We first saw the fox maybe three weeks ago. It was so sad and scrawny. Last weekend a woman pulled into the driveway to tell us a sick-looking fox had "lunged" at her car but she wasn't from the area and didn't want to call 911 when she wasn't sure how to describe the location. Since I had seen a fox recently I went ahead and called but I never saw the police.On Thursday I was filling feeders when I saw something moving out of the corner of my eye. The grass hadn't been mowed for a couple of weeks so the undersized fox was almost hidden in the middle of the yard. It saw me but didn't show any signs of aggression. It was spending most of its time scratching and licking.
A police officer came out and gave me the lowdown on how they handle these situations (they don't actually do anything unless someone gets attacked) and then he approached the fox, clapping his hands. The fox reluctantly moved away toward the treeline eventually making its way around the house. I saw it go between the garages before I left to do some errands so I was careful to close the door between the garage bay and the cottage.
When I got home I pulled into the garage and closed the door right away so the fox couldn't get in. Neither of us opened the garage again until The Mister came home yesterday evening and discovered the fox had apparently been inside when I pulled in over 24 hours earlier.
I feel so bad. The fox is already terribly debilitated with what appears to be sarcoptic mange and then I shut it in the garage for more than a day.
The fox made its way across the road and I ran over to the neighbors to tell them not to hurt it, that there wasn't any indication it was rabid.
Poor, poor fox. I wonder if it made it through the night...
15 August - The Mister saw the remains of the fox yesterday a short distance down the road. It appeared to have died quickly when it was hit, probably a better fate than freezing to death without a healthy coat to protect it in the winter or so I'd like to think.
