Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I know this has nothing to do with uromstyx but since some of you delt with animal cruelty cases before i thought you can give me a little advice. Behind a High school in my local area there are foxes and deers. Within the last 3 months someone has shot 3 deers and has poisoning the foxes. Yesterday i went there and saw two little fox cubs motionless, one was halfway out of its den and the other was 50 feet away from the den. Today i went back there and saw dog food right by the den. I wasn't sure if someone was trying to help the foxes out by giving them a meal or trying to poison them. Shoud i throw away the food or leave it there. If the food isn't poisoned i will be taking a vital meal away from the foxes. If the food is poison i will be saving there lives. What should i do, I am only a 14 year old boy.

you could take away the possibly poisoned food and replace it with fresh food. A fairly common way of people poisoning dogs is to soak dog food in antifreeze. The dog's love the taste but it causes kidney failure and ultimatly death.

kevin

Contact you local Dept. of Conservation. They are sometimes dispatched by the State Police. So I would call the State Police in your area and ask them to dispatch a Conservation officer. It's their job to deal with situations like this involving native wildlife.

While I admire your compassion I'm concerned for your well being. The person or persons responsible for these slayings and possible poisonings, if caught, will be facing some serious criminal charges. Leave this to the people whose job it is.

Be safe and I hope this helps.
BigT

I used both of your opinions. I got rid of the soggy dog food and replaced it with kibbles and bits. Then i wrote a letter to the man who i am posative is responsable. He always talked about how annoying the foxes are and that someone should do something about it. I did not put a name or leave any finger prints on the letter at all. I hope it is not too late for the foxes. There have been 2 foxes there for decades. Generation after generation after generation. The two that are/were there is/was a breeding pair. One of them has/had 3 legs because someone tried to trape it so it bit off its leg. I know that at least 2 foxes have been killed. And before i was able to get rid of the food half of it was eaten. So i am expecting more fox deaths. I hope this family of foxes will survive this trama and hopefully have new cubs/kits.

Hi Mike,

I admire your genuine concern, but I agree that this is best left for professionals. Fox DO carry rabies...so you really don't want to go there. The other problems with feeding wildlife are twofold:

1. They lose their fear of humans, which can result in people being bitten or the animal being killed as a "nuisance" animal
2. They come to depend on man for food, thereby not hunting for themsleves. This can lead to a problem referring back to #1 or in the worst case scenario, starvation if the animals have been fed from babies on as they don't know how to feed themselves.

Good Luck, keep your compassion, it is admirable.

Pam