Topic: Dying fox

[Melbourne12]

We have a local 3-legged fox.  Presumably he's been hit by a car at some point, and limps around the place.  He has a run through our garden, where he pauses to look longingly at the chickens in their run.  The chickens of course set up a squawk, and we see the fox when we look to see what's going on.  Eventually he lollops through the hedge to the sports club behind us.

Although like most poultry keepers I'm not keen on foxes, I'm slightly sad to see him curled up by a potted plant on our patio, twitching.  I don't know whether he's been poisoned, or hit again by a car, or merely ill, but it looks as though he's dying.

I'm not inclined to approach a fox that's in pain for fear of spending hours queuing in A&E for anti-tetanus jabs, so I'm afraid I'm leaving him to it. 

If my prognosis is correct, we'll be taking his corpse to the council dump tomorrow morning.

ETA: An hour later, and he's gone.  But I'll be keeping an eye out around the hedges and behind the shed.

[taurus]

I would contact your local RSPCA for advice.  I'm not a lover of foxes, but still wouldn't want to see any animal  suffer unnecessarily.

[sparrow]

Likewise would contact either RSPCA or the local wildlife hospital if you have one.

[galina]

Melbourne12,
Firstly, so sorry this is happening, not nice to have to watch.  Nuissance yes and killers too, but foxes are still magnificent animals to look at and because of their similarity in stature to dogs, they enjoy a lot of sanctuary in urban areas.  All quite wrong, but we can't help going oooh when we see an urban fox, just like when we see an urban deer.

Having said all this, I wonder whether somehow foxes come under pest control and whether there is somebody in the council who could end this fox's suffering humanely and dispose of the body appropriately.  The RSPCA locally is worse than useless.  Have tried to report a half-starved feral dog who sought shelter in your garden one weekend - nothing doing - we had to let it go on their advice.  Two days later the same happened a few houses down the road and they came and collected it.  Local vets are a source of advice too perhaps.

Not nice to have to deal with and distressing to watch.   

[gazza1960]

The greater London areas has up to 1000 urban foxes nightly searching For a meal and although I like you would not want to confront a fit animal let along a hungry injured fox that may be coming into season looking to,feed its young I would as mentioned ask the RSPCA Or ring your local vets
.....the alternative which sounds callous but is probably in the animals best interest is to ring a local vermin control officer they can despatch the animal at a cost of around 50 to 75 pounds.....it is shot
Which compaired to poisoned meat s or traps is no better sounding I'll grant you but if I had this in my garden I would ask my friend to do the deed for me here in Dorset as he does so often for locals in the new forest.....

Gazza

[Melbourne12]

When it was in better health (albeit limping from its leg injury) we used to see it most days. 

It lay up in our garden on and off for 3 successive days, obviously unable or unwilling to move.  It found an unused hen run to curl up in.  But it seems to have disappeared for good now, so I suspect that it must have died.

I didn't try the RSPCA, but the local council wouldn't have anything to do with it.  Not a problem, they said, and in any case not THEIR problem.