One of the fox kits, alive and and hungry. The pile of fur is a dead rabbit. If you asked me last week if my heart would be breaking over a den of foxes, I would have not thought it possible. But it is.
On Sunday we discovered five fox kits that appeared to have been abandoned and in very bad shape. Two were laying outside the den in the cold rain, soaked and clearly dying. A third was covered with dirt and very wet, two more huddled toward the back of the den. A dead rabbit lay across the front of the burrow. It was a sight that was enough to make you cry.
My instinct was to pick them up, bring them inside, dry them off, and give them some food. But common sense and practicality won over. I didn't want to bring fox babies into the house without the assurance that a professional would eventually take over. Terry found a tarp and we covered the two that were outside in the rain, then I went inside and tried to do some research. I found a local wild life rescue website and called their hot line and left several messages, asking for help. Unfortunately no one called back. I searched the internet, looking for answers.
The first recommendation was to just leave them alone, in the hopes that the parents would eventually come back. The local wildlife rescue website strongly stated not to to give food or water without first first talking to an expert. The wrong kind of food can apparently kill otherwise healthy animal babies. Even though I felt quite guilty about it, I left them alone for the night.
I had to go to work early the next morning, but Terry checked on them during the day. He let me know that at least one was still alive and had scurried back into the den when he approached. I went out to the burrow when I got home from work, and didn't see any signs of life. The two that were dying and the third that had been so wet and dirty, were dead. I didn't seen any signs of life anywhere in the den, but on the chance that they they were still in there, I put out some canned cat food--and seriously hoped it wouldn't kill them. Adult foxes eat just about everything, so it seemed like cat food would be okay.
This evening when I got home from work I grabbed some more canned catfood and ran to the den without bothering to change out of my nursing scrubs. Yes! The catfood was gone and there was movement in the den. As soon as I put a forkful in the den opening, out came one hungry fox kit and he promptly started chowing down on the food. After a few minutes out came another one. This one was much shyer and only stayed at the opening long enough to grab a chunk of food and drag it into the den. I sat there and fed them forkfuls at a time, so glad that two of them were alive and eating. I'm sure I was something of s strange sight-- bent over a hole in the woods, dressed in scrubs and nursing badge with a stethoscope draped over my neck. If a stranger had wandered by, I'm sure he would have wondered what the crazy nurse was doing.
I can't tell if they are red foxes or gray foxes. I am guessing they are between four and six weeks old. The nose of the one in front is red from catfood. Other then a bit of red on their faces, the rest of their bodies are completely gray.
The den is in the woods behind the chicken coop. All winter and until last week my chickens had free range of that woods and I would see them wander out near where the den is nearly everyday. Several times we forgot to close the coop at night. It completely boggles my mind that until last week, we didn't have a fox problem with the chickens. (It was a red fox that killed the chicken. Like I said, I'm not sure if these are red foxes, so I'm not sure if it was their parent that killed my chicken.)
