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Non-flustered Foxes

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  • 15-11-2009 7:49pm
    #1
    SM01
    Registered Users Posts: 1,433 ✭✭✭


    Myself and my girlfriend were walking back from the shops earlier through a well built-up area with apartments either side of the street. It was about 5.30pm, quite dim and in the distance we saw what we thought were two cats or dogs sitting on the path about 7 or 8 feet apart but getting up and wandering around the immediate area every-so-often. As we drew closer we realised their were actually foxes (bearing in mind it was quite dark so it took time to figure out what they were). We stopped still for a minute expecting them to dash off but they just gave us a prolonged stare and then lost interest and started looking elsewhere. We walked towards them slowly and got within six feet of them, stopped and had a better look at them but they were completely unfazed and didn't seem frightened at all. If we stepped a little closer they got up and moved away slightly but they seemed not bothered by our presence so long as there was about 6 feet between them and us. They looked healthy, well-fed and were what I'd call a normal size for adult foxes (though I'm no expert!) We didn't want to push things too far with them so we left them after about two minutes of just staring in amazement. My experience of foxes up until then was that they would scarper before you could get within 100 feet of them and they are very wary of humans. Has anyone experienced anything like this before?


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    #2
    meathstevie
    Registered Users Posts: 4,772 ✭✭✭meathstevie


    Quite a simple explanation for their behaviour is that they're urban foxes and haven't learnt to fear humans. Cubs in a rural setting can behave in a fairly similar manner.


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    #3
    Jibbs
    Registered Users Posts: 65 ✭✭Jibbs


    Yeah, I see the same fox regularly on my way home from work in the early hours of the morning. I can get quite close to it, touching distance in fact. I've squated down beside it a few times but, I don't want to put my hand out to it in case I end up needing a tetnis shot although I'm sure I could touch it if I tried. A couple of weeks ago a fox strolled across the road with a dead bird in its mouth about 5 feet in front of me in broad daylight outside Lansdowne DART station. It even had the balls to stop in the middle of the road, stare at me for a few seconds and the just continue on its rather relaxed way.
    I grew up in an area where there were lots of foxes and they were a common sight but, as soon as they saw you they'd leg it. I suppose foxes have been living in urban areas for so long that they've gotten street smart and know that humans are more likely to feed them than kill them. Or just stand there and say "Look! A fox!".


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