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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To feed a fox in our garden?

92 replies

MuseumofInnocence · 11/04/2019 10:42

We live in a village. Recently I’ve seen a fox walk past my window twice in the past week, and being soppy, I considered feeding it. I did some googling and some recommend it, some are really against it. Would I be unreasonable to put some food out?

OP posts:
HundredMilesAnHour · 11/04/2019 16:02

If you want to see/support foxes, it would be better to create the habitat/natural food sources for them.

Or support them by donating to a fox specific wildlife charity such as The Fox Project. There are lots of different ways to get involved. For more info, see here:

foxproject.org.uk/

(At this point I should be transparent and admit that I volunteer for The Fox Project).

eddiemairswife · 11/04/2019 17:27

One problem I have with other people putting out food for wild animals is that my idiot cat brings it home. I've come down in the morning to find slices of pizza, sandwiches, unidentifiable lumps, all carefully placed under the dining table.

TheOxymoron · 12/04/2019 09:59

It will keep rats away.

badlydrawnperson · 12/04/2019 10:04

It will keep rats away.

Not if the rats get to it first.

SleepingSloth · 12/04/2019 10:08

I would, it may be really hungry. The advice I've read is don't put too much food out, remember they are a wild animal and clear away any thing they don't eat.

Our local fox sits in the street with a few of the neighbours cats. They seem to like each other. 😂

dorisdog · 12/04/2019 10:13

I would love to be feeding foxes in my garden. A much misunderstood and persecuted animal. I think main reason for NOT feeding though, especially near countryside is that they'll lose their ability to hunt in the wild. So for the foxes sake, best not.

Mia184 · 12/04/2019 10:15

My aunt does this and the cat and the fox get along just fine.

derxa · 12/04/2019 10:23

I would, it may be really hungry Honestly, who cares. Do you care if rats and mice are really hungry? They're actually innocent animals just like the fox.

Sparklingbrook · 12/04/2019 10:27

My fox has it's own plate. Blush When he comes I put the plate out, he eats and then he goes, then I get the plate in ready for next time...

SleepingSloth · 12/04/2019 10:29

My fox has it's own plate.

😂 Love this. You could have his/her named engraved on it.

SleepingSloth · 12/04/2019 10:32

Honestly, who cares.

I do. HTH. Wink

ChristineBaskets · 12/04/2019 10:51

Yeah so do I. Foxes are intelligent, more so than mice. I think of them the same as I do cats and dogs.

howabout · 12/04/2019 10:58

We live near the railway line with loads of breeding foxes. They keep the mice / rats / rabbits in check. As long as the humans leave well alone everything stays in balance.

Don't interfere and be aware if you tame a fox it may well encounter someone else not so well intentioned and end up being deliberately poisoned.

lyralalala · 12/04/2019 11:11

I think the only time it's ok to feed a fox is if it's ill or injured and the feeding is a way of getting medicine into it.

Otherwise it's just unfair. One of our neighbours fed foxes every single day for years. When she ended up in a care home the next homeowner didn't have the same fondness for them and their food supply basically stopped overnight. It's just setting them up for cruelty when you go on holiday or move house.

Thymeout · 12/04/2019 11:45

When I was a child, growing up in the suburbs, the one and only fox I ever saw was from a train, running through open countryside. The urban fox didn't exist. Now, they're all over the place, raiding bins, scattering dirty nappies over our gardens and attracting rats.

It's not a good environment for them. The ones I see are often emaciated or mangey. They get run over. And they kill for fun. Try explaining headless chickens or mutilated pet rabbits to your kids.

It's a bit like the beggar problem, also rare when I was growing up. Better to donate to a homeless/addiction charity than encourage them with cash hand-outs. It may make you feel good, but it makes the problem worse.

LaLoba · 12/04/2019 12:00

In a rural area, where people have poultry and guns, the fox’s survival depends on being afraid of humans. If you feed it you’re likely to get it killed.
I have chickens, love foxes. Have never had a problem with foxes, but then again, if anyone was daft enough to feed them around here, they’d probably be run out of the village by a pitchfork wielding mob!

SleepingSloth · 12/04/2019 13:24

Otherwise it's just unfair. One of our neighbours fed foxes every single day for years. When she ended up in a care home the next homeowner didn't have the same fondness for them and their food supply basically stopped overnight. It's just setting them up for cruelty when you go on holiday or move house.

Which is why you shouldn't feed them too much or every night. That way they don't rely on any one particular food source to survive. This fox probably are at other houses and had other places though so I'm sure it was fine, luckily lots of people feed them.

SleepingSloth · 12/04/2019 13:24

*ate at other houses

HundredMilesAnHour · 12/04/2019 14:38

they kill for fun

No, they don't. Absolutely not. What a silly thing to write.

Snugglepiggy · 12/04/2019 15:02

I would never /could never harm a fox or animal of any kind.However I would not feed them.I am sure I read somewhere that by regularly feeding you only cause problems in residential areas.The population booms and then they have to fight for territory often causing bad injuries .It interferes with the natural balance.
Some twerp near us leaves me packets of ham,chicken and even flavoured yougourts scattered around the fields for foxes.But then never clears away the packaging.Leaving it for us regular dog walkers to pick up.Also causing havoc because the dogs are obsessed with checking to see whats there.Drives us nuts.

user1480880826 · 12/04/2019 15:03

Pretty sure they can find their own food.

Thymeout · 12/04/2019 15:10

Hundred - you've obviously not had to deal with a mass slaughter of hens or not one, but both rabbits - just hacked about, not eaten. It's not hunger. It's in their nature. Prey is prey and they can't resist.

SoupDragon · 12/04/2019 15:11

I would never /could never harm a fox or animal of any kind.However I would not feed them

This.

A healthy Fox is a beautiful creature but oh my god the smell! I think they have a den at the end of my garden and they're a PITA.

SoupDragon · 12/04/2019 15:12

It's not hunger. It's in their nature.

Supposedly they kill them all so they can keep going back to eat. Like a "larder".

hippermiddleton · 12/04/2019 15:13

foxes are beautiful animals but I wouldn't feed them for the reasons above - they have to learn to feed themselves in the wild. The previous owner of our house used to throw chicken wings and dog biscuits out for them every night... in a rural country village with hedgerows full of mice and bunnies and whatever else a fox might fancy for a snack. They definitely weren't going to starve, so it was really more about her wanting to see them in her garden of an evening. Which isn't a good reason ime.