Super User RoLo Posted May 25, 2015 Super User Posted May 25, 2015 Every spring during the mating season, red fox appear in our backyard. From early April thru August, they can be seen 'every' evening around sunset, as many as five reds at a time. Unfortunately, I have to shot the photos thru a glass pane, which compromises image resolution. We also have Cougars in our neighborhood (locally known as Florida Panthers), Bobcat (was a roadkill 1/4 mile from our house) & Coyotes. If I get the opportunity to snap any other wild cats or wild dogs I'll post them up. Roger 8 Quote
Super User F14A-B Posted May 25, 2015 Super User Posted May 25, 2015 There they are! Awww, poor baby's are just wanting some strip steak & fries... Look at those tails. Nice pics Roger, thanks for posting! 1 Quote
Super User A-Jay Posted May 25, 2015 Super User Posted May 25, 2015 Very Cool ~ btw - nice Flatties in your avatar there . . . . A-Jay 1 Quote
Super User whitwolf Posted May 25, 2015 Super User Posted May 25, 2015 Very cool pics. Rolo! It seems this year there Is an abundance of wildlife out and about. I see deer, turkey, an occasional fox, and a ton of rabbits almost daily! Edit: I have also seen an abundance of snakes this year. It's kind of spooky in that I have seen at least two dozen copperheads in all kinds of places. I have only killed one as It was on my deck. 1 Quote
Super User RoLo Posted May 25, 2015 Author Super User Posted May 25, 2015 There they are! Awww, poor baby's are just wanting some strip steak & fries... Look at those tails. Nice pics Roger, thanks for posting! You got it skip, every night I put a little supper aside for the fox ;-)) I got a couple shots of the kits, but they didn't come out very well (they're chest high to mamma) Quote
Super User RoLo Posted May 25, 2015 Author Super User Posted May 25, 2015 Very Cool ~ btw - nice Flatties in your avatar there . . . . A-Jay Only a striper jetty-jockey would recognize summer flounder Roger 2 Quote
Super User RoLo Posted May 25, 2015 Author Super User Posted May 25, 2015 Very cool pics. Rolo! It seems this year there Is an abundance of wildlife out and about. I see deer, turkey, an occasional fox, and a ton of rabbits almost daily! Edit: I have also seen an abundance of snakes this year. It's kind of spooky in that I have seen at least two dozen copperheads in all kinds of places. I have only killed one as It was on my deck. I agree with that. In central Florida this has been a banner year for bald eagles, Everglades Kite and big rabbits in my wife's garden. I erected a bluebird nest-box in 2008 (7 years ago), and this was the first year it was finally occupied. No, not by bluebirds, but the red-bellied woodpeckers enlarged the aperture and great crested flycatchers called it home ;-)) Just yesterday my wife & I watched each of their 5 young in turn, take off from the nest-box. Incredible experience! A copperhead on your desk?! That is definitely where I'd draw the line Roger Quote
Matthew2000 Posted May 25, 2015 Posted May 25, 2015 Very Cool ~ btw - nice Flatties in your avatar there . . . . A-Jay More importantly look at that hair. Quote
EvanT123 Posted May 25, 2015 Posted May 25, 2015 Very cool. My co worker was attacked by a rabid fox and it was her worst nightmare. Not to mention the coy dogs that used to come looking for the dog when he was a puppy. They are beautiful but keep them out of my back yard. 2 Quote
Matthew2000 Posted May 25, 2015 Posted May 25, 2015 What does the fox say? Ring ningningningningnringnininginging Quote
Super User Raul Posted May 25, 2015 Super User Posted May 25, 2015 Very cool Roger. BTW, be careful with them Cougars, who knows, maybe they are after a tasty mature gentleman like yourself. 1 Quote
Matthew2000 Posted May 25, 2015 Posted May 25, 2015 Very cool Roger. BTW, be careful with them Cougars, who knows, maybe they are after a tasty mature gentleman like yourself. What kind of Cougars we talking about here ? Quote
Super User RoLo Posted May 25, 2015 Author Super User Posted May 25, 2015 Very cool. My co worker was attacked by a rabid fox and it was her worst nightmare. Not to mention the coy dogs that used to come looking for the dog when he was a puppy. They are beautiful but keep them out of my back yard. Thanks Evan, and I appreciate your well-founded concern. In Georgia, we were visited every night by raccoons, opossum and gray fox (no red fox because is was heavily forested). Throughout our 6-year stay in the Georgia hills, we were continually warned about rabid raccoons. As it happens though, the biggest transmitter of rabies are pet cats running wild. The local farmers in Rico, Georgia would shoot every feral cat they encountered, which might account for the negligible instances of rabid raccoons in our bailiwick. In any case, I have seen a rabid raccoon, and they're pretty easy to identify. The 1st red flag is seeing a nocturnal animal during the day. The 2nd red flag is a scruffy looking, unkempt animal. If the animal doesn't flee from your appearance, that raises the 3rd and most important red flag. Here in Lake Wales Florida, I'm not aware of a single documented case of fox-transmitted rabies. On the other hand, scores of people have been killed on US-27, which is just 13 minutes from our home. Roger Quote
Super User RoLo Posted May 25, 2015 Author Super User Posted May 25, 2015 Very cool Roger. BTW, be careful with them Cougars, who knows, maybe they are after a tasty mature gentleman like yourself. Thank you, I'll bear that in mind I would imagine that most of the residents in our community have seen red fox, but cougar sightings are rare & coveted. As an interesting aside, the favorite food of Florida cougars used to be armadillo, but loss of habitat due to construction caused the armadillo population to collapse. Today, the cougars living in Florida consume about 4 times as many feral hogs as armadillos, a very welcome outcome Roger Quote
