Would you like to see foxes domesticated?

[freedomformeismotherhood]

Scrolling on tiktok and seeing them in people's houses having dinner 😄

What would you think if your neighbour took one in?

Yabu - horrified
Yanbu - wouldn't mind it, its a positive move forwards

There's a woman in Florida who runs a wildlife rescue centre who became insta-famous during covid because she has 4 'pet' foxes who live in her house. All are rescues, and the videos and pics she shares of them are heartwarming BUT she is also very clear that they are still wild animals and cannot be completely domesticated. Amongst the cute fluffy photos of foxes curled up in her lap are several ones of turds on her pillows, food buried behind sofa cushions and a lot of very nasty bites that she has had from them. She's trained to look after wild animals so it works for her, but she makes plain that they are not normal pets.

Think she also has a raccoon that lives in the house too...

Found her. She's added a skunk and a possum to her household too.
www.juniperwildliferefuge.org/our-animals

I am lucky to share territory with foxes and have the opportunity to feed and medicate them and build some kind of relationship, such that they recognise me and know what times the food comes out.

I would not wish to diminish their resourcefulness, robustness and survival skills by reducing them to status of "pet". This desire people have to use animals for their own needs is a poor reflection of the entitlement of the human race and lack of respect for life in all forms.

They're hunters and should not be encouraged by human feeding etc.

Because they are wild animals. Leave them in their natural habitat.

To have them have homes instead of roaming the streets of london for scraps of food 🥺

I feel like they're larger, outdoor cats?

Neither.

This is good, I dont suspect most people think of this

I like foxes but they’re wild animals and shouldn’t be in people’s houses, also we have enough dogs and cats in rescue centres needing homes if people want a pet.
Also foxes stink really badly….

i love foxes they are the best. I’d like to co-exist respectfully and allow them to live their lives without being hunted or mistreated. They are wild animals so not sure about domesticated.

Exactly. Leave them be. They are scavengers who will eat dropped kebabs by city bins and carry off dead rodents and birds that have been squashed in the road. Proper street cleaners.

You are anthropomorphizing foxes.

Awww look at the poor likkle foxes - they've got no blankie 😩

Crazy talk !!

And they often have fleas.

But. They're not!
Why would you think it a positive thing to train a wild animal out of its natural ways just to gratify humans' desire to have a novelty pet?

😄😄 i suppose I am

Well, you certainly didn't.

But their natural habitat isnt the woods - its the cities all around us and has been for some time

They eat out of our bins 🥺

We already have domesticated canids (and there are too many dogs for them all to have a good life, quite frankly). Leave the foxes alone.

Alright - I did actually, I think they could be taught to poop in litter trays

The foxes in my garden had no problem pooping in dd's uncovered sand pit

No I wouldn't want to domestic them.
Humans have completely screwed up dog and cat breeding to get the 'perfect' look.
How long would it be before some idiot trys to cross one with a domestic dog

I used to live in a flat which had foxes living in the communal gardens. I was woken up far too often by the screeching they make while they’re shagging. It’s horrendous.

It's illegal in Australia to keep a fox as a pet. Some licences were given out in NSW but have not been renewed.
They poisoned and shot where I am.
Introduced species is a real issue here, but I'd be OK with foxes and feral cats being eradicated.

The first time I heard it (I was in London) I thought a woman was being brutally murdered. I couldn't understand why the neighbours weren't jumping to attention.

I eventually realised no human could survive that long in the circumstances I'd imagined.