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Excerpt from There's A Fox In The House by Donna Fritz (Reprinted with permission from the American Mensa Bulletin, January 2000.) "Fox Run" has been my mailing address for the past seven years. It's actually a P.O. box, but I live in a small town and I'm probably the only customer who regularly brings a live fox into the Post Office. Zafira is a six-year-old Red Fox, purchased from a fox yard as a two-week-old kit in May of 1993. A silvery color phase called "pearl", she's breathtakingly beautiful, with a luxurious four-inch-thick coat, a white-tipped brush as big as her body, amber eyes, a wide grin and an incredible zest for fun. She lashes her tail, laughing her foxy ha-ha-ha as she flirts and plays with my Golden Retriever. Asha was big and warm and fuzzy when she had just lost her mother, and he let her curl up against him to sleep. She loves him; in fact, he's the only animal she doesn't attack on sight. For his part, he's wonderfully indulgent, letting her steal treats from between his teeth and unbending to play with her, although he won't play with other dogs. It's great to see them together, the quiet, honey-colored giant and the gray whirlwind yipping with joy and mock-gnawing his ankles. However, I don't recommend foxes for the average household. I haven't had a solid night's sleep since I brought her home. I bottle-fed her to imprint her, and she even slept with me until she outgrew sleeping all night and began to yodel for attention in the wee hours. At the behest of the village zoning board, I moved from my apartment to a log cabin in the middle of fifty acres of woods. She's unbelievably destructive. I'm not talking about little stuff, like that suede jacket she ate. One afternoon while I was at work, Zafira peeled the linoleum off the bathroom floor. She's also a kleptomaniac, and can jump up on counters and scale bookshelves. Moody at best, foxes do not work and play well with others. In one disastrous encounter, my stepmother's St. Bernard dog tried to make friends. I didn't know a St. Bernard could shriek that loud. The dog still conspicuously avoids me. (My stepmother does, too, but that might be coincidence.) In addition to everything else, Red Fox urine smells like skunk. So if you're single, live alone and don't have much of a social life, and you wish to remain that way, by all means, go ahead and get a fox or two. Just remember to act surprised when you're in line at the grocery store and the guy behind you asks, "Do you smell skunk?" Article By Lia J. Mittelstadt I grew up in a pretty unconventional household. We lived in inner city Chicago, but we always had our slew of exotic animals. I grew up with a Spider monkey, tarantulas, reptiles of every size and shape and of course, the more traditional dogs, rabbits and hamsters. By the time I went to college, my parents had decided to move to Wisconsin and follow their dream of opening a camping park/petting zoo. During our search for affordable stock for our zoo, we ran across an ad for Silver Foxes. They sounded so beautiful, so exotic and they were pretty cheap to boot! We called up the breeder and he said that he just fed his dry cat food. Well, it didn't take a rocket scientist to see that these animals were lacking some nourishment. We took home an older female and a six-week-old male baby. We quickly put him on supplemental formula and he grew up in the house. Every night, he went to sleep with me and every morning, I woke up choking from the horrible stench that came out of this adorable little fur ball. Litter training was nearly impossible for him. I started kenneling him during the night and leash-training him during the day. He actually became pretty tame. When he was older, we decided to introduce him to the female. We really thought that he would be scared by her so, we put him in a smaller cage next to her outdoor enclosure. He scratched at the wire and cut himself up trying to get to her. Within one hour, they were caged together and he no longer wanted to be treated as a household pet. My father had to inspect the enclosure daily for signs of wear and tear. Silver foxes are master escape artists and we constantly had to repair the wire completely surrounding their cage. We also had to put a double-enclosure around the fox cage so that visiting children would not put their fingers into the cage and get nipped. I eventually moved out of my parent's home, got married and moved far away. We had a conventional two-dog, two-cat and one child family for awhile ....until the call for more critters got to me! By the time we moved to our new farm in August 000, we had already acquired ferrets, Prairie Dogs, Sugar Gliders, Flying Squirrels and a Snow Macaque monkey. People started bringing their "unwanted pets" to us. We soon begun receiving rescue calls and emails. This fall, we decided to rescue 13 Silver Foxes from a home that was threatening to sell them to a fur farm. Among the foxes were 2 parents and 11 6-month-old kits. The family had thought that they could raise the kits in the house and sell them as pets, however, they realized that they were in over their heads. I quickly put ads in the newspapers and on the internet trying to place these beautiful creatures in responsible homes. I had to turn away lots of people who just didn't understand that these animals could not be brought into their homes and treated like cats or dogs. I carefully tried to screen each applicant before they ever got the chance to even see the foxes. I had already placed several of the foxes when I got a call from a lady that wanted two of the siblings. She was buying a home in the country and had a lot of good