VetClick Discussion Forum

I did the same and gave cat / dog food , i have changed to house table leftovers mixed with a little watery gravy soaked in bread and mixed , i have two visiting a younger comes about 10/11 ish and a larger one visits about 2 am onwards. i have a cat of my own and he did'nt touch it at all .

Hello ben, my wife and myself have been seeing a rather young and skinny fox around our street for a few weeks now, last nite my wife watched from the window as i put a leftover chicken carcus out for it, it was over eating it within moments of me leaving, It was great to watch, We want to help it as much as possible, how much and how often should we feed it?

Please please do NOT leave chicken carcasses for foxes to feed on!!!!!!!
we did this for a couple of years as we have foxes in our garden that we regularly feed. One night we could hear awful screeching kind of noises from foxes but we could not see where they had come from..but chicken carcass had gone.
Next day we were horrified to find a small fox dead on the side of our garden and remains of some chicken carcass next to it. We were devastated and buried it in our top garden. We assume it choked to death on a chicken bone.
Just like you cannot give house pets cooked chidken bones you cannot give them to foxes.
FOXES CAN EAT RAW CHICKEN CARCASSES BUT NOT COOKED AS BONES WILL SPLINTER IN SHARP PARTS when chewed and can cause death as we so tragically found.

I now separate any bits of chicken skin, and other bits that are not going to be eaten by our family but would be nice for the foxes and put it out without any bones.
We give ours family dinner left overs, dog or cat dried and fresh food, bread crusts and butter..please do not give them anything containing chocolate either as it can be poisonous to both cats and dogs.
We currently have some lovely cubs in the garden and several adult foxes..they are all beautiful and never cause us or our cats any problems. In fact our cats have tried sweepign at the foxes and the foxes have in every case appeared submisive to the cats! We also have a beautiful badger, hedgerows, squrriels and some beautiful birds...we feed and love them all and feel so priviledge to have them around.

My wife and I started to feed a vixen that kept coming into our garden last summer. She looked very frail and pathetic. We fed her tinned dog food mixed with Pedigree Mixer and after a time her health clearly had improved, so much so that she gave birth to four cubs which for a time lived under our garden shed. While they were very "cute" when small, they became a nuisance in spoiling many garden plants. They now seem to have left, but the vixen remains and comes regularly for her food, sometimes twice a day. She has now introduced a dog fox and we wish to discorage them both from being regular visitors, as we fear there will be another family of cubs next spring.. Would your advice be to buy a cat scarer that makes high pitched noises humans cannot hear? I know I can block the route they take to enter the garden, but they are very resourceful - I once saw a fox walk across the road and without altering its speed it walked up a fence that was 6'6" high.

I have trees at bottom of my garden for 19years i have seen tracks in my garden for couple of years thought nothing of it but last march i saw a fox sat in garden about 12noon just sat in sun well november i saw a red fox but the other one is grey i know its a den for them as you can see the exit where they go in and out could they have cubs in den know i keep putting food out for them bacon fats extra what else can i give them not sure wether they will go for me or not i have watched them from bedroon window im worried as i live in a council house and one day they mite tell me to cut down trees what am i supposed to do anybody help please they are not hurting anybody and what else can i feed them .

How tiresome these people are. james b with his surburban paranoia over fox attacks and germs. For goodness sake, it's a smallish mammal not a pack of wild lions. Isn't it better that a child grows up with a love of nature and a fascination and respect for wildlife?

Children should be robust, not wrapped up in cotton wool. I grew up in the countryside where we were bitten by dogs, chased by cows, fell out of trees, and played in all sorts of bacteria ridden filth. I'm still here at 50. So forget your neat lawn and fences. Dig a wildlife pond, leave wild areas in the garden, and get some bird feeders, hedgehog houses etc, Then relax and enjoy the show that nature puts on. Yes, you might have to remove a few droppings - but look what you get in return.

As for Pest Go - well isn't it a better world where we try and do the best we can for our fellow living creatures? Foxes have an incredibly hard lives - hunting (which still goes on illegally), shooting, traps, traffic accidents, starvation and mange to name but a few. We have destroyed much of their habitat and food sources - is it surpsrising that a starving fox will take a lamb or hen? They are just trying to get by - and where help can be given, I think it's the least any civilised person can do.

