Foxes or Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

I was outside just finishing off another round of garden work, sweaty, bug-bit and satisfied. As I put away my gardening tools, a bunch of crows started a ruckus. Glancing to the field, I saw what was bothering them. A red fox was loping through the long grass. This is the third time in as many weeks that I’ve seen a fox and it’s not always the same one. I’ve seen two different colored foxes, one red and one cream colored. The cream colored one was spotted by my son when we were driving home.

“Hey Mom, there’s a fox in our yard,” says he.
“What’s it carrying in its mouth? It’s not the cat, is it?” asks just a slightly panicky me.
“Nope, too small. I think it’s a rat. Yeah, it’s a rat, it’s got that long ropey tail thing going.” says he.
“Good, it can have all the rats it wants,” says a much relieved me.

So we have foxes in the neighbourhood. We’ve lived here for four years and while I have seen foxes on occasion, I haven’t seen them in our area much less on our property. Figures, I decide to get chickens and then foxes from all around start trotting unconcerned across my front yard. They can’t possibly know I have chickens, they’re still in the brooder in our basement. May-be the rats attracted them. Come to think of it, now that the rats are gone, I’ve only seen one fox since. Well, if the rats attracted them, the noisy chickens are going to draw them, I’m sure.

While I want to protect my chickens, I certainly don’t want to be banishing foxes. They’re extraordinary creatures. They’re part of the canine family yet there's something of the cat in the way they move; spry and light with their bendable backs and incredible balance. When I see one make her way across a field, supple and flowing, I am reminded of wheat in the wind. They are beautiful to watch. I’d much rather learn to live with them than without them. We are planning to make the coop and runs predator proof as much as possible, we’re burying 1 /1/2 inch fence two feet into the ground, that should stop them from digging in. I have no intention of loosing all my chickens to foxes but if I loose one or two, I’ll find out how the foxes got to them and fix the problem chalk it up to experience and get on with my life. And hopefully, the foxes will get on with theirs.