# Finally caught the thief...



## KaptJaq (Jun 17, 2012)

We have had some items disappear from the barbeque grill and/or off the table. Finally caught the thief today!





When we were setting the table we heard something in the hedge. Went inside and watched. This little guy popped out, a red fox kit about 3-4 months old. A little skinny but looking healthy. He has developed a taste for chicken. I guess he was waiting for me to put the meat near the grill. Tossed him a boneless breast and he devoured it whole. The problem is he does not have a fear of my children. He walked to within 10 feet of them before I scooted him off.

Last year we had a red fox with two kits in the woods behind our house. This year I saw her in March with a big belly but not since. I hope she is OK but he looks like he might be orphaned and learning on his own. I called one of the local wild life rehabilitation centers. He promised me some info on how to make sure this little guy grows up wild.

KaptJaq


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## fishingpol (Jun 17, 2012)

Nice picture.  That is quite a smart looking kit.


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## rottiman (Jun 17, 2012)

Do yourself and him a big favor.  DO NOT FEED HIM, your are signing his death warrant when you do.


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## KaptJaq (Jun 17, 2012)

rottiman said:


> Do yourself and him a big favor. DO NOT FEED HIM, your are signing his death warrant when you do.


 
Why do you think I called the wildlife rescue people? This little fox has no fear of the children, he was walking right up to them. He is probably surviving on stolen pet food. At this rate he will be hit by a car before he is a year old.

Last year, when there was a mother and two youngsters, we would watch her teaching them to hunt and to stay clear of humans. We had to watch through the windows. As soon as we were outside they were gone. She was with them most of the summer. This guy is on his own and needs help. He is a little too skinny for this time of year.

The rescue folks will be here Monday to evaluate the situation.. They may have to trap him, bring him to rehab to teach him to hunt mice, then release him.


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## ScotO (Jun 25, 2012)

we had problems with a couple of red foxes a few years back.  Looked quite healthy, and had no fear of coming out of the woods, across the field, and into our front yards in broad daylight, while the kids were out playing.  A couple of months later the signs of mange appeared on those same foxes.  I had to put them down, they were just getting too close and by the time I terminated them they were COVERED in mange.  Rabies and mange will take fear and reason out of a wild animal, and that is a dangerous thing esp. when the kids don't understand the risks.


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## Adios Pantalones (Jun 25, 2012)

Right on Scotty. I am very "live and let live", until a danger appears. That and pests. Once or twice a year I have to have a discussion with a few gray squirrels and woodchucks.


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## ScotO (Jun 25, 2012)

Adios Pantalones said:


> Right on Scotty. I am very "live and let live", until a danger appears. That and pests. Once or twice a year I have to have a discussion with a few gray squirrels and woodchucks.


Me too, AP.  I am an animal lover through and through, I am also a hunter and only kill something if I plan on eating it.  But once in a while, conditions warrant eradication.   When I put an animal down that has mange or another disease, I always bury the carcass several feet underground so other scavengers don't eat at it and get sick.


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## begreen (Jun 25, 2012)

I'm with ya Scotty, but I kill slugs and I ain't eatin them.


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## fossil (Jun 25, 2012)

Oh hell, how different can slugs be from snails? Except you don't have to deal with the shells (which is all a sham anyway with Escargot...the snails are ripped from their shells & sauteed, then the cooked snails are stuffed back into the cleaned shells so you have the pleasure of digging out their little corpses with a tiny purpose-made fork in order to smother them in sauce and eat them. Yes, I've had them more than once). Enough butter & garlic on a well cooked slug, you wouldn't even know what you were eating other than butter & garlic. If you want, you could probably stuff it back into a cleaned shell of some large snail or something and have the tactile satisfaction of getting it back out with a little fork to add to your gustatory experience.


