OT- Keep a Fox Trotting

[zip]

We have a fox that comes to our yard regularly; it does a great job at keeping the mouse and chip monk population under control.

I have noticed it has a bit of mange.

I would like to keep the fox healthy since it does a such a great job keeping the mouse population under control. At the same time I am not interested in domesticating the animal or trying to "humanize" it.

I read on a couple of web sites the mange may be controlled by placing peanut butter sandwiches stuffed with vitamin E and safflower oil may provide some relief for the mange condition.

Any suggestions are welcome.

[A.L.Breguet]

Cool. Foxes are interesting critters.
Just be aware that rabies in foxes is common in certain parts of the U.S. Assuming you are in the U.S., that is.

[Viper]

The Prime Directive: Leave societies, planets and their beings alone (unless the planet has some hot chicas then it's all for one and one for all).

I vote you leave the fox to do what the fox does. If he leaves, he leaves, if he gets ill, he gets ill. I believe the odds are that by interferece on any level, you'll screw up the laws and dynamics of Mother Nature; it is hubris to swim with sting rays, feed foxes or date Smurfette.

Read here atmo:

http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Prime_Directive

[Ginger]

Problem with putting out food, is you're going to draw other opportunists who are also visiting your yard looking for the treats.
Possums or coons or rats to be exact.
Just something to consider.

[Viper]

Two things you can't eff with, your Mother and your Father...Mother Nature and Father Time.

If you see Smurfette in your yard, I vote we interfere, drop me a PM at that moment etc.

WWJCD?

What Would Jacques Cousteau Do?

[zip]

Cool. Foxes are interesting critters.
Just be aware that rabies in foxes is common in certain parts of the U.S. Assuming you are in the U.S., that is.

This fox only comes out during regular fox hours, I would never try to go near it. It sleeps on a pile of pine straw out in the yard.

We do have two other rodent controlling types that visit out yard:

An occasional lone coyote and a pair of Northern Goshawks(daily).

Watching the tatctics of a hawk hunt is a beautiful thing. I have seen them dive into the ivy for mice and clip a squirrel from the yard.

[mike p]

If the fox gets sick and dies another will fill the void as long as the rodent population will support it. We've had fox den in a covert pipe under the road and have kits every spring for years. Every time the female gets hit by a car or killed in some other way another is there in spring with a new litter. Very fun to watch.

Mike

[bigbill]

There is a game trail in my yard near my driveway. We see deer, coyotes, and bobcats on it. Makes me wonder sometimes when I am rolling the trashcan down my 100 yard driveway at 10 pm. Some rodents chewed the wiring in our honda, we could use a fox since the coyote is obviously a slacker.

[capybaras]

Have you seen Grizzly Man? The foxes in it are amazing.

[mike p]

Have you seen Grizzly Man? The foxes in it are amazing.

You mean grizzly man that got eaten by a grizzly?

Mike

[chuckred]

Beast in the Garden (http://www.beastinthegarden.com/)

Always another fox where that one came from.

I stopped a fox that was two steps away from snatching our puppy - just out of pure luck and timing.

Check out Beast in the Garden for what happens when well intentioned people get too attracted to the wildlife...

[capybaras]

You mean grizzly man that got eaten by a grizzly?

Mike

Yes. But there is no video of him being killed and they do not play the audio. The nature footage that Timothy Treadwell shot is phenomenal and Herzog's portrait is really beautiful I think. But you have to watch it from beginning to end to get what Herzog is doing. I turned it on recently in the middle when it was showing on TV and is doesn't work if you don't see the whole thing. But the foxes are amazing all on their own - no need to see the rest of the movie to appreciate them.

[Sandy]

We have a fox that comes to our yard regularly; it does a great job at keeping the mouse and chip monk population under control.

I have noticed it has a bit of mange.

I would like to keep the fox healthy since it does a such a great job keeping the mouse population under control. At the same time I am not interested in domesticating the animal or trying to "humanize" it.

I read on a couple of web sites the mange may be controlled by placing peanut butter sandwiches stuffed with vitamin E and safflower oil may provide some relief for the mange condition.

Any suggestions are welcome.

zip,

Fox like dogs, sometimes have sarcoptic mange (microscopic parasites- mites)which can be spread to humans, although each species (dogs, fox,..) normally have a specific mite, which prefers its specific host (dog, fox,..) If a human gets saroptic mange from a dog, it is normally short lived with scratching. I have seen dogs at the shelter with mange which was remarkably extensive and very sad to see. The dogs are basically isolated and if a human visits the dog, they must wear protective clothing which is discarded after the visit.

