What should we do?
Ah, Australia... :-)
-- Rabbits! Rabbits everywhere! What do we do?
-- Maybe a few foxes would help?
...
-- Foxes! Foxes everywhere!
-- Hmm, so do we go with coyotes, or the wolves now?
-- They're still too small, they won't hunt enough foxes. Australia needs grizzly bears!
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So adorable! I'd totally want to keep it, but even setting aside legal issues, a non-domesticated pet is gonna be a handful. Hope you're able to find someone to take it in.
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I don't see any other choice, you will have to kill that fox. Dont forget to send us pictures!
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"Pest" status be damned. Humans cause way more damage to the ecosystem than foxes could ever possibly hope to, yet I don't support the voluntary human extinction movement and, it would seem, neither do many others.
Of course, that's not to diminish the difficulties you'll likely find trying to raise it, and it wouldn't be fair that you should be forced to undertake sacrifices just because it happened to enter your house. But if you don't want it, either find someone else that does or release it into the wild. Killing it is a big no-no.
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Your only choice is to drop it off in Europe. Get your visa ready!
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wow thats pretty nuts, i would give to some animal refuge really, i mean, i dont know how to take care of a fox.
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So far there are 24 monsters that would kill this adorable creature. I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you change your vote, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for Liam Neeson, then he will find you, and he will kill you.
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I've heard of foxes being kept as pets but I don't have any real-life experience unfortunately.Whatever you do don't kill it, please.I would think, unfortunately, that your domesticated dogs might be an issue for training. At the very least I'm sure you can call some sort of animal welfare/rescue group in your area and they will help out.
Good luck.
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Without going into too much detail, it looks likely now the fox will find a loving home after all. It won't be me keeping it though.
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You should get some information on what you need to keep it/if you are allowed to keep it, where you live.
And only keep it if you're ready to go through the hard work, efforts and trouble of keeping it, taming it, and keeping it in good health. This is not a dog, nor a cat, and probably a harder task than any other common household pet you may have owned in the past. Having an animal living with you if you can't care for it properly is probably a bad idea. If you keep it, do some research on owning a wild fox (Google will be your friend for that, and also a library).
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OMG, SOOOOOOOO CUUUUUTE!!! How could anyone euthanize a face that sweet? Well, I couldn't but that's me. Just remember no matter what anyone says (even me) that this is your and only your decision to make. Do what you think is right and what you can live with. Don't worry about anyone else's opinion in this case. Good luck with your decision.
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ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
I almost forgot: this thread reminded me bed intruder.
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Final update posted to OP. In the end, the little fox was given to a good home.
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FINAL UPDATE: The little fox was given to a good home! Final picture: Clicky
UPDATE 1: After some days caring for the little one, things are looking good at this stage that it will be given a home. For a number of reasons, including that we have dogs already and we wouldn't have the time to look after a puppy let alone a tiny fox, it is impractical for us to keep it. It's complicated enough for the people who seek to adopt, what with foxes having a pest control order legislated only recently and special permits being necessary.
Original post:
Last night our dogs discovered an animal in the bedroom. At first I thought we'd had another possum come inside, as they tend to find their way down the chimney every now and then. Shining a torch under the dresser where it was hiding, I was startled to find a fox! Fortunately it was only a little one (a cub? A kit actually). We were able to catch it pretty easily with a towel (as I have done with possums, with care) and it was surprisingly very tame.
Foxes are pests in Australia though and any place we talk to will advise euthanizing it. Seems reasonable as they can cause significant damage to the native wildlife here, just as feral cats would. This one being just a
cubkit though, it's so harmless, it might have been orphaned. Doesn't seem to be eating either so maybe it was still living on milk, though it could just be that it's frightened.In any case, ethically we don't think it's an option to release it into the wild again as 1) it is a pest technically and 2) if it was recently orphaned it's likely it will not survive on its own and may suffer (starve or get attacked by other predators).
I've heard there are people that adopt foxes as pets, and this one seems like a good candidate for that as it appears so young and tame, but we don't know how practical that is nor how legal that is (it almost certainly isn't, certainly not without a permit of some kind).
All said, the thing is damn adorable. Just look at the pictures below!
What do you guys think? Anyone have experience with foxes, other than hunting them?
Obligatory themed giveaways:
Greyfox
Spy Fox in: Dry Cereal
Fox & Flock
Fitz the Fox
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