a radio near their holes or a rag soaked in bleach. Said they would move along since they really dont want anything to do with people either.
Decided to just leave them alone. I like seeing them every now and then anyway.
 
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They're no longer kittens! My wife took this pic from her seat in the minivan last night. We had left our property and hit the Flying Goose for some grub and to give my mug a work out. There were two foxes, one was on the other side of the barn out of shot


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