This morning I was charmed to see a fox eating bird seed in the garden. But when he moved off I saw he had a large injury on his back and had lost the lower part of his back leg. I will put out food to try and help him. Yes, I know he will probably not survive as he will not be able to hunt, but I'd rather be the sort of person who tries to help rather than the mean spirited, selfish types like james b and pest go.

I have a family of foxes in our garden mother and 5 cubs. What can I do to help them? What shall i feed them?

hallo there was just reading your story re: feeding fox it seems a little unfair to put a cat scarer in place when you encouraged it to feed in the first place ! the fox has become reliant on you ...this in turn takes away its instinct to hunt its become lazy ... maybe you could try feeding it irregularly couple of times a week itll soon get the message and move on just like a domestic cat if the neighbours feed it ...it will quite happily go there ...stop the feeding and it will come back home

Hello reading your post i could see why you fed the orginal fox, but feeling a little cross you did not look ahead, you encoraged wild life into your garden, you gained trust from a wild animal, the fox trusted you! only to now face being scared off by a cat scarer! the poor fox will wonder what on earth is going on, surely you should have all thought this out, if you cant carry on with the care you should have not started in the first place, you should have looked at the bigger picture and left it to nature, i pack feed every single night and have done for three years i never over feed just offer a little to help, the foxes are quite happy to eat and then on hot summer nights sleep for a while right next to my car, i never hand feed, i dont want them to trust anyone to that degree! the pack has increased but they do sort the family out and extended family about five in total now i started with one, i dont feed them in my garden they are in our park near our home, i started for the same reason as you and your family did, as i walked my dogs 4 of them, a little fox used to be about ten steps behind, skinny little vixen, she is still around and looks stunning she is now on her second litter i can call them, and all five will collect up round each other up within 15mins and come for their food, if i go away for the weekendi have to get someone else to drop the food for me, so all i would like to say is you would not buy feed you dog then scare it off! i can not see the difference they are alive they live they trusted you really it' an honour for them to have trusted you!

Hi! I'm doing a work about rehabilitate a fox with mange and I can't find idetailed information on assessment for release and preparation for
release and barrier nursing.
Can someone help?

Please could you advise:
We live on the edge of a large wooded valley and have had foxes (and cubs) in the garden since we moved in 10 years ago. Our current pair have raised 3 cubs which I have been feeding scraps and cheese to every night, to help them along. The adult male has now gone, but we now have 3 healthy cubs (2 female, 1 male) who wait for food each night, along with the mum. We have a large building site across from us which used to be green meadows so they have obviously lost some of their territory, but I have seen them further up the valley when I've been out walking.
Am I doing the wrong thing by continuing to feed them, now that they seem healthy young adults. I don't feed large amounts, (even the largest of scraps don't go far between 4 of them) but they hang around the garden a lot, even in the morning when I put bread out for the birds, and I'm worried that I am making them dependent on the little I am giving them. I have noticed that their faeces is small, but I can't believe that they have grown so healthy on what I am giving them, so would I really be doing any harm by continuing?
Is there a fear that they will become too tame, as they now associate the front door opening, with food, so they do tend to congregate (sometimes in a semi-circle which is very comical, as if they had their bowls out waiting). They never come within 20 foot of me and run away when I throw the food out, only to return once I turn away.

Hi Phil,
For mange get Arsenicum from Holland and Barrett and put a few drops on bread every night. In a week or so your fox will show signs of improvement and with the mites killed the coat will grow back . I have treated three with this and it really works and is harmless. Good luck! Best wishes Cynthia. Tunbridge Wells. Kent.

Hi

I have foxes coming into my garden but find it hard to tell the sexes. I can stand about 10 ft away from them when they are feeding but still can't tell the only difference is one will sit to ear. They only come on there own so its hard to see them together but the one that sits to eat seems smaller.
We live in the middle of nowhere with only cow fields and forestry land around us but we still get cats eating the foxes food. So we wait till the fox turns up then take his food out to him and wait till he finishes that way the cat only get his/her left overs, then repeat when the other one turns up. We love seeing them and don't mind the little presents they always leave.

Hi.
Both foxes and badgers visit my garden every night. There are three distinguishable foxes and I get very concerned about the smallest one, which limps and is easily scared off by the badgers. I call this fox Flo; she survived the awful Winter that we had last year in the North West, but I would like to know if there is anything I can do to assist her through the coming Winter. I would be grateful for any advice that you can give in relation to Flo's well being.

