Fox’s

Try Urban Foxes - Wildlife Management

I'm exactly the same, but I can understand if somebody isn't comfortable with them in their garden too.

Yes, they are fascinating creatures. At the start of this year I noticed a fox regularly came in across the front garden at night time (we live in country side). Then we noticed she used to approach one of the patio doors at the rear at night and look in at us, not sure who would get the bigger fright when we noticed her through the glass.

I googled was it appropriate to feed wild foxes and apparently it is, so we feed her very night. Some nights I can hear her rustling in the shadows waiting for the food and other nights it could be 4:30 am before she comes to eat the food. I place the bowl of food just under one of the cctv cameras so we can check her if the kids ask. I have been within 3-4 feet of her and it was amazing, she seems to be quite relaxed in our company.

Just last week I noticed her in the garden one morning about 10 am. I went out and gave her some food and she came and ate it just beside the window. She finished and spent about 15 minutes sitting half way down the garden. It was amazing to see.

My Vixen turned up with a boyfriend so I have had to buy double chicken :)

Just another cat that showed up for a free feed from the farm down the road. 😉

He would come around for a feed and was pretty fearless. I had my phone and wondered how fearless and stretched out my hand while awkwardly taking the photo with the other. Last seen a year or so ago with a vixen friend off out in the dark, possibly with offspring, then unfortunately he stopped coming around. Poor things don't live long in the wild - a couple of years in his case I'd guess, but can live 24 or so years as pets.

Not sure what to make of that website. From the language, they don't seem to be very wildlife-friendly, nor have much love for foxes. Not sure if they are the good guys some might be led to believe they are. Have a nasty feeling they take the foxes away and just kill them.

I'm surprised that he'd not getting hassled by the cats! Usually, cats are quite territorial and will get all uppity with a fox if he comes into their garden and bully him away. The only time I've seen foxes and cats get along is (similar with dogs) when they have been raised together from a young age etc so have gotten used to each other's company.

We have a Fox that visits us on occasion. He likes to leave a dump in our garden. We have about 8 pigeons who are eating every berry off every tree in our garden and leaving nothing for the other birds.

How do I train the Fox to eat the pigeons?

Hunting doesn't control foxes. As soon as you remove a fox, you provide a vacant territory for the next one to move into.

A few years ago I was doing a night course in TCD and was absolutely astonished to see a fox walking though the campus as calm as you can be, not bothered at all by all the people all around. I've often wondered how they got right into the city centre and somehow survived there. Pheonix park maybe?,though thats a long way to TCD.

There was a fox that was constantly seen on Grafton Street during lockdown. I wonder if they have a den in Stephens Green or Merrion Square Park.

Did I say this? I didn’t

Foxes are in populated areas for a reason: they find food (rubbish bins, rats, people feeding them)

In normal circumstances (no human impact), the fox population should fluctuate with the prey population. A lot preys, the fox population will go up. Foxes eat them, the prey population goes down which brings down the fox population.

Humans feeding foxes breaks the natural cycle because even if the preys are scare, the fox population doesn’t go down.