Super User Dwight Hottle Posted May 25, 2015 Super User Posted May 25, 2015 Nice photos Roger. 1 Quote
Super User F14A-B Posted May 25, 2015 Super User Posted May 25, 2015 Speaking of feral cats, I saw 2 coyotes ( one with a busted leg ) just a few weeks ago hunting after a 7" snow, ( in my cut corn field ) it was a amazing scene, after about 20 minutes of playful tag.. The heathy coyote nailed the cat. Even viewed from 200 yards away they ( coyotes ) were impressive. On rabies, my dad spoke of this as being a problem in the 50's however I believe it's a rare occurrence these days.. 1 Quote
Super User RoLo Posted May 25, 2015 Author Super User Posted May 25, 2015 Speaking of feral cats, I saw 2 coyotes ( one with a busted leg ) just a few weeks ago hunting after a 7" snow, ( in my cut corn field ) it was a amazing scene, after about 20 minutes of playful tag.. The heathy coyote nailed the cat. Even viewed from 200 yards away they ( coyotes ) were impressive. On rabies, my dad spoke of this as being a problem in the 50's however I believe it's a rare occurrence these days.. That had to be a fantastic show, one I'd love to witness. I see coyotes only occasionally, maybe twice a year in the orange groves. Roger 1 Quote
Super User Bankbeater Posted May 26, 2015 Super User Posted May 26, 2015 Every once in a while I will see a coyote, or a fox when I leave for work. The foxes usually take off, but the coyotes are not to worried about being seen. They just kind of put their head down and keep going on their way. Quote
Super User RoLo Posted May 26, 2015 Author Super User Posted May 26, 2015 Every once in a while I will see a coyote, or a fox when I leave for work. The foxes usually take off, but the coyotes are not to worried about being seen. They just kind of put their head down and keep going on their way. How true. The difference in their nervous energy can also be seen by the difference in their physique. If you made a circle by joining the tips of your thumbs & forefingers, the circumference would be similar to a mature fox. Roger Quote
Super User F14A-B Posted May 26, 2015 Super User Posted May 26, 2015 Several years ago, during the spring season I would call coyotes. Not with a coyote call per se, but rather a turkey call ( slate ) twice, over 20 years that happened. Both times, I had no clue I was being stalked by a coyote.. I mean 60 feet away! I moved & got busted. Makes perfect sense when one thinks about it. They attack my neighbors cattle all to often, mostly in January then at calfing season.. Believe me, it's blood curdling to hear it. I've also witnessed during turkey season as well, a pack chasing a doe whitetail about to drop her fawns. I tryed to ward off the attack, I'm certain, to no avail though.. I miss the Fox around here, the coyote ran them off or killed them off. At any rate I do miss them. The coyote is king around these parts. On a lighter note, in the mid to late 70's we use to refer to a really good looking gal as a fox! Or foxy.. Go figure, lol 1 Quote
Super User RoLo Posted May 27, 2015 Author Super User Posted May 27, 2015 Good read. Now you've got me rethinking my desire to have coyotes in my backyard (I'd surely miss our fox) This evening, shortly after sunset there were two reds feeding in the backyard when an opossum lumbered in (a black jack). The fox sat still and watched the opossum amble around the yard. The goofy opossum nearly bumped into the fox before finally noticing the fox, and the fox never flinched..LOL One day while crow hunting in Flemington, NJ, I was using a crow in distress call and inadvertently pulled in a gray fox. That day I was experimenting with a low power scope taped to my shotgun. Though it worked okay for shooting crows, I could not find the fox in the scope. In desperation, I ripped the dang scope off my shotgun but by that time the fox was history. The next time I returned to that woodlot I brought my Burnham Brothers fox call. Although the call of a crow in distress pulled a fox, the call of a rabbit in distress drew a blank Roger 2 Quote
EvanT123 Posted May 28, 2015 Posted May 28, 2015 Thanks Evan, and I appreciate your well-founded concern. In Georgia, we were visited every night by raccoons, opossum and gray fox (no red fox because is was heavily forested). Throughout our 6-year stay in the Georgia hills, we were continually warned about rabid raccoons. As it happens though, the biggest transmitter of rabies are pet cats running wild. The local farmers in Rico, Georgia would shoot every feral cat they encountered, which might account for the negligible instances of rabid raccoons in our bailiwick. In any case, I have seen a rabid raccoon, and they're pretty easy to identify. The 1st red flag is seeing a nocturnal animal during the day. The 2nd red flag is a scruffy looking, unkempt animal. If the animal doesn't flee from your appearance, that raises the 3rd and most important red flag. Roger Roger, My co worker was attacked and bitten multiple times by the fox while mowing her lawn. The neighbor had to fend it off with a weed whacker. It was ultimately dispatched by another neighbor with a .22 You are right about the cats my buddy was attacked by one late at night in his driveway. He had to go through the rabies treatment as well. Not fun from what I hear. About 10 years ago there was a big problem with rabid raccoons and when my old man found out the neighbor was feeding them it wasn't a good scene. We have skunks, cats, fox and raccoons here in the city. I call them hood animals and they are daring and fearless and the last thing I want is the big boy tangling with them if he doesn't have too. 1 Quote
EvanT123 Posted May 28, 2015 Posted May 28, 2015 ...and it never hurts to have a bulldog around. Even if they are not real ones Quote
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