I have seen a fox three times in the last week. (I presume it may be the same one). I had some out of date eggs and put three by a hedge. By sheer chance I couldn't sleep and looked out of the window at 4.30am and it took the eggs. I was thrilled. I know not everyone loves them but they are such handsome creatures. I got a bit of chicken for my elderly cat today and I shall put some out (not bones of course) tonight. I just love wildlife.

I was searching as to what foxed eat when I came across this site. I have been lucky enough to see a fox regularly in the past week.

I have been putting food out( discreetly) as not to annoy any neighbours who may not like it!

This is a very informative forum. I will be looking on here regularly.

I noted that foxes eat Markies so intend to get some. I also put eggs out which the fox took. Do they eat the shell? It appeared that he was carrying the eggs in his mouth. (It was dark so not too sure about this).

Carol

i have been feeding a fox in my garden for a couple of weeks iv called him spike last night i was fox calling and a fox responded its was a amazing!!!

I have a fox that keeps coming into the house when the door is open. It is very cheeky and comes right up to me. I have fed it but I have never tried to pet it. Now I am a little worried that he may come in when my 6 year old grandson is here and from what I have read on other sites may attack. It has never shown signs of aggression I don't mind for myself but should I stop feeding it just incase, or I am over reacting?

I have foxes in my garden every night.....a vixen and her 3 cubs. Last night about 12:30 the cubs were making a lot of noise which annoyed one of my neighbours and he let his dog out to get them. The dog chased the cubs down the road; thankfully it didn't catch any of them.
I just wondered if it was legal to set a dog onto fox cubs just because they are noisy?

I do leave some dog biscuits out every night and watch them come to feed, which is a lovely sight for me and my grandchildren. They are very wary and always run away if they spot us.

You should never allow foxes into your home or hand feed them. They are wild animals and If feeling trapped or surprised at sudden noise could react aggressively. They may start to approach other people / children who may be frightened. Please do not encourage this behaviour as it can only end badly for the foxes.

Hello All

Do any of you still feed foxes? Im just doing some research - would be good to know!

Thanks

Fern

A Fox came into my Garden today. I scared it away because I did not want the Fox to make a habit of entering my garden. I feel very bad now as the poor thing struggled to get away.

There has been a fox in my back garden tonight and he has been trying to get my rabbit and my rabbits was getting angry and scary what should I do to stop the fox doing that

What a group of kind-hearted, sensitive people are you. I am so used to hearing gun shot that my heart mourns for the wildlife I am so blessed to see on our property. Sometimes, I feel as though I am of another world and am one of a minute number of individuals who have any compassion for other species beside my own. For the first time, I saw a magnificent red fox scampering across the snow to a wood pile. Others have spotted fox but I had never had the fortune to witness this lovely creature. Thank you all for your sweet words (and advice). I no longer feel I am alone with my love for animals, or as some refer to them as 'vermin.' Merriest of this holiday season.

Hi Guys
Just wondering what to do. My garden has an old railway embankment at the end and runs along the bottom of everybody's garden on the street (I live on a terraced street). I have seen a lone fox for the past 3 weeks on and off now on the embankment just behind my neighbours fence so decided to investigate a little....behind the fence has been used as a dumping ground with a dining table and lots of hedge clippings on top. I assume this would me an ideal 'home' for the fox. The fox seems a little smaller to me, is it right for a fox to be alone this time of year? Or do you think it may be a female looking for a place to have her cubs? Just want to keep an eye on it to make sure its ok.
Thanks guys

I am feeding a vixen and her 2 beautiful cubs.

I have been feeding a lovely fox who i have named rudi for the last 2 years and am lucky enough to have gained his trust to be able to hand feed him.how lucky am i ? Oh what a joy to see him every night x

Hi
Is it ok to leave raw chicken out for a fox or is it best to cook it

Thank you so much for this tip. I have 2 foxes that I feed every night and they live Markies and the cats leave them alone 😊

i have a fox that comes into my garden every night, the poor thing has a bad leg and carries it all the time. I put out dog food and biscuits together with any dinner scraps. Also any left over bread soaked in gravy seems to go down a treat.