Fox pups are out.

[Idaho45guy]

Been having fun watching a fox family raise their pups at work. My work has a sprawling campus of about 200 acres of different engineering and manufacturing buildings and cameras everywhere.

We were getting overrun with rabbits this past year and a hawk and an owl appeared to help out with that problem.

Then, a couple of foxes showed up a few months ago and have been fun to interact with. I have had them run by me late at night while I'm out walking around our campus.

Then, a few weeks ago, we spotted 4 pups and located their den, which is under a cargo container in a small field. This morning, I drove over within 50 yards of the den, got out of my car, and just stood and watched the pups play. I would whistle at them and they would act like they were curious, but didn't come over. The parents just kept an eye on me but let the pups continue to run around.

My dad had stories of hunting camps in Alaska and the Arctic foxes would come into camp and take food from his hand.

I don't raise chickens and don't have any pets, so I love the foxes. But I understand they can be a deadly pest for others.

This is an image from one of our cameras of an adult and a pup nearby. It's a picture of a picture of a crappy camera. Sorry...

Attachment 282638

[wch]

I'd rather the foxes over coyotes; shoot the coyotes and let the foxes run.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

I and some friends were camped in the area were Patton trained a tank army in 1942. It's called Fords was and it is very remote. One night we were standing around the camp fire drinking coffee and a kit fox came up, looked us over and left. One of the men had made a stew that didn't go over too well so he poured it on the ground. The fox must have come back during the night because the stew was gone the next morning. No doubt we were the first humans that fox had seen.

[Ural Driver]

I'd rather the foxes over coyotes; shoot the coyotes and let the foxes run.

......yup........

[lightman]

They are a pretty animal. I had a grown one run across my yard a couple of weeks ago.

[Rickf1985]

I have a few that wander around my property at night. Sometimes if I am out early enough I will run into them in the back yard and I will sit there and talk to them. They sit a few feet from me with ears cocked and heads twisting around and after a while they get bored and wander off to go to bed. Story of my life.
Don't see them out to much during the day but occasionally you will see one chasing a field mouse and that is downright hilarious. They sneak up on it and launch three feet in the air and pounce. 50/50 success rate but they never quit.

[MaryB]

Rabies vector here... when the skunks are having a rabies outbreak foxes don't seem to have it much, when skunks are in a normal year foxes seem to have the rabies outbreak...

[Winger Ed.]

We have a pair that live in a uncleared lot next to us, and makes 2-3 more fox each year.
They're fun to watch, and the neighbor on the other side feeds them.
Sometimes late at night they'll let out the most blood curdling screams I ever heard.

[toallmy]

Yes indeed Winger Ed it sounds like someone is getting skinned alive when they call . I have a couple Sheba female dogs that look like plump red fox that seam to attract the local fox .

[Minerat]

Sometimes late at night they'll let out the most blood curdling screams I ever heard.

We hear that sound when they get a neighborhood cat and it is the cat screaming. Sounds like someone is being murdered except you find a dead cat with no guts.

[nagantguy]

Well I do t mind the foxes until last year they decided to declare my chickens an all you can eat pot stop. Family of red foxes and a family of grey Fox- which the Grey are fairly rare until a little farther north of my AO. So since our chickens are out good and fertilizer factory and our eggs pay for all the animal feed and vet appointments for the coon dogs well they lost.
And as Mary noted since I’ve been running a chicken ranch I’ve seen as many or more Fox with rabies then any other critter so I was hesitant to turn the dogs out on them-

[MrWolf]

First time I was in a tree stand after dark getting the lay of my property and heard a fox scream. Would have sworn it was a child screaming if I hadn't already been told what they sound like. Scary as hell in the middle of the woods.

[Gator 45/70]

Foxes around here are very rare, Coyotes have been moving in for years.
One thing all of us around here agree on is everyone will blow a yote away, They kill to many animals that we like to eat.

[wv109323]

We have two gray foxes that we feed popcorn at dark. They are very regular and most of the time you can call them like dogs to come and get their dinner. You can get 5-8 feet from them if they are hunger and you got food.

[megasupermagnum]

There is no shortage of fox in Minnesota. They killed plenty of chickens, and we shot or trapped enough of them. It seems to be the same here in South Dakota. My particular property doesn't seem to have hardly any coyote, but a number of fox. I've got one rather photogenic fox that I keep getting on trail camera. Here is a picture from about 2-3 weeks ago during our last little snow. Middle of the day too. I've noticed a lot of animals here in SD have no issue wandering around in open daylight, and in open country. You never see this kind of thing in MN, especially deer wandering out into open farm fields in the middle of the day.

[Dunross]

We have both reds and grays here though I only see them once in a while.

When my youngest was maybe three she told me she watched an "orange dog" bouncing off one of the chicken tractors. Being that she was so young at the time I didn't give a lot of credence to what she said until I saw it for myself the next day. A red fox vixen would run and jump up to bounce off the side of the tractor. Of course the chickens inside would panic and bounce all around inside, but I had built that thing with predators in mind so they could not get out nor could she get in. She gave it up after a few tries convinced her it wouldn't work. I know they are here, but have never found it necessary to shoot one.

Racoons, on the other hand, I am at perpetual war with and they do not allow themselves to be seen during the day.

[1Papalote]

Seen over a dozen foxes on 90 acres. Figure that to be excessive. Govt trapper says to thin them a bit. Cottontails and quail can't seem to take hold. Had a pair raise 2 broods then they disappeared. Seen a 2 turkey hens with 3 poults between them last spring. Finally saw a jack rabbit last week, first in 2 years. Coyotes are seldom seen but bobcats and foxes are a common encounter.

[bakerjw]

If a fox gets into a chicken run, it will get a hold of a chicken, run off an bury it before coming back for another. They can clean a run pretty quickly.
ANY animal messing with my chickens gets shot even if it is a fido. I had a dog get in a run a few years back and killed a dozen good laying hens.
With only a coule of exceptions, the laws regarding the protection of livestock here in Tennessee favor the livestock owner. This likely goes back into the 1800s when the loss of livestock could mean starvation for families.

[knifemaker]

This one we named Foxy. She would come in every evening and sit in the drive way until I put out the dried dog food for her. She would allow the wife and I to get within 6 feet of her without moving away.

[robg]

i like foxes ,only shoot them if they are causing problems with livestock.