Would you like to see foxes domesticated?

Horrified but because I love foxes

Taming any wild animal is likely to leave them vulnerable to people with bad intent. They need to be warey of people because people regularly deliberately harm them

Locally to me there is a family of foxes that hang out near a school, in a shop car park they get fed regularly by hand and people go to the shop and come out with food. They regularly die on the road because they've been encouraged to hang around in the day light, become comfortable around people and cars, and stick around in the car park.

Every time one gets squished, there's uproar but people can't seem to link the idea that encouraging them to approach cars and spend all day in car park is bad, and they go to "treat' the remaining ones.

My neighbour for example used to encourage things like badgers gulls etc into her conservatory and hand feed them.. She'd effectively trained them to go into random houses, eat from humans and associate people with food. At least one of her foxes were poisoned. They were more at risk not just because they thought all humans were friends, but also because they were more irritating then the average fox because they were so present

When she moved the people after her had a dog and had a terrible time managing it not hurting the animals she'd trained to go in their house

Its great that a wild animal lets you stroke it, but you can't guarantee the response of next door.

Horrified. But I think animals would be better off being allowed to live undomesticated lives, ie they shouldn't be our pets.

For catch-up, this is about foxes in Australia.

I don't feel sad at all; the poor sods can't help themselves but they are so destructive to native wildlife. The poisoning is out of order, but when I see one squished on the highway, I'm not one bit sad. They should be shot, and so should the feral cats.

I don't feel the same about UK foxes at all. (I'm from the UK)

Cases of foxes killing babies? Could you link to one?

We have one who is very comfortable around me and I've been able to feed him by hand. I was amazed how gentle they take food from my hand compared to my very small well trained cuddly dog who will snap it from me as fast as possible. Fox has much better manners 😂

I love, love, love animals (all animals, not just the pretty ones). But I'm not keen on the concept of pets. If people want a household animal (ie, to take a creature away from its own kind, make it live with an alien species and often in a confined space) then they should get one which is going to suffer least from that way of life - such as hamsters (live alone in the wild and are very 'nest' orientated) or gerbils.

I love cats, but I cannot bear them to catch songbirds, so I've never kept one. And we've recently been reminded of this by D Attenborough, no less.So - is it fair to keep a cat indoors all the time? I don't think so, but I don't want them killing blackbirds and robins. The concept of pets is problematic.

Animals should be left in their natural habitats - that's the way to show love and kindness towards them, not to imprison them and treat them as pooches for our own convenience.

What would really show love towards foxes and other wild creatures would be to do all we can to ensure their habitats aren't destroyed - so, not building all over the green belt, for a start.

You know that and I know that but idiots don't.
They may not be successful but how many people think oooh I'd cross one with a poodle and get a creature with a red coat , point ears , bushy tail but it won't shed hair.

Lions and tigers were never ment to be breed together but look what idiots did.

I had chickens - they used to wander in the house of their own accord and watch the tv.

(and poo everywhere)

They’re smelly, they can make a mess, people can accidentally tread in their poo, and they have killed babies… if none of that puts people off dogs then why would it put people off foxes (it’s not the fox’s fault it killed a baby, probably a bad owner)

I like foxes very much but I'd prefer to see them out in the wild where they belong to live peacefully and safely. Unfortunately that doesn't seem a possible future in today's world and I think eventually to ensure their survival they will have to be domesticated, I think they're already starting to be I've seen a few throughout my life that have just been a bit too friendly or unphased by human presence, my mum had a cat who made friends with foxes and they was always in her garden even sometimes with babies.

About 20 years ago some old interfering neighbours used to encourage my cat into their garden with prawns and chicken and at the same time they encouraged foxes and they used to film them eating side by side. It used to massively pee me off.
I just think they are wild animals and should be left alone. Only needs for a kid to get bitten and they will be culled.

I have neighbours who try to tame them too.
Foxes are wild animals and carry multiple zoonotic diseases, and are usually absolutely covered in parasites. So yeah if you want a massive flea Infestation go right ahead and invite them into your home.

There's a lot of aspects to domestication and it would take at least a thousand years before you have an actually domesticated species. Part of the process would need to be driving the wild population close to extinction before any breeding-out of undesirable traits could stick

Foxes are clever oppotunists, like cats. it's not hard to get them comfortable to trust a human for feeding, they are happy to go where the food is - that's not domestication. They do not have the same pack-animal predisposition that dogs have for being adaptable for training into acceptable behaviours. Toilet training and general obedience training would be very much more challenging for foxes and they can do a lot more damage than a cat so the relaxed attitude we have for minimal :training" for cats will be totally inappropriate.

Plus it's bad enough having wild foxes mating within earshot of the house occasionally. A fox breeder would be guilty of serious environmental noise pollution if they have premises anywhere near any residence, and if you own an unneutered pet that you want to breed from you really do not want it happening in your house.

No, we should be helping save their habitats not bringing them inside. This is only for the benefit of humans, not animals.

Why the fuck would anyone want a pet fox?

No. It’s nice to enjoy animals and let them be wild. You don’t have to bring everything inside ffs.

This thread is horrible- have humans not messed with nature enough?

I don't think we should do anything to domesticate them.

That said, it appears they're domesticating themselves, much like cats did. (Also raccoons in the usa I've read)

Can't say I blame them. People came, built over / took over their natural habitat and left them no choice but to become scavengers in cities. I'm sure they'd much rather have lived as nature intended but they are where they are now because of us. (Same with rats. )

I live in the countryside and foxes are just off doing their own thing, away from us. It's cities where they've got no choice.

Exactly. They will have far better lives in the wild than they will in people's homes.

They have learnt there's easy food in the cities.... in bins, people will feed them etc thats why they are in cities. If you didnt feed them or they couldnt get into bins they would leave.

Almost as difficult to domesticate as a man.
😉😁.

Have you heard seagulls? What a commotion!

We have them around here and it’s just hit “shagging season”, it’s like only bloody fans.

I don't like the idea of a wild creature being turned into a pet.

It's not fair on them because it takes away all the behaviour and activities they've developed over their evolution. Foxes are nocturnal hunters - so how would that fit into the life of a pet? Just giving them dog food wouldn't be the same.

Domestic dogs have been selectively bred for thousands of years to be just that. Foxes are wild animals and need to live in the wild.

As I understand it, but this might be a weird misremembering, they live as domesticated pets in Australia. Can any Aussie Mners confirm?

Definitely not, some weird person might have one as a pet of sorts as per pp but they definitely aren't domesticated here. There's plenty around Sydney where I live, and they eat rabbits (another introduced species damaging the environment here) along with native species and people's backyard hens.

My great aunt had one as a pet. It was an orphaned cub that lived to a ripe old age. She was a very eccentric woman and had him stuffed when he died