Month: January 2017

Foxes will often come in close to humans to raise their young , choosing the lesser of two perceived evils- human danger or coyote danger.  Because they compete for the same food source, a coyote may kill young foxes to make sure there is plenty of food for her own pups.  Foxes  will often choose to have their pups close to humans, where the coyotes are less likely to find them when they are very  young.  As the pups get older, usually around June or July, they are more able escape a coyote on their own, and the coyotes are too busy raising their own families to bother much with foxes anymore. At this time, the young foxes will leave the safety of the yard for more wild places.  soon after that, usually starting in September, the foxes will disperse, often travelling more than 100 miles to find a new territory.

Watching a fox family grow up is a very safe, entertaining and educational way to enjoy Spring and part of Summer.  Before you decide to evict the family, consider allowing them to rent your space, and in turn, you and possibly your neighbors will have a rodent free yard and what will most likely be your best gardens ever.  In addition, you may also be able to take some very beautiful photos and cute videos!

A healthy fox family won’t hurt children or pets.  The most a protective action a parent fox might take is chase a domestic cat that gets too close to her babies back to your back deck or up a tree.  Foxes don’t want to kill or eat your dogs, cats or kids. The average fox rarely tops 11 pounds. It is very important to know that a mother fox will hunt all times of the day and night.  Often the male will leave early on, leaving the female to work very hard, hunting 24/7  to bring back food for her growing pups.Unfortunately, humans who don’t know this will be alarmed to see a fox running through their yard during the day and sometimes extreme action such as shooting the mother fox will be taken, creating orphans.  Because momma foxes are often crossing roads more often, sometimes she will be hit by a car.  If this happens, a trail cam to make sure that the pups are indeed orphaned will help to determine what action to take if any.  Often orphaned pups are old enough to survive and leave on their own.  Contacting a knowledgeable Wildlife Rehabilitator at this time can help determine the best course of action.

If you choose to convince the foxes to move, the earlier you do it, the better.  The older the family gets, the less the female is sensitive to interference.   Because a mother fox is concerned about coyotes, using coyote urine in the area will make her think a coyote is around.  It is very likely she will move her pups within days to a new secret location far from the “marked” area.  Sprinkle the coyote urine around the den area. Again, the younger the pups are, the more effective this is.

Putting a foreign object such as a chair  near the den may also help convince mom that her den has been discovered.  However, keep in mind we don’t want to frighten her too much so that she isn’t comfortable retrieving her pups and we want to make sure she has a clear and safe entrance and exit to get them out one by one.  Often simply increasing your activity in the area works.  Don’t be afraid to use your deck, mow your lawn, do your gardening.  Mother foxes aren’t aggressive protectors like grizzly bears. The most they will do is stand at a distance, watching you and bark a warning for her pups to take cover  because danger is near. This is not a warning to you, it is a warning to her pups- YOU are the danger.

Balloons are very scary to foxes, especially  when they move in the breeze.  Punch balloons, sold as children’s toys are inexpensive and  hardy and when a small handful of beads or pebbles are placed inside them before inflated,  they make scary noises too! When placed appropriately about 2 feet off the ground, they will discourage a fox from coming into or traveling through your yard.

Hiring a Nuisance Control company to trap and remove the foxes rarely works out well for the foxes or your pocketbook.  Only the very young will be captured, and usually only a few.  The parents will not be easy to catch, and relocation is not going to work. Most likely all that will happen is the fox family will be fragmented or destroyed and you will spend a lot of money. “Relocation” of a fox family by a trapper is not realistic, so please don’t fall for that.  You will be wasting your money.   As suggested earlier in this piece, to convince the female to relocate her own family using one or all of these methods mentioned  is the most effective and humane way.

