To help a mangy scrap of fox?

[HarrietKettleWasHere]

I know I know, urban foxes get a lot of bad press. Yes they are naughty when they rip open bin bags and make a mess.

And yet, I think they are beautiful. We live in a block of flats (on the back of a big park) and around about Christmas time I noticed one sloping about at night. Actually we used to have a lot of mice/rats down where the rubbish room is so maybe he was attracted to that. He's beautiful- all rusty and bushy. I know it's a bit naughty but I started slipping him the odd bit of chicken or bit of ham. I would never want to get too close as he should be wary of humans would kill to stroke that gorgeous tail but he knows where I live and he will often trot by about 11pm to see if I'm at my window.

So a few nights ago he started bringing a little friend. I thought he looked a bit odd- like stumpy and mishapen and tonight I got a good look at him and he's all bald-patched and mangy

Poor little scrap! And also it'll probably spread to my beautiful original fox as it's contagious. Can I help him? Are there mange tablets you can put in food? He comes every night pretty much so he would eat it. Would dog tablets work? Obviously I couldn't bathe him or give him drops totally would if I could

Please can I add the foxes are very respectful of the neighbours. They do all their shagging in the park and they can't get into the bins! There are a couple of cats here but they are totally unbothered by them.

I love my little foxy family that live in one of my sheds. I back onto a National Park so to be honest I imagine most of my neighbours have foxes and badgers living somewhere on their land.

They do not dig up plants or create a mess (unless you count all the dog toys that they steal from the national park and leave on the lawn)

The cubs play nicely with my cat and the vixen just ignores him.

I feed them every night and love watching them. They have scotch eggs and corned beef tonight

In my experience,no self-respecting fox would attack a healthy,adult cat,as they would not fare well against a cat's teeth and claws.

And in my experience they would.

I've had urban foxes destroy my shoes before and shit on the doorstep of where i live on a regular basis.
But i still think they are amazing creatures and i wish i had some where i live now.

UPDATE

(Please please can the fox naysayers keep further thoughts to themselves, this is a happy thread, you are welcome to start your own thread discussing other more negative fox views you may have. Thanks!)

Um, soooo....Scrap looked 'lumpy and misshapen' as I said when she first turned up. Notice I say she...because she obviously is...and she is no longer lumpy and mishapen. Because she has birthed three fox cubs!

I had no idea. And she's kept them hidden under the thick laburnham and privet bushes at the bottom of the flats. They must be about four weeks and last night they ventured out, only a little, when Scrap and Russel came to get food. They are not just friends after all so totally got that wrong - they are parents!!

Omg!!!! How adoreable!

Just think you've not just saved her life, but her cubs too

Harriet that is absolutely the most fantastic news!

Thank god you helped her - well done

Was so shocked to see them! Will try and get a pic. Scrap is so small herself I never considered she could have been pregnant. It explains why she disappeared over Easter weekend which is probably when they were born. And why Russel often appareared first and ran over to that area with what I gave him, I thought to hide bits of food, but obviously now I know to feed her while she was feeding the babies!

Sniff! What a lovely update!

Oh how lovely! My cubs are thriving and there are still four of them. I feed them every night. It's amazing how quickly they grow. They are very playful and bring random plastic toys from wherever they find them.

I hope you have fun with yours.

omg!!!! Best. Update. EVER!!!!

And well done OP for treating her mange, it must make her feel so much better.

Pics!! Need pics of ickle baby foxes!!

NEED FOX BUB PICTURES. ASAP.

Am instructing DP to try and get some pics on his way back from the gym...might be tricky but determined to try! He did get one of Scrap last week. can't wait to see them all again tonight

We have foxes in the field behind us, I have only once seen one in the eleven years we have lived here. I am sure they come in the garden when no one is around. This picture was my one sighting, last year, he came in while I was putting out the recycling, ran back to the field, then came back when I had gone back in the house.

That's great OP :) You are so lucky, foxes still pass through our garden, but they've not raised cubs here for a couple of years

Have just had DH ask if I'm ok as my squeees of fox cub happiness have reached outside! What a lovely update!

How adorable

Eagerly awaiting a family photo 🦊

My back garden is apparently the local fox hangout of choice - they've been coming here to party in ever-increasing numbers as the urban fox population grows. It's also part of some kind of fox highway network - they've definitely got easement rights at this point, having worn a little track across the lawn.

I do find myself having to clear up some stuff out of the garden they've stolen to play with - tea-towels are surprisingly popular & any sort of dog toy or ball left lying about in a local garden is presumably seen as A Thoughtful Gift. No way for me to try to return any of the stuff - they tend to fairly well destroy it all & it could've come from several streets around... very rarely they leave a crisp packet or chicken box, and I don't think they've ever disturbed the bins round here - there are too many better sources of food nearby to bother with them. When I had a whirly washing line the foxes used to play with it. The time I left it open & caught an older cub leaping up to catch it in its jaws which made it swing round & let it drop onto its little pal for a wrestling match was particularly special.

Lots of them live up by the railway lines & come down here past a chicken shop, a fish & chip shop, a greasy spoon type-café, a delicatessen, another café, a Chinese takeaway, an Indian takeaway & a pub that serves food, as well as a Sainsbury's local, a newsagent & a Costcutter. Hence the lack of interest in our bins. I wonder if urban foxes are adapting to eat less protein/more carbs/generally have a More Human diet - they certainly get through a lot of chips & I've seen them scarfing down pretty nearly anything from hummus to cookies...

It's so cute that you've been accidentally caring for a little fox family OP 🦊

Obviously marking place for baby fox pics!

Ty for lovely update and story. I love reading a nice foxy tale, there was an avalanche of horror stories in the media a while back. Massive ginger beasts roaming in gangs, menacing the young and the clergy and stealing pension books and garlic breads. They also drank snakebites in the park and had 8 rows of fangs and tried to steal a royal baby from the cot.

Awww baby foxes! 🐺

Our neighbour said he saw a fox cub lying under our trampoline the other evening. Sad I missed it. We do have quite a few round here, I guess they live in the little forest nearby and wander out when they want food. The racket they make though! Much as I love them they need to shut up. I've seen them and my cats in the garden together, they ignore each other.

That is completely wonderful, what a lovely update! Go Scrap, Russell and Harriet!

I'm quite happy with native wildlife, but I am enraged by homeopathy.

If somebody thinks that half a drop of purified water will kill a mite infestation, I am sure they are wrong.

There was a link earlier for a mange "treatment" that I have looked at before, it is a homeopathic remedy. Some (I) would describe it as a worthless delusion.

What awesome news! You're a fox Aunty now.

We had foxes and badgers for years in our old house, the badgers were great I used to feed them every night on our front lawn, and many nights were spent with the lights turned off just watching them and their families shuffle around the garden, someone then mentioned burying peanut butter sandwiches, and the did the best job of turning over the soil in the flower beds ever!

The foxes tended to hang about in the back and one gave me a heck of a fright when I was heavily pregnant with DD, I was sitting outside on the steps at about 9pm in late October, desperate trying to cool down, and i felt what I thought was a cat brush passed me, turned out it was a fox, they were so comfortable with us.

Sadly a couple of years later one of the pups was poisoned by the neighbours who kept chickens, so we stopped encouraging them into our garden and started feeding them in the field they lived in instead.

What a wonderful update! We've lived in our house for 10 years now and ,although I hear foxes most nights, I've only ever seen one once