gonzo

Actually, I can help curbing that yearning to keep cuteness, lol. Just like racoons (which are adoreable as well when young) the fox changes personality upon reaching sexual maturity. They get defensive and growl a lot. I had a girlfriend back in HS that kept two in her backyard. She wound up with two dependant, growling, hostile adults that didn't know how to fend for themselves in the wild and had no fear of human.

I've bottle raised I don't know how many hundred baby racoons and squirrels in my day. Due to various circumstances there were a couple 'coons I couldn't release until late, and man did they get feisty! I had one exception, but he was severely retarded: Petie. I knew at 3 days old Petie would never make it on his own, so I had the Vet neuter him. Petie could climb up on his cage, but he couldn't reason out how to climb down..that kind of retarded. He litter trained beautifully, and he had the run of the house with my dog. I wish you could have seen them play! Petie got HUGE (see pic below). I lost him to old age at 10.

W.M.DEEEZ

In my yard, they would get fat on the mole population alone. The chips I use around my tomato buckets, and my beds,seem to attract them because the worms love the chips. As well,the compost bin is Franklin's favorite nightime hunting spot, because the moles enter through the holes in the bottom.


So, my issue would be more about whether the Fox would kill, or injure my cats at night.

__________________
Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got til it's gone

W.M.DEEEZ

I've heard about coons getting mean...especially mothers.


My yard isn't a yard at all, rather a parking area that is totally enclosed by buildings. I have gardens everywhere, but they wouldn't be keen on hanging around here per se. Across the street, is a huge forest, which I believe is where these fox came from.


These youngsters are growling already....but everything seems to growl at me...the groundhogs try their best to intimidate me, when they're in the trap.


What I do like, is that the fox family has inhabited the burrow that those darn groundhogs have built over the years. I'm thinking that if the fox are around, I won't have to worry about those groundhogs.

__________________
Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got til it's gone

Refuge51

Yes they will kill them according to this:
DEP: Gray Fox Fact Sheet

BUT......This says they are prey for cats:Wild At Heart Rehabilitation And Design Studio Patterns Page

__________________
I'm fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in.
~George McGovern~

W.M.DEEEZ

We've got a healthy group of bobcats around here, but I'm quite sure a housecat is no match for one of these foxes. It claims that they are rather agile when climbing trees...


That might not bode well for the cats.

__________________
Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got til it's gone

BleedingPinky

Awe damn! Look at those lil buggers blue eyes! I haven´t read the rest of the thread, just took a look at those fox cubs. Hell I need to get out of this city just to watch a bit of wildlife and calm my nerves down. Very cool pics.

W.M.DEEEZ

Yes...you most certainly should


The late great Dan Fogelberg:

Running in the wrong direction
Isn't it a long way home,
People with the wrong intentions
Isn't it a long way home.
City, you are dying real slow
Country, you are calling me to go.
Smokestacks, I don't need you no more
I'm gonna fly...
To where the sky meets the land
And the living is not planned
And the children can laugh just
Cause they're living.

__________________
Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got til it's gone

W.M.DEEEZ

1 in the morning, I hear a commotion on my deck this morning.


As expected, a coon is digging in my newly planted containers. Usually, when I yell at them, they run like hell.

This one, a little scrawny, backed off, but didn't want to leave. I kept yelling, and it ultimately left the immediate area, but not like the others have in the past...



It did something that I've never seen...the whole time it was grudgingly walking away, and returning, it had its back arched like a cat. As well, it seemed to be walking on its toes.

Is this a sick coon, or did it think it was challenging me?

It looked kind of young. Usually, I see big mama in my trash, but she takes off, and does not return once chased.

__________________
Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got til it's gone

gonzo

That was a fear response combined with a little "I'll stand my ground if I absolutely have to" tossed in. Now that has me thinking...why?

Illness is the first thing people think of, but it's the last thing I consider. It's a sad fact that female coons can reproduce as young as 6 months, and often that's from rape of a sort. Could you tell if it was female? That it's noticeably thin makes me sad. Urban coon often have a pretty hard life. I used to put out dry catfood for them back in Fl. (Which was a super no no and illegal). Down in Fl. we don't have the rabies problems other states do because the state aerial sprays for it. (People call Fl backward, but I think that programs pretty cool).

W.M.DEEEZ

Hmmm...well, when I heard the noise, I opened the door (after checking out the windows, so I wouldn't be cornering a huge coon on my deck.)

The coon was at the bottom of the deck steps...Franklin...out all night this time of the year, came running when I opened the door. He met the coon face to face, and one or both of them hissed at each other. Franklin just jumped onto the deck, instead of taking the steps that the coon was blocking.

So...maybe the coon was doing as you said, and exhibited a fear/stand response toward Franklin. What I don't understand, is why he/she didn't take off when I yelled, and pounded the deck 3 times....usually, they're gone!

__________________
Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got til it's gone