Most likely, the family will be gone by late June or July. Foxes only use a den to raise their families, and the rest of the year, they are nomads, napping  under trees and wherever they find a quiet place.   If you don’t want them back again next year, mid-July is the time to do repairs and permanent exclusion from the area with strong fencing, concrete block, or rocks.  This will prevent not only  foxes, but skunks, raccoons and woodchucks from using the space to raise their young.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We don’t need to tell anyone how deadly and dangerous snares are for all animals , both wild and domestic.. This beautiful male red fox got caught in an improperly and illegally set snare trap. The wire cut deep into his neck as he ran with the device until the stake got snagged on a fence.  He was discovered by a homeowner who called for help.  the wire was cut off of his neck, but not before significant damage was done.  Though the fox was free of the wire, it had dug so deeply into his neck that nerve damage affected not only his eye, but his trachea. Because of the nature of this damage, he had to be humanely euthanized.  Did you know that there is a bill currently being sponsored  by the trapping associations to legalize these horrific snares in New York?  What a step back this would be.  

Please watch the YouTube video at the end of this article to see the treatment outlined on this page being used on a Red fox on Long Island- watch his transformation from sick back to healthy again!

I often get calls and e-mails from people who have a Red fox around that is acting lethargic or unfearful of humans.  They will stay close to houses and will eat under the bird feeders, seek refuge under decks and often lay in the hay in barns.  A scruffy, thin appearance usually indicates that the fox has Sarcoptic mange.

Sarcoptic mange is the name for the skin disease caused by infection with the Sarcoptes scabei mite.  The mites are microscopic and can’t be seen by the naked eye.  Female Sarcoptes mites burrow under the skin and leave a trail of eggs behind. This burrowing creates an inflammatory response in the skin similar to an allergic reaction.  The motion of the mite in and on the skin is extremely itchy, as is the hatching of the eggs. This creates a further allergic reaction and more itching, loss of sleep and reduced immune response.  Loss of fur, scaly skin and a general unthrifty appearance is characteristic of a Sarcoptic mange infestation.  The condition worsens as a skin infection sets in.  The foxes immune system is even more compromised and internal parasites (tape, hook and roundworms) begin to take over and absorb any nutrients that fox may find.  Mangy foxes are usually starving in the late stages.

These foxes are not a threat to people, dogs, cats, etc.  They are close to people and buildings because there may be easy food such as cat or dog food left out in dishes, bird seed, garbage, insects, worms, roadkill and a mouse or two.  They are also losing their ability to thermoregulate  and need protection from wind, shade, sun, whatever the present need of the body is.  Mangy foxes (and coyotes) often seek out a pile of hay to lay in. Hay seems to relieve the itchiness and provide a source of comfort.

Sarcoptic mange is treatable if the animal is treated in time before the process of organ failure begins. The drug of choice is inexpensive and easy to obtain. Although it is an “off-label use” according to the FDA, Ivermectin injection for cattle and pigs is a very effective cure for Sarcoptic mange in foxes.  This injectable solution works orally and can easily be slipped into food. The ivermectin also treats a lot of the intestinal worms and any ear mites. The catch is this: it kills the mites living on the skin but doesn’t kill the eggs.  These eggs will hatch and reinfect the fox, so it has to be administered many times to kill the mange mites that hatch after treatment.  A  less expensive injectable version of Ivermectin such as Ivermax 1 %, Agrimectin or Noromectin 1% are all readily available online and in some farm stores.  I strongly recommend treating Red foxes very aggressively, giving them the Ivermectin every five days for the first three weeks. After the first three weeks, you can dose them every ten days.  Be sure to treat them for at least 4-5 weeks.  A daily feeding station using dry cat or dog food can be set up to facilitate the administration of tasty treats laced with ivermectin.  Frozen all beef meatballs with no spices work great and when they are warmed up, are easy to inject the medication into. A spoonful of canned cat food, a hard-boiled egg, a chunk of cooked chicken or a section of hot dog can also easily be injected with the ivermectin.

Frequently more than one fox or wild animal is coming to your yard.  I recommend injecting several different pieces of food with 0.2 ml and tossing them in different directions, at least 100 feet or so apart, in the hope that one animal might find one piece, but not the other.  Ivermectin is fairly safe, and if a fox happens to get more than one dose in a day, it will be fine.  Meatballs work great for this! Be sure to use the meatballs with the least amount of spices (Italian style meatballs are too spicy!)

