A few weeks back, there was a fox drinking from the birdbath in my front yard at mid-day, and he was covered with mange. We haven’t seen that particular animal since, but just this week, we have seen two more foxes, this time in our back yard, and again, at or near mid-day. One was a grown fox with a full coat, while the other appeared to be a younger animal with a touch of mange.
In both cases, the foxes snuck through a hole in our fence and went to the back of the yard to feed on scattered bird seed. I guess a fox will eat whatever is available, but I know they much prefer a fresh mouse kill.
As we have mentioned our fox sightings to friends, each one had said, “Oh yeah, we see them all the time, or the neighbors down the street have seen them.” All sightings have been red foxes.
There must be a whole lot of foxes around, but I find it unusual to see so many in the daylight hours.
Like another wild creature, the deer, foxes have obviously learned to adapt to human environments. Biologists say that foxes in urban areas can live much longer and survive with smaller litters than foxes in non-urban areas. While fox attacks on humans are rare, they routinely kill poultry and other small livestock. Anybody with a hen house is definitely anti-fox.
Foxes typically breed in the winter, but perhaps they are out early, checking around.
Funny, that I could go 30 years and not see a fox in my yard, then see three within in a couple weeks.