AIBU to ask a stupid question about this fox cub?

[Sundiamond]

So around 6pm every night for about a week/10 days, a fox cub has come to our back door and tapped. I believe there are foxes living somewhere over one of the back fences that are in our neighbourhood.

Why? What does he want? Food? Is he intrigued by our dog? We never feed him, we shoo him away. Although I have to say, he has the most gorgeous little face...

No suggestions but how lovely op!

As cute! They love eggs, you could give him those?

We have foxes which just stand in our front garden. I think they smell our dog, watch and listen to everything going on. We have to shoo them away as our dog goes ballistic. I used to put leftover food out on a small area of grass over the road, but no more as the dog gets any leftovers. There is one road in our village that feed foxes and look out for them and have done for years.

Does he look healthy?

You could leave a little food but make sure it's not a lot (so he does t become dependent) and make sure it's well away from your house, at the bottom of the garde (so he doesnt become overly trusting of humans)

He might want to play with the dog. 😁

In the south there is the Fox Project who do great work

Foxes are everywhere in our London neighbourhood and they are vile . They wake everyone up with their screams at night, break into the rubbish bins, chew through anything left outside, including buried electrical wires, and worst of all they poo everywhere! I sometimes see dead ones on the road and once we had a big dead one in our garden. We’ve had cubs before and they are cute but personally I would NEVER, EVER do anything to encourage foxes to stay. They are invasive and do not belong in residential areas.

Oh I’d love a fox cub visit !
My dad gets a couple of adult foxes that visit his garden , they just lay there next to the cats and then leave after a snooze .
I agree about maybe leaving an egg at the end of the garden .

@930onaTuesdayNight

Foxes are everywhere in our London neighbourhood and they are vile . They wake everyone up with their screams at night, break into the rubbish bins, chew through anything left outside, including buried electrical wires, and worst of all they poo everywhere! I sometimes see dead ones on the road and once we had a big dead one in our garden. We’ve had cubs before and they are cute but personally I would NEVER, EVER do anything to encourage foxes to stay. They are invasive and do not belong in residential areas.

Ironic. It was their area before it was yours!

@930onaTuesdayNight

Actually they do kind if belong: the reason you get so many urban foxes in the UK (something you barely see in most other European countries) is because urbanisation in the UK exploded and towns started developing at breakneck speed during the industrial revolution. It meant that foxes became "trapped" in city centres, as they didnt have enough time to move outwards, the cities were built up around them enclosing them inside. They now do a very good job of keeping the mouse and rat population down which is why London has significantly fewer rats than somewhere like Paris for example

Put some food out for them, probably hunger.

Don’t feed it. They’re vermin and if you encourage it, it’ll start pooing in your garden and trust me, you do not want that.

They’re vermin

They’re not classed as vermin.

He does look healthy, although it's dark and we just see his face up against the glass. But it's almost the same time EVERY NIGHT. It's bizarre. Tap tap tap. Hello.

I don't know how I feel about feeding him...equally, I don't have strong opinions about him being vermin etc

I don’t mind people liking foxes but I draw the line at feeding them. They’re wild animals who will be encouraged to enter homes if fed by humans.

They already poo in the garden - we have lots of foxes traipsing through

I remember the first time I heard a fox scream (mating call??). I'd just moved to London and I woke my boyfriend up thinking some poor woman was being murdered

Aww how sweet. No advice though.

We live on the edge of a village and have a fox that visits in the early hours. We are adjacent to an orchard so as a PP said, we are on their habitat.

I do put food out for him, but not too much it too regularly so they don't become dependent, although DS stops in fox poo yesterday and walked it into the carpet of the car so I might rethink where I feed him.

Don't feed him.

We’ve always had foxes visiting at night - SW London but a leafy area. They’ve never bothered us.

When it’s been really cold/frosty/snowy (not often here) I’ve been known to buy Asda’s super economy dry dog food to put out for them - it got me some dirty looks from checkout operators, when I was buying non economy human food.
I don’t think Asda do that dog food any more though.

A cub? Must be a pretty big one, fox cubs are usually born in March/April, by this time of year they're fully grown.

We live on the edge of the country and have lots of foxes locally. We admire them and respect them from a healthy distance. No feeding. No encouragement.

God some people are vile. I get surprised everyday. Foxes are not 'vermin'

Foxes vermin ?? Rubbish. I put out the odd egg or left over meat, and love the occasional glimpse we get of one of them.

I always wonder about the mentality of people who hate animals. Foxes are lovely little things with amazing personalities and have as much right to be there as you do. Just because Humans have a habit of staking a claim on a bit of land doesn't mean other species will respect it.

OP maybe see if there is a local wildlife rescue near to you who can give you a bit of advice. He can probably smell your dog and wants to play but it might be worth taking pictures over time so you can see if he is getting thinner and needs help.

Please dont feed them. They leave disgusting bacteria filled piles of poo that are a hazard to children in particular. If any of your neighbours has chickens or pet rabbits they will attack them like a shot. They will also tip out rubbish bins and leave a filthy mess everywhere.