references to back her up. She ran a dog and wolf rescue for many years. She came when my husband was not at home and I told her that if she wanted me to catch two of them for her, she had to make sure that she was HOLDING the cage door shut while I went inside with them. All of the sudden, I looked up and she was standing on the opposite side of the cage trying to see what I was doing. I looked back and I saw the cage door WIDE OPEN. Well, needless to say, they all fought me to get out and they bolted in every direction. I spent the next two weeks trapping foxes in live traps all over the country side. This was not easy since they are nocturnal and lay low during daylight hours. Unfortunately, one was shot by a hunter and two were victims of the highway. It broke my heart to see that happen. We managed to catch four of the seven that escaped and from that day on, they did everything that they could to find a way out again. My husband kept reinforcing the wire on the cage and the foxes kept trying to escape. I still have two foxes left. They are going to an animal sanctuary in March and despite all that happened, I am grateful that these beautiful, graceful creatures will not be made into a status symbol worn on someone's back. In my opinion, Silver Foxes do not make good pets for several reasons. First of all, they require a very large enclosure to ensure that they get plenty of exercise. The enclosure has to have a wire top and a wire bottom buried into the ground so that they cannot dig their way out. We ended up putting steel sheets under their enclosure as an added safety feature. Although some people have managed to tame them, it takes a lot of work and a lot of dedication. To accomplish this, they must be bottle fed from the first week after birth. This is no easy feat because Silver Foxes often have very large litters. Another consideration is the smell and the mess that they create. The stench can sometimes be overpowering. Their scent glands have a very strong musk smell. I have six ferrets and I can attest that a Silver Fox's smell, is about 10 times stronger than a ferret's smell. They also mark their territory by urine spraying. They often carry their food to several parts of the enclosure and tear it up creating an even bigger mess. They also sometimes urinate in their water dishes and in their feed bowls. As far as nutrition goes, mine have done well on a high quality mix of dry dog food and canned dog food such as Science Diet. They are also given raw eggs and chicken parts a few times a week. Silver foxes are very predatory, so it is doubtful that they would would do well in a house with small animals. On one occasion, my husband and I went into the barn and glanced over at the fox enclosure and saw an opossum"sitting" right outside their enclosure. When I got closure, I saw that the opossum was actually stuck to their cage. Her tail was caught up in the wire and she was bleeding heavily. She had apparently saw the food that was put out for them and tried to reach in and grab it. One of the foxes must have tried to drag her in. She was missing several chunks of her tail and a big gash in her abdomen. I managed to free the opossum with snake gloves and a long broom handle, and she ran off into the woods. We found her dead a few hours later. I have also observed and have heard stories that they do not like dogs. Mine will get extremely excitable if they even see one of our dogs across the yard. I cannot stress enough that small children should NOT be around Silver Foxes. They have a tendency to nip...even when offering food. There teeth are razor sharp and it would not take much for one to chomp off a finger or two. Veterinary care can also be a difficult issue. My vet would not even examine them without tranquilizing drugs. There have been varying opinions as to which shots should be administered however, many vets will give the same inoculations they would to a dog. However, my vet suggested a killed rabies virus instead of the regular rabies shot given to a dog. In my opinion,
Silver Foxes do not make good pets for the average person. They do not usually
tolerate being cuddled unless they are very young. I have heard stories
that they can be tamed if they are raised from the first week after birth
and they are the ONLY fox in the family. They are pack animals and they
have a tendency to hunt and to attack together. I am decided not to keep
the ones that I rescued because I feel that they deserve better...such as
life in a refuge or a comfortable life in a very large, quiet enclosure
where they can feel free to revert to their natural tendencies. Mine will
take small treats and on occasion, I can stroke them through the enclosure,
but I still do not classify them as pets. They are gorgeous, graceful creatures
that are a sight to behold. Although, Silver Foxes are relatively inexpensive
to purchase (usually around $100 or less.) they require very expensive food
and caging. Positive
attributes of the species? Negative
attributes of the species? Anecdotes/stories
regarding your experience with the species? What
is their average life span? How
well do they interact with people? How
easily do they train? What
type of housing do they need? What
do you feed them? How
do they interact with other household animals? How
destructive are they for an average household (gnawing, climbing, etc.)? Are
there any problems associated with their nails? Do
they have any potentially offensive odors? How
messy are their droppings and can they be litter trained? What
vet care should be expected? At
what age would it be best to get one? What
personal traits should someone keeping them have? Other
consideration for owners of them? |