Fox Living Under My Shed

[Sam]

I have a female red fox, covered in mange, living under my back yard shed.

 

She may have a litter of pups under the shed for all we know. What we do know is:

1.  She is used to people and not scared of them.

2.  She hunts in daylight hours.

3.  Today, as my wife was turning her car into our garage the fox sat about 25 feet away under an oak tree watching the car, not afraid of the car or my wife.

4.  Lady down the road is in charge of the Richmond Animal League and my neighbor to my left is going to ask her if there is any medicine we can give the fox to kill the mange.

5.  The beautiful red male fox is not with her as far as we can tell.

6.  The female fox has had fights with our neighbor's cats. Neighbor went outside when he heard the commotion and the female fox ran away. His cat is OK. Fox does not fool around with dogs.

 

Wife wants the fox removed and relocated by the City of Richmond Animal Control, and I told her we do not want to relocate the fox if she has pups or we have to pay to get her removed.

We cannot legally shoot her, nor would I allow anyone to shoot her with an arrow or rifle.

And I am against trapping her under any circumstances.

I have no problem putting medcine to cure the mange in food and liquid items for her to eat and drink and wait for her to vacate the shed.

So what are your suggestions as to what we need to do with the fox?

Thanks for your input. Looking forward to everyone's suggestions.

[TOXIC]

Tough one.  I’d be more concerned with rabies than mange.  

[12poundbass]

Double edged sword. If you give it medicine in the food it’ll be accustomed to you feeding it and it’ll stick around and be even less afraid of humans. 
 

If I remember right, mange isn’t deadly to the animal just makes it itchy and miserable. I also think it’s treated with a topical ointment. 

[BigAngus752]

When I was very young my dad taught me how to find foxes in the wild.  If you know you are near a fox den, all you have to do is randomly turn around every few minutes.  I've caught foxes following me 2 dozen times this way.  That's just how curious they are. 

 

I, personally, would leave her alone.  She poses no threat to your family and may rid the neighborhood of some cats (which is a plus in my book), but to each his own.  Here is some excellent advice:

https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/what-do-about-foxes

 

[gim]

17 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

Double edged sword. If you give it medicine in the food it’ll be accustomed to you feeding it and it’ll stick around and be even less afraid of humans. 
 

If I remember right, mange isn’t deadly to the animal just makes it itchy and miserable. I also think it’s treated with a topical ointment. 

I would agree with this. It’s a wild animal even if it’s become used to a suburban environment. Do not feed it. Mange is not fatal. Once colder weather arrives, it often goes away. All the better if it picks off a stray  cat or two.

[813basstard]

The ol lady was a fox a one point…now, more of a timber wolf. 

[Koz]

I just saw an episode of North Woods Law the other day and they put down a fox with mange because they said it could not be treated.

[12poundbass]

It can’t be treated on a wild animal. There are two types of mange as well and a skin scrape is needed to determine which type it is. 

[Bird]

Can't speak for foxes but mange does kill bears.

Had a black bear die under our deck last year of mange.

I'd likely not intervene though.

 

 

[clayton86]

I treat mange every fall with doses of 25gr, 35gr or 62gr HPs………. Hate getting mangy ones but doing them a favor before winter hits em 

[TnRiver46]

I doubt you can legally relocate a fox in VA , either live with it or kill it. I can’t legally relocate one in east TN, and that’s with the proper permit.  Joe homeowner can’t relocate any critters legally but of course does and it’s not a big deal 

[GreenPig]

If my wife tells me she's uncomfortable with it, it's dead. Period. My wife's a country girl and loves animals of all kinds, so if it comes to that point I'll drop the animal. 

[Koz]

3 hours ago, Bird said:

Can't speak for foxes but mange does kill bears.

Had a black bear die under our deck last year of mange.

I'd likely not intervene though.

 

 

I have to ask - what do you do with a dead black bear under your deck? Does DNR remove it?

[Bird]

@Koz

Pulled it out from under the porch with 4wheeler and discarded.

Had already been in contact with DNR about the bears condition.

[padlin]

We can tell when the fox are here or have left based on the rabbit population, no rabbit left, the fox leave.

 

Personally if it bothered me to the point of wanting it gone, it’d be hav-a-heart time, same as with skunks. Here it’s either leave em be, or kill ‘em, Environmental Police told me they are considered a pest, and you can’t relocate a pest to someone else’s property. Of course, who would be the wiser if they disappeared from here and somehow showed up on state land somewhere.