Fox Visit.

JohnC6

JohnC6

Messages
10,411
Name
John
Edit My Images
Yes
My wife's friend, who lives in London,told her that this morning she went out to the front, leaving the front door open, when she saw a fox go into the house. She went back in to find it had gone upstairs so she summoned her husband who went upstairs, saw the fox in the back bedroom, so he closed the other bedroom doors and bathroom door and retreated. The fox went downstairs and out through the front door. :D
 
I've read about foxes entering houses and attacking babies so although that must be rare the thought of wildlife coming in does frighten me a bit. We normally keep our doors shut mainly to prevent walkins by humans but also wildlife. A very friendly dog did come into the house one day via an open back door and was quickly followed by its apologising owner so that wasn't a problem. I did once come home to find a dog in the back garden and it went mental, very aggressive. I went inside and as we're very close to a school I phoned the police as I was worried about it attacking a child but basically got sneered at. So, our doors are only open the minimum time required.
 
I think foxes attacking babies is very rare, it's less of an attack and more the fox looking for food in the house as they can smell it, they can then bump into youngsters and mistake that as prey due to size, they wouldn't normally go for 'us', I can't think of anything here I'd worry about entering.

I'd welcome any animal in my house, it's the humans I worry about :LOL:
 
Last edited:
I have a cat and local neighbourhood cats have been the house eat our cats food, played with his toys and left. I suspect the fox is just exploring new areas for food or possible shelter and not on a baby hunt.
Though we all need to be careful and this summer like any other summer or hot day. If I have my french doors open and go up stairs for any length of time then I close all down stairs doors. Mainly because I do not want other cats in the house with out me knowing an=bout them.
We just need to amend our habits as more urban foxes now !
 
Most of you will know that we have a fox that visits every night and I have little doubt, that if I were to leave his food in our kitchen, he would come into the house for it. I am also pretty sure that if I made the effort, I could hand feed him. It's a line I refuse to cross though as he wouldn't be wild anymore if I were to do those things. He will though come very close to me, he's alert but relaxed. Reading the above has made me wonder though, if our fox is so relaxed around me, is he like this with other people that might be feeding him? Does he go into their houses?

This might well be the scenario with the fox in John's original post?
 
Years ago we had next door neighbours who had seven cats.

Two of them regularly came in through the open back door and it wasn't uncommon to find one or both curled up in chairs in the conservatory.
We thought they used our house as a refuge. The other cats would not come near to our house and would always run if they saw us in the garden, so these two who, for some reason, found us acceptable had somewhere quiet to rest up.

We have also had a fox pop in a few times as evidenced by the little doggy-like footprints on the floor, and once a fox scented on a cushion in the conservatory(we don't have that cushion any more!)

As alluded to above, foxes, and I guess all wild animals, are opportunists and foxes more recent close association with humans has made them more tolerant of us, so an open door and interesting smells will sometimes be investigated.

However, I don't think the VAST majority of the time anyone(other than possibly a very young child, and even then very rarely) has anything to worry about foxes. While they probably come closer to people than years ago they are still very wary.

Dave
 
Tysonator said:
I have a cat and local neighbourhood cats have been the house eat our cats food, played with his toys and left. I suspect the fox is just exploring new areas for food or possible shelter and not on a baby hunt.
Though we all need to be careful and this summer like any other summer or hot day. If I have my french doors open and go up stairs for any length of time then I close all down stairs doors. Mainly because I do not want other cats in the house with out me knowing an=bout them.
We just need to amend our habits as more urban foxes now !
Click to expand...

Years ago we had a large smoke-grey cat make regular visits. I think we had either one or two cats at the time. It didn't cause them any problems,though. It came in and found somewhere to sleep. We made enquiries around the neibourhood and found out where it lived and returned it. It was called 'Murphy'. The owner said that they have three small children who pester it all day so it no doubt found our home a haven of tranquility. Sometimes it went back of its own accord..for food,I assume. We had a cat flap so it came and went through it. After speaking with the owner we always allowed it to have a good rest.. a couple of hours before returning it. The lady said that was ok as she knew where it was and that it was safe. Eventually, the family moved. Very kindly, she came and told us they were moving.
 
JohnC6 said:
Years ago we had a large smoke-grey cat make regular visits. I think we had either one or two cats at the time. It didn't cause them any problems,though. It came in and found somewhere to sleep. We made enquiries around the neibourhood and found out where it lived and returned it. It was called 'Murphy'. The owner said that they have three small children who pester it all day so it no doubt found our home a haven of tranquility. Sometimes it went back of its own accord..for food,I assume. We had a cat flap so it came and went through it. After speaking with the owner we always allowed it to have a good rest.. a couple of hours before returning it. The lady said that was ok as she knew where it was and that it was safe. Eventually, the family moved. Very kindly, she came and told us they were moving.
Click to expand...


Did you keep Murphy ! ?
 
Tysonator said:
Did you keep Murphy ! ?
Click to expand...

No. The lady just let us know in case we wondered if he was ok or not. We missed his visits.

After I retired a friend of my wife's asked if I'd help them out (volunteer of course) at the CPL which I did. Quite rewarding work . The most memorable was a mom and 4 kittens living amongst railway sidings. The man who reported them allowed me to use his back living room as a viewing spot. I set up a trap with food & water. I got there at about 7.30am for five mornings.He said they were active from that time . By day four I was down to the last kitten and the day's temperature was forecast to be 32C. I had to trap it. I caught it at 11.0pm. They all went to the vets and then to a carer until they were re-homed. One lady adopted two of the kittens. I still have photos of that last one. A 'monster' :D I had to wear thick gloves to get it out of the trap. It had more hiss than an angry/fearful snake :)
 
JohnC6 said:
No. The lady just let us know in case we wondered if he was ok or not. We missed his visits.

After I retired a friend of my wife's asked if I'd help them out (volunteer of course) at the CPL which I did. Quite rewarding work . The most memorable was a mom and 4 kittens living amongst railway sidings. The man who reported them allowed me to use his back living room as a viewing spot. I set up a trap with food & water. I got there at about 7.30am for five mornings.He said they were active from that time . By day four I was down to the last kitten and the day's temperature was forecast to be 32C. I had to trap it. I caught it at 11.0pm. They all went to the vets and then to a carer until they were re-homed. One lady adopted two of the kittens. I still have photos of that last one. A 'monster' :D I had to wear thick gloves to get it out of the trap. It had more hiss than an angry/fearful snake :)
Click to expand...

I might do the same as you when I retire.....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top