What to do if you find Fox Kits close to your Home

Foxes out and about during the day

By Wayne G. Barber
Foxes have a natural fear of people. If you see one outside during the day, it's no cause for alarm. He will usually run away from you as soon as he detects your presence.

• There's no need to worry if you see a fox outside during the day—he is most likely just looking for food. If not, the fox has probably learned to associate people with food (likely because someone has been feeding him), and may exhibit a boldness or even approach you. These foxes can easily be scared away by making loud noises such as yelling or blowing whistles, dousing them with water houses or squirt guns or throwing objects such as tennis balls toward them. 

Here are a few facts to put the presence of foxes in your yard in perspective:

• Foxes are not dangerous to humans, except when they are rabid (which is very rare) or when they are captured and handled. Even then, a fox’s natural tendency is to flee rather than fight.
• Foxes may prey on small pets or livestock (such as rabbits, guinea pigs or chickens), so pets should be kept indoors or housed in sturdy structures.
• Foxes will also eat various fruits, but they usually do not bother garden vegetables.
• Sometimes foxes are blamed for damage they did not cause, such as when they are spotted eating from spilled trash when neighborhood dogs or other animals were responsible for the overturned trashcan.
• A fox cutting through your yard is probably just passing through on his way between hunting areas and no action is necessary on your part. Hunting areas and no action is necessary on your part.

  Fox den under a porch, deck or shed

  Both red and gray foxes dig dens mostly for raising kits, but also to use as shelter from severe winter weather.
  
  
  
  
  Dens under porches, decks or sheds are not uncommon in urban areas. If you find a fox family in an inconvenient spot, consider allowing them to stay until the young are old enough to begin accompanying their parents on foraging outings.   At this point they are nearly ready to say goodbye to the den site and move on for good.
  Fox kits are born in the spring, usually in March or April, and you’ll see them emerge from the den four or five weeks after birth.
  At nine weeks, they will begin to hunt with their parents. That’s the moment to watch for, as it is then safe to encourage them to leave the den site if there is reason to hasten their departure.

     Mild harassment (scare them away) If you need a fox family to move on sooner rather than later, harassment may encourage an earlier move. Here are a few humane harassment options once the kits have emerged:

• Loosely pack leaves, soil, or mulch in the den openings to disturb the residents.
• Place urine soaked kitty litter, a sweat-soaked T-shirt, a pair of smelly sweat socks or old sneakers in or near the den opening.
• Mount shiny party balloons or 12-18 inch lengths of Irri-tape mounted on sticks or poles two or three feet off the ground, just outside and around the den entrance. These tactics are most effective when they are used in concert as part of a comprehensive plan to encourage the foxes to move on. The purpose of these techniques is to make the parents uncomfortable enough to move the litter to a more secure location. Once the den has been abandoned, make sure all the kits are out of the den before any permanent exclusion is put in place.
  If the den site is under a porch, deck or shed then it will remain an attractive denning area, and not just to foxes. Foxes are excellent diggers, so the best defense is to bury an L-shaped footer of hardware cloth around the perimeter of the area you are trying to exclude.
  

  Scare devices and repellents

  If you want to prevent future denning activity in certain areas where foxes are not welcome, try one or more of these humane, yet effective, approaches:
  
  • Using noise-making devices, such as transistor radios or motion-sensitive alarms.
  • Installing a motion-activated sprinkler.
  • Using a loud voice or banging on a pot or pan.
  If you find a Deer Fawn leave it alone, Mom is probably gathering food and the fawn has very little scent for predators. If mom is hit by a vehicle or taken by coyote after two days call your State Dem. for a retrieval and wildlife rehab sanctuary.