Figure your fox weighs 10 lbs, so give him 0.2 mL for each dose. Many people think they are much larger, but they aren’t. For young foxes in April or May you can cut the dose in half.  You will need a large needle to draw the solution out of the bottle because the solution is rather thick.  Ivermectin is a non-prescription product and available online through Amazon.com   Here is a link and a picture of the products I  recommend:

  Agri-Mectin is a generic injectible ivermectin available on Amazon.com  It comes in a 50 Ml bottle for roughly $32  it contains enough Ivermectin to treat hundreds of foxes, so it will be plenty!  When you purchase the Agri-Mectin or any other bottle of Ivermectin, it comes with a rubber stopper that you will need a syringe to draw the liquid out.

Here are the best blunt needles and 1 mL syringes available on Amazon.com  to use :  1mL Syringe with 18Ga 1.5″ Blunt Needle and Plastic Needle with Matching Cap (Pack of 10) .  They are a 1mL Syringe , so you can easily measure 0.2 Ml, just draw the ivermectin to the “.2” near

WARNING:  Use ONLY the INJECTABLE Ivermectin NOT the “POUR ON”, as the agents for carrying the pour-on through the skin are highly  toxic if ingested! If anyone tells you differently, they do not know what they are doing!

WARNING! Ivermectin can be deadly to collies and mixes of collies, Make sure that Border Collies, Shelties, Australian Shepherds, smooth and rough collies and mixes of these dogs do not have access to the medication or treated food

Of course, other wildlife might get to the food before the fox does, so try to use your judgment and administer it the best way that will target only the fox.  Placing a leaf or a little grass over the baited food will lower the risk of it being seen and eaten by crows.  Using hard-boiled eggs will decrease the chances of the food being eaten by cats. Ivermectin is a pretty safe drug and won’t harm most wildlife.  Some breeds of dogs can be very sensitive to it, particularly the collie family and Australian shepherds. Don’t use ivermectin if there is a chance a collie breed might eat the bait.   Use extra caution around domestic animals.  They use Ivermectin in third world countries to treat different things, such as scabies in humans.  Ivermectin is also used to treat dogs for mange, and it is also a good wormer for many animals.

UPDATE: a prescription pet product called Bravecto can also be used, and only takes one single dose.  Figure the dose for a ten pound dog/ fox.  Give only once in a small, warm meatball or other item the fox will eat.  One Bravecto will  cure your fox and protect it for 3 months.  For a coyote, use a piece representative of a 30  or 40 pound dog/coyote.  Nexguard and Simparica , another  two prescription products can also be used, again, by weight, but two doses, one month apart are best. Some people put their pets on these products for the summer, and often, a little piece to save a fox can be broken off first before administering it to your dog.  Just a thought… Most vets will not prescribe e medication for a fox to you.

Bravecto Chew for a dog , a piece for a ten pound dog. Can be divided from a larger chew. For example, the 22-44 lb size can be divided into 4 pieces and treat 4 foxes!   Can be purchased without a prescription outside of the USA online!!!   One single dose will treat the fox, and protect it for three months.  Slip the piece inside of a nice warm meatball.

https://www.bestvetcare.com/bravecto-for-medium-dogs-22-44-lbs-green-pack-103.aspx

Select topical products Advantage Multi and Revolution can be obtained from your veterinarian and used to help protect your domestic dogs from picking up mange in the grass surrounding your property.  I have found Advantage Multi and Revolution to be very effective preventatives for mange in dogs, but very ineffective cures for mange, unless applied every two weeks during the month for at least 6 weeks.  I apply Advantage Multi  to all my foxes just before they are released back to the wild as a preventative measure for them.

Can people get mange? You bet, but it won’t live and reproduce on your skin.  It will give you one heck of an itchy red allergic reaction if you are sensitive to mange mites though.

Please watch the beautiful short video on Youtube made by a gentleman on Long Island who was able to videotape his treatment of a Red fox with mange in his back yard. He used the treatment outlined above.  Below that find a new video made by a gentleman named Jim about how he treated his fox “Mangey” as well. Thank you for taking the time to make and send us the videos!