08/22/2023
This is a sweet and adorable fox. One of my favorite wildlife critters.
I have always loved watching them run along the marsh. They've never been a real threat on the farm....they kept their distance and respected our boundaries. We dont keep chickens out for them to snack on....our chickens free ranged with supervision.
I would love to have the foxes become tamer, to feed them out of my hand would be very cool. Ive watched them for 30 years run this marsh...so i could have done it. I could have tamed the beasts....did i? No.
I didnt because to do so isnt a good idea. It causes them to not fear man. It causes them to come closer to properties, to become a nuisance, to potentially become a threat to small pets.They lose their "instincts". Their ability to rely on themselves if they get food from us.
This year, we have foxes sitting in the horses field with them. Am i worried about the horses, no, not physically, but im worried they may pick up a disease from them. (Do you know how much it costs to have a vet from bridgewater come out to sable?) And of course, i cant let harrison or the hens out at all now.
Dnr told me to shoot the foxes. I dont want it to come to that. To me thats not the solution. The solution is to repect wildlife. Observe from afar. Please please please DO NOT FEED THE FOXES. They arent pets. They are wild animals.
And while we are at it, please stop feeding the deer and raccoons too. I know your hearts are in the right place, but you dont realize the damage youre doing to them.
Please dont rock their world anymore than it already is. Respect respect respect!!!!
My rant for the day.
