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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To leave some food out for the fox in our garden.

407 replies

MrsMotherHen · 25/02/2018 15:23

We have a fox that frequents our garden last few occasions hes been out in the day and DH has just seen him sunbathing on the patio. We are not rural but live about 50m away from the beach front along a promenade with a park quite close.

To leave some food out for the fox in our garden.
OP posts:
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5
Whatshallidonowpeople · 25/02/2018 16:00

They stink, they poo everywhere, and that stinks. They are not puppies or kittens. Do not feed!

HarrietKettle · 25/02/2018 16:01

I think the OP is aware it's not a puppy or a kitten Confused

Worldsworstcook · 25/02/2018 16:01

My mum has a family of foxes she feeds. Given how we are destroying their habitats and havens I'd say certainly do feed him. Also it gives you wonderful joy to watch him,

TheFirstMrsDV · 25/02/2018 16:03

Feed it if you want to.
I would.
They are not dangerous.
They are only 'vermin' because they live in areas we want all to ourselves.
They are beautiful and part of our indigenous wildlife.

Sparklesocks · 25/02/2018 16:03

My neighbour used to do this but it just attracted rats, and the rats always got the food before the foxes did!

HolyMountain · 25/02/2018 16:04

OP, I know you haven’t fed him but others in this thread have.

Birdsgottafly · 25/02/2018 16:06

I love foxes and was part of a 'fox watch' during a bad winter a few years ago. We fed the two foxes, but it was organised by the rangers of the woodland on the Foxes route.

Foxes don't breed unless there is a good food supply, feeding them can mean a rise in the fox population that the environment can't sustain.

cariadlet · 25/02/2018 16:06

My neighbour used to do this but it just attracted rats, and the rats always got the food before the foxes did!

We got round this problem, but putting dog food out in a bowl and never putting it out until the fox came round. Then we'd wash the bowl out when the fox went.
We used to have a few rats that were attracted to seed that the birds had knocked off the bird feeder - the fox used to like hunting them out.

SoupDragon · 25/02/2018 16:07

I would never harm them but I would never encourage them either.

Fox shit, fox piss, parasites, they chew anything you can’t or forget to bring indoors, shredded bin bags... one did chase my cat right up to the cat flap so I hate to think what would have happened if he’d got caught (and he is not a small cat)

abbey44 · 25/02/2018 16:08

Having had my pet cat ripped to shreds by a visiting fox in my garden, encouraging them would be the last thing I'd do. They're not the fluffy-wuffy cuddly little creatures they're made out to be.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 25/02/2018 16:08

There are foxes living in the mountain at the back of our house. We walk right up to the top where most people don't go, and leave food for them.

I wouldn't feed them in the garden for fear of a rat population developing but I agree with the posters who like them. I do too. They have a right to live and were here before the urban sprawl.

GUMBYMUMBY · 25/02/2018 16:09

I really love foxes but I don't think I would start feeding one in an urban area. x

Steaksauce · 25/02/2018 16:09

The only animal that kills for fun is Homo sapiens. (Us)

Foxes are beautiful animals, we have some that use our garden as a cut through and I love seeing them on our wildlife camera.

I'd rather have the foxes than all the cats that live round here shitting everywhere yowling at each other all night and killing all the birds.

And I'd rather have foxes for neighbours than some of the people I have to misfortune to live near.

cxzcxz · 25/02/2018 16:10

Foxes are beautiful creatures and it's so lovely to see them around. We always had foxes in our garden when I was little, and we always fed them. My mum continues to feed them in her garden, and I would if I saw any mine. I'm sceptical of anyone who thinks they're vermin.. They're just animals.

Tink2007 · 25/02/2018 16:12

My mum has a Fox in her back garden who has been coming to hers for a year. He never comes past the fence - only to scratch on the back door to tell her he is there and then jumps back over.

Strangely enough he doesn’t poo in her garden at all.

Mummyoflittledragon · 25/02/2018 16:12

The kids would never be alone out in the garden yet. That’s because they’re little. They won’t always be tiny and then they will go outside by themselves. Encouraging a Fox would be a bad idea.

and if we were out there so would our dog Your dog may perhaps be young. But dogs of a size capable of taking on a Fox don’t normally live very far past 10.

YWBVU to feed the fox.

HarrietKettle · 25/02/2018 16:13

Why would the dog need to 'take on' the fox?

fleshmarketclose · 25/02/2018 16:18

Our neighbour feeds the two foxes who frequent around here. I don't mind apart from when he goes away they come and empty my bins instead. Seriously tempted to stick my waste food on his garden next time he's away to save the foxes the bother of emptying my bins tbh.

Charolais · 25/02/2018 16:18

Lucky you OP,

We have coyotes here and they are bigger than foxes. They have a bad rap as well. We have chickens, cattle/calves, dogs, cats etc and the coyotes don’t bother them. According to some coyotes will kill and eat calves - lol like our cows would allow that! Coyotes, in their native habitat, are very territorial and they respect ours as well it seems.

I have to add we are in the middle of nowhere in the American west and there is a lot of natural prey for them around here. I would never feed a wild animal but is sure tempting when they are young.

exLtEveDallas · 25/02/2018 16:28

We had a fox visitor on Friday night. She was lovely, really healthy looking. The dogs went batshit - the only reason we saw her was because MuttDog suddenly started growling; she must have sensed her.

I love seeing her casually strolling through the garden - she keeps nicking the Mutts footballs though, which is a pain. We haven't fed her because she doesn't seem to need it. Weirdly she dug up a potato patch last autumn and left behind 2 eggs. That was a surprise Smile

MrsPreston11 · 25/02/2018 16:29

I’d feed it. But then I feed pigeons and squirrels too.

Don’t get this whole “vermin” thing. Poor animals are just trying to survive.

latebreakfast · 25/02/2018 16:29

Your neighbours won't thank you for "your" fox leaving shit in their gardens - or on the paths and verges near your house. Maybe you should offer to bag it up and dispose of it just like you would if your dog did the same.

Floralnomad · 25/02/2018 16:31

I wouldn’t feed it purely because I wouldn’t want it hanging about to do its business in my garden , Fox poo absolutely stinks and my dog loves rolling in it .

DullAndOld · 25/02/2018 16:35

oh yes our shit zu used to roll in fox shit. We found this way of shutting him into the shower, standing on the loo, and showering him from above, so that we didn't have to touch it...Grin

ChardonnaysPrettySister · 25/02/2018 16:39

I probably won't feed it, but I hate chasing them off too.

So I just let them alone.