Foxy lady

Posted on August 22, 2005 by Gene

There are some foxes here on Communications Hill where I live; last night I was out for a walk and saw the female. She was being fed by one of my neighbors, who also put out a large bowl of water and some dry food for her.
I’m not quite sure whether this is a good thing or not. I can certainly understand the temptation to try to care for wild animals; I hear through the grapevine that this neighbor has even picked them up and taken them in to get rabies vaccinations.
But almost any animal expert will tell you to keep your distance. And here’s what the Foxes.org website has to say:

… the animals, if fed regularly, will come to depend on humans for their food. They won’t starve if you stop feeding them, but they will be hungry and unafraid of people, and could get very aggressive in approaching other people.

I don’t know a lot about foxes, but I am somewhat skittish about having wild animals roaming around the neighborhood; enough that I generally won’t walk Diego farther up the hill after dark. Last night, I carried him rather than let him walk.
Amazingly, I haven’t seen a single squirrel since I moved to California…