I don't know how easily mange could be transmitted to your cats, or you or zap, but you might check with your vet just for precaution. I don't think it is transmitted too easily- may need direct contact- not sure.

Take good care of zap. He is a good man!!


Sandy

[Viper]

I don't believe you'll be swayed by public opinion, I think you're mind is set. So I'll ask, can you make a list of the potential harm you'll do to the fox, the harm you may do to yourself, your family and nature? Big picture stuff.

Make that list and then go ahead and do it anyway. Feed the fox, 'save' it from mange and try to out-do Mother Nature. What's next, you're going to try to feed the hawk? How about the coyote? You said it yourself, "Watching the tatctics of a hawk hunt is a beautiful thing. I have seen them dive into the ivy for mice and clip a squirrel from the yard" and the key word is 'watching' (MikeP offered the word "watching" in his post too). We are not smarter or more powerful than the Universe aka Mother Nature and it's false-pride to think so. Leaving well enough alone takes discipline, the fox is smarter than you when it comes to being a fox (think about it).

The best respect one can show the animals in the wild is to leave the animals in the wild alone.

[zip]

I don't believe you'll be swayed by public opinion, I think you're mind is set.

Sorry if I gave the impression my mind was set, it is not. The fox will have to forage for its own dinner.

Does not appear that I can "help" without doing some other kind of damage.

[capybaras]

Sorry if I gave the impression my mind was set, it is not. The fox will have to forage for its own dinner.

Does not appear that I can "help" without doing some other kind of damage.

Don't give up on it just because a few people here told you to leave it alone There might be a way you can help the fox get its health back. Seems to be a big problem in England and they treat the foxes: http://www.nfws.org.uk/mange/letters01.htm

[jamesau]

You might talk to a vet. A local hillbilliy I know will wrap ivermectin in liverwurst and leave it in a place where the fox will take it; he tells me it works on the mangy foxes he sees.

Google ivermectin mange fox and see if anything makes sense, then maybe talk to a vet.

[paczki]

A local hillbilliy I know will wrap ivermectin in liverwurst and leave it in a place where the fox will take it; he tells me it works on the mangy foxes he sees.

+1 on that hillbilly!

[Viper]

A local hillbilly I know will weld ivermectin-flavored liverwurst in a steel lug and ride to a place where the fox will take it; he tells me it works on the mangy foxes he sees as well as some cross-riders.

^Fixed

Is it ATMO? :banana:

[jamesau]

^Fixed

Is it ATMO? :banana:

If the forum could stand another acronym, I guess it might be ATHO.

[William]

We see Fox on our property fairly often. In the back corner of our property back in the woods there is a very large rock with a den dug underneath it that fox seem to like to use. If I wanted to leave something for them it wouldn’t be a problem. They’ve never been close enough for me to be able to tell if they had a coat problem though. I know there are coyote around but I’ve never seen them on the property. I have heard then off in the distance and seen one up the road. On the William acreage it’s pretty much live and let live. Deer, fox, wood chucks, hawks, ducks, cardinals (lots of them), squirrels, snakes, and chipmunks share the stage. We pretty much leave them alone…except when the deer start getting bold and coming close to the house, Bruno Boxer and Rhea Basset send them back into the woods.

We’re planning on building a walking/cross path looping through our woods this spring and summer. We’ll try to do it with as little impact as possible…but all wildlife better run for the hills when I come bombing through on the Effin Cross Bike. :bike: ;)




William

[capybaras]

If the forum could stand another acronym, I guess it might be ATHO.

"ATMO" - I'll take it into consideration, thanks for the advice
"ATHO" - now that's something to take seriously!

[Viper]

There's a Great White Shark off Amity, I see it's got a case of mange. I'm thinking I can feed it the Kitner boy who'll have some antibiotics in his swim trunks. Protein and antibiotics, that shark will be feeling better than new! I might throw some dental floss into the Kitner boy's pockets too, that shark needs to fight his gingivitis.

At 1:06 you'll see the beast:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ciex9xbXZXk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_W1kPcApR0

LOL. :D

[William]

There's a Great White Shark off Amity, I see it's got a case of mange. I'm thinking I can feed it the Kitner boy who'll have some antibiotics in his swim trunks. Protein and antibiotics, that shark will be feeling better than new! I might throw some dental floss into the Kitner boy's pockets too, that shark needs to fight his gingivitis.

