This Red Fox kit thinks he is a cat. 
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Red Fox Family
- Thread starter MoonstoneWolf
- Start Date
Thats pretty cool...they are a lovely animals except if you have chickens.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #3
Yea I'm sure. I remember back in the 60s a lot of my Grandpa's bantee chickens were killed by a red fox. Seems up here though even the coyotes don't bother the cats. I guess like most other species they are opportunistic eaters and unless they feel threatened, protecting their young or hungry they'll go the easy route of left over pet food.
My niece had rabbits and their hutch was big and heavy and required 2 people to move but foxes were able to pull it out from the wall and get the rabbits inside..we were quite stunned.
I was once feeding a stray cat on the terrace. I never managed to get close to her but, she used to come by every evening and ate a lot! She started coming in the winter, and in the spring 5 hedgehogs joined her. And then a fox! We thought it must have been a vixen because once she brought a dead pigeon with her, laid it aside, ate the cat food and then took the pigeon off to her cubs?
It was an interesting time. The cat knew when the fox was around so sometimes wouldn't appear till past midnight. The fox ate everything that I put out, coming back for second helpings when I filled up the dishes for the cat too soon. The fox would sometimes come by when the hedgehogs were eating. They used to annoy her by letting her feel their prickles against her back legs!
Eventually the hedgehogs left one by one. Adult hedgehogs are solitary hunters. In winter I left the garage open, and put the food inside. The fox was rather nervous about going inside but hunger made her brave. Once spring came around again, she disappeared. Rumour has it, that a fox had killed a child's pet rabbit, so was shot.
The cat also stopped coming. Although I searched everywhere there was no sign of her. I was quite upset, as were my own indoor cats. They used to watch out for her and let me know when she was around, but they soon gave up looking.
It was an interesting time. The cat knew when the fox was around so sometimes wouldn't appear till past midnight. The fox ate everything that I put out, coming back for second helpings when I filled up the dishes for the cat too soon. The fox would sometimes come by when the hedgehogs were eating. They used to annoy her by letting her feel their prickles against her back legs!
Eventually the hedgehogs left one by one. Adult hedgehogs are solitary hunters. In winter I left the garage open, and put the food inside. The fox was rather nervous about going inside but hunger made her brave. Once spring came around again, she disappeared. Rumour has it, that a fox had killed a child's pet rabbit, so was shot.
The cat also stopped coming. Although I searched everywhere there was no sign of her. I was quite upset, as were my own indoor cats. They used to watch out for her and let me know when she was around, but they soon gave up looking.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #6
I hear all these horror stories and it seems that most of these animals are opportunistic eaters. If food is available (and trust me with 10 feral cat colonies and caretakers in a 16 block radius here) there's always plenty of food. We've had coyotes come and go never harming the cats, a gaze of raccoons which are still here, possums, barred owls, bats, groundhogs, the foxes, wild turkey and recently black bears. Not one of them fight or attack each other and checking with my local feral society they told me that a feral cat stands more of a chance getting injured fighting another cat or getting hit by a car then from any of the other critters. Trust me, I'm observing this now as it's an ongoing battle between Treasure and Cooper. All cats here have been TNRd a couple of years ago so I suppose they still want to establish their territories.
Sadly it was misinformation that led me to be fearful of those raccoons last fall until the moderators pointed me into the right direction. Oh and since all of these animals practically live in my backyard, a day doesn't go buy that I don't walk past one with not being harmed. The raccoons have let me walk inches away and just ignore me now. Are there other colonies in your area? Maybe someone saw the cat and took inside? That happened to Ambrose after being on the streets for 6 years, he found a home with a neighbor up the street.
Sadly it was misinformation that led me to be fearful of those raccoons last fall until the moderators pointed me into the right direction. Oh and since all of these animals practically live in my backyard, a day doesn't go buy that I don't walk past one with not being harmed. The raccoons have let me walk inches away and just ignore me now. Are there other colonies in your area? Maybe someone saw the cat and took inside? That happened to Ambrose after being on the streets for 6 years, he found a home with a neighbor up the street.