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## ScotO (Jun 26, 2012)

fossil said:


> Oh hell, how different can slugs be from snails? Except you don't have to deal with the shells (which is all a sham anyway with Escargot...the snails are ripped from their shells & sauteed, then the cooked snails are stuffed back into the cleaned shells so you have the pleasure of digging out their little corpses with a tiny purpose-made fork in order to smother them in sauce and eat them. Yes, I've had them more than once). Enough butter & garlic on a well cooked slug, you wouldn't even know what you were eating other than butter & garlic. If you want, you could probably stuff it back into a cleaned shell of some large snail or something and have the tactile satisfaction of getting it back out with a little fork to add to your gustatory experience.


Fossil......YUCK!


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## tfdchief (Jun 26, 2012)

Scotty Overkill said:


> Me too, AP. I am an animal lover through and through, I am also a hunter and only kill something if I plan on eating it. But once in a while, conditions warrant eradication. When I put an animal down that has mange or another disease, I always bury the carcass several feet underground so other scavengers don't eat at it and get sick.


Scotty, As I read this thread and your post, I thought back on my life. I hunted avidly for 35 years. I lived for hunting season. Now, I don't hunt anymore. I get watery eyes when I have to put an injured animal down. I just lost my stomach for killing any living thing. Hell, I don't even cut down live trees if I don't have to. I don't know why, maybe 34 years in the emergency services and all the pain and suffering I have witnessed......don't know for sure. Sorry for my aimless rambling......beautiful fox!


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## ScotO (Jun 27, 2012)

tfdchief said:


> Scotty, As I read this thread and your post, I thought back on my life. I hunted avidly for 35 years. I lived for hunting season. Now, I don't hunt anymore. I get watery eyes when I have to put an injured animal down. I just lost my stomach for killing any living thing. Hell, I don't even cut down live trees if I don't have to. I don't know why, maybe 34 years in the emergency services and all the pain and suffering I have witnessed......don't know for sure. Sorry for my aimless rambling......beautiful fox!


 Chief, as I get older I get more and more like you.  When I started hunting as a kid, I lived for that trophy, I waited and waited, learning to pass up on 'lesser' deer to wait for that big one.  Fast forward 27 years, I just enjoy watching them frolic in the woods more than actually killing them.  I don't enjoy the killing part, but I do love eating venison and I like the satisfaction of knowing I hunted, harvested and butchered my own food.  But I am getting less and less interested in the killing part, in fact I don't really like that part at all.  Probably the reason I have passed up so many deer in recent years, I just hate to kill them anymore.  Same with trees.  I don't cut live trees unless it is a tree that a client wants cut down.  And believe me I have tried (believe it or not MANY times) to talk a client OUT of cutting down a tree.  It's kinda sad because it takes so damm long for one of those magnificent plants to grow to a large size, and only minutes to bring it to an end.  Thanks for reminding me some of the important things in life, Chief.  I'm glad to know you and I enjoy your input here on Hearth.com!


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## tfdchief (Jun 27, 2012)

Scotty, Thanks. Feeling is mutual.


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## Adios Pantalones (Jun 27, 2012)

I haven't been hunting in a few years. I'm in the strange position where my wife wants me to get back to it because I enjoyed it so much (and she likes venison).

Like you guys- it was more about what I saw in the woods, and there was serious excitement having deer that close! Most of my hunting success was just in seeing coyotes, foxes, and owls at dusk. That's what I miss most- that and the ritual of the whole thing. Maybe I'll get out the smoke pole this year.


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## ScotO (Jun 27, 2012)

Adios Pantalones said:


> I haven't been hunting in a few years. I'm in the strange position where my wife wants me to get back to it because I enjoyed it so much (and she likes venison).
> 
> Like you guys- it was more about what I saw in the woods, and there was serious excitement having deer that close! Most of my hunting success was just in seeing coyotes, foxes, and owls at dusk. That's what I miss most- that and the ritual of the whole thing. Maybe I'll get out the smoke pole this year.