At 1:06 you'll see the beast:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ciex9xbXZXk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_W1kPcApR0

LOL. :D

Quint:
Y'all know me. Know how I earn a livin'. I'll catch this bird for ya,
but it ain't gonna be easy... Bad fish. It's not like going down to pond
chasin' blue gills or tommy cots. This shark - swallow ya hole. L'il shakin',
l'il tenderizin', down ya go. Now we gotta do it quick, that'll bring back
the tourists, that'll put all your businesses on a payin' basis. But it's not
gonna be pleasant! I value my neck a lot more than 3000 bucks chief! I'll
find him for three, but I'll catch him... and treat his mange... for ten! Now you
gotta make up your minds. Gonna stay alive and ante up? Or ya wanna play it
cheap, be on welfare the whole winter. I don't want no volunteers; I don't
want no mates. There's too many veterinarians on this island. Ten thousand dollars
for me by myself. For that I’ll treat the head, the tail, the whole damn thing.



William

[capybaras]

bump

how's that fox doing?

[zip]

I did find that I can safely treat the fox by putting a dose of liquid ivermectin ( dose for a 5lb animal) in a sandwich. The sandwich should be small enough so the fox will still need a mouse/rodent supplement.

I put the sandwich(adding vitamin B12 for skin)out for the fox for several days. Lately it seems the fox has been finding other haunts. Not wanting to attract unwanted rodents I have stopped the sandwich routine.

[Ginger]

Wild animals of that sort are funny. As long as they think they're being sly, they'll stick around. But when it seems someone is watching them or something starts showing up out of the ordinary...they fade out for a while. Once things come back to "normal" for them, sometimes they come back.

[capybaras]

I did find that I can safely treat the fox by putting a dose of liquid ivermectin ( dose for a 5lb animal) in a sandwich. The sandwich should be small enough so the fox will still need a mouse/rodent supplement.

I put the sandwich(adding vitamin B12 for skin)out for the fox for several days. Lately it seems the fox has been finding other haunts. Not wanting to attract unwanted rodents I have stopped the sandwich routine.

Good for you! Sounds like one tiny fox, though.

[Viper]

I did find that I can safely treat the fox by putting a dose of liquid ivermectin ( dose for a 5lb animal) in a sandwich. The sandwich should be small enough so the fox will still need a mouse/rodent supplement.

I put the sandwich(adding vitamin B12 for skin)out for the fox for several days. Lately it seems the fox has been finding other haunts. Not wanting to attract unwanted rodents I have stopped the sandwich routine.

You broke The Prime Directive. I never saw a Star Trek episode where this didn't backfire.

[zip]

Good for you! Sounds like one tiny fox, though.

Avg fox wight is 10 - 12 lbs. This one looked like it had lost some weight. It is diffucult to gauge the weight, it is better to under dose and take longer than over dose.

[CNY rider]

You broke The Prime Directive. I never saw a Star Trek episode where this didn't backfire.


Would it be Ok to send the mangy fox to Talos 4 so it could feel beautiful again?

[capybaras]

I love mangy foxes almost as much as crappy welds! :banana: :banana:

[Viper]

Would it be Ok to send the mangy fox to Talos 4 so it could feel beautiful again?

I'm on the hunt for Talos IV, searching the night time sky. Vina is a hotty, especially as an Orion Slave girl:

http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Vina

[zip]

Amazing what a bit of ivermectin, peanut butter and vitamin E will do!

[capybaras]

What a beauty! Nice job! :banana: :banana: :banana:

[JohnS]

I wonder how much that pelt is worth? :p

[Louis]

Amazing what a bit of ivermectin, peanut butter and vitamin E will do!

Cool.

Let's hope he/she does not become too friendly or dependent on humans.

[capybaras]

Throw a rock at it once in awhile just to keep everyone happy. :fight:

[3chordwonder]

Congratulations, that looks like a very healthy fox!

Great to see people doing something positive for wild animals.

[capybaras]

Feed it every day and be patient. Eventually it will eat out of your hand and let you pet it. Then you can check to be sure the mange is gone and then you can bring it into your house to play with your kids. Spock can't intercede because he isn't real.

[manet]

I wonder how much that pelt is worth? :p

$52

[capybaras]

it's worth that much?! You should kill that fox!

(jk jk - it is too cute!) :banana:

[manet]

52 bucks is just the going rate.

manet hearts foxes, and feels most are worth FAR more live then dead.

[capybaras]

thank goodness for Jamesau and his hillbilly friend! :banana:

[Sandy]

Amazing what a bit of ivermectin, peanut butter and vitamin E will do!

Beautiful healthy looking fox. Great job!

Have anything that will help me grow my hair back? Rejuvenate me? Make me faster than Zap on the bike?? :rolleyes: :)


Sandy

[DarrenCT]

woah very cool!

thnx for the picture bro

i've seen a fox 3 times while riding. they are beautiful.

ps: give me a beer.

[capybaras]

I think the fox got your beer