Into the Woods

A cozy fox den?

There is very good evidence that a fox family has moved in just downhill from the abbey. While clearing brush, Ken came across what appears to be lots and lots of fox poop. Nearby, in a deep brush pile (near a ravine where the bulldozer pushed the stumps when trees were cleared for the abbey three years ago) we also found the entrance to their den.

The poop looks like dog poop. It has evidence of fur in it and clearly is carnivore or omnivore poop. Also, early one evening a couple of months ago, when Lily was growling at the window, I turned on the outdoor lights and saw a cute little red fox right in front of the house. New neighbors, I feel sure.

It remains to be seen whether the foxes will be a bother. They’d have a hard time getting to the chickens. The henhouse is secure, and though it would be possible for predators to dig and get under the fence, so far we’ve seen no signs of that. The chickens are always locked in the henhouse at night. Neighbors report having seen foxes, and a neighbor’s game camera got a photo of a nocturnal fox, but no one has seen a fox during daylight.

So I guess we’ll take a wait-and-see attitude toward the fox neighbors. I would never shoot a fox, but I would not hesitate to harass them and encourage them to move away. The harassment strategy seemed to work with the groundhogs. The groundhogs were raiding the garden. Steady harassment (yelling, chasing, shooting a pellet gun into the ground near them, etc.) caused the groundhogs to move on.

But how in the world will we build up a rabbit population with foxes living right up against the backyard?

Fox poop?