You said it AP!  I stay with it for the enjoyment of time in the woods, and because my youngest son is nearing the age and he wants to do it too.  That is a whole new chapter of memories that I am looking forward to.


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## James02 (Jun 28, 2012)

Didn't know we had fox on L.I.....Is that Suffolk?


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## ironpony (Jun 28, 2012)

here in central Ohio, we have all the critters running the woods. like you guys I love being out there seeing everything. so one year I decided to hunt deer. found a good spot on my property, within no time a big doe (#140s dressed) walked in, shot it, never felt worse. had a friend gut it and butcher it. never hunted again.
still spend lots of time in the woods watching creatures. back on topic,
we have several dens in the field out front along the fence row, have 6 or so kits a year out there.


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## savageactor7 (Jun 29, 2012)

Because of the unusually mild winter I ended up withdrawing wood from the way back wood pile. We just throw our split wood into huge 10' high piles with its resulting nooks and cranny's.

Seems I disturbed a mother fox that continued to hang around and mope about for about a week then set up home in one of our remote log piles and have 3 babies. They're very nice looking and the wife has started feeding them dog food down there. 

I see them running around during the day but don't know if that's a good thing or not. I remember reading a post here about a fox family setting up housekeeping in someones backyard and was wondering if there was any negative fallout?


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## ironpony (Jun 29, 2012)

we have them out front, they do not seem to bother anything. run and play at all different hours. I set the game camera up in the backyard regularly and have pics of a fox in the kiddie pool we put out for our dogs. wife also likes to throw out some dog food once in a while to give them a treat.


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## Adios Pantalones (Jun 29, 2012)

I'd advise against the dog food- the kits disperse and if they associate food with people- that's when they get into trouble/get killed. We had exactly that problem where I bought my first house.


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## save$ (Jun 29, 2012)

I have no problem killing slugs.  But that is about as far as I go.  My two labs chase away the woodchucks, rabbits etc.  my son shot a deer in the woods next to us.  He and his family ate it, but I didn't have any taste for it.
When I came home from Vietnam, I couldn't have a gun in the house.   I have no problem with those who do, and I defend individual right to own them.  Just not for me.


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## KaptJaq (Jul 4, 2012)

James02 said:


> Didn't know we had fox on L.I.....Is that Suffolk?


 
I live in Huntington township (western Suffolk) and have been seeing Red Fox on my property for the last four or five years.  Out east they are everywhere.

KaptJaq


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## Adabiviak (Jul 7, 2012)

Just shoot them with a camera instead of a rifle if you need an excuse to go out stalking animals without the kill. No seasonal restrictions, no limits, and no species is off the list. You still need to be able to track and creep up on them, which for me is most of the fun. The local deer and bear here are like rats, so I don't understand what the local thrill is with a 'real' hunt, but I would be seriously impressed with a close-range, in-focus picture of a fisher, mountain lion, or the ultimate shot: the one lone wolverine making tracks here in California.

That said, nice picture of the fox (even though it basically posed for you). I see them fairly often here, but usually as they are darting out of sight.


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## savageactor7 (Jul 7, 2012)

No more feeding the foxs...just say'en.


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## ScotO (Jul 7, 2012)

savageactor7 said:


> No more feeding the foxs...just say'en.


 it'll be in yours' and the foxs' best interest.....


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## firefighterjake (Jul 9, 2012)

save$ said:


> I have no problem killing slugs. But that is about as far as I go. My two labs chase away the woodchucks, rabbits etc. my son shot a deer in the woods next to us. He and his family ate it, but I didn't have any taste for it.
> When I came home from Vietnam, I couldn't have a gun in the house. I have no problem with those who do, and I defend individual right to own them. Just not for me.


 
My dad was a Vietnam vet and when I was a teen I asked him why he didn't hunt any more like he did when he was younger . . . he said the same thing as you . . . he had enough shooting and killing . . . didn't have a problem with other folks doing so, but it wasn't for him.


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