Urban Red Foxes (Vulpes vulpes) at

Millcreek Meadows

THANK YOU FOR HELPING US FIND BALANCE WITH NATURE

An update 

It has been a rough winter for the Foxes this year. A predator showed up near the end of November 2023 

and it took its toll on the Fox population. What had once been an overpopulated 18-20 foxes has been winnowed down to currently just 2 Adult foxes and as of a few weeks ago 4 cute fox kits. While this has been rough for the foxes, now is the perfect time to help create balance between the foxes and people that want to come see them. Let us treat them as wild animals, come to see them but know that sometimes they are not going to make an appearance as this isn’t a zoo. If you don’t see them, wait patiently. They are often making their rounds on the hunt for bugs, mice, birds and whatever else they can get their teeth into. If you start seeing the magpies the foxes are generally nearby. If you still don’t see them come back another day but please do not try to lure them with food it only causes issues for the animals you are coming to see. Worst case look in the trees the Fox Squirrels are almost always around hopping from tree to tree.

For the last 25 years The Red fox (Vulpes-Vulpes) has been an integral part of the natural landscape here and over the years their population has continued to increase due to supplemental feeding from some visitors.

We know that it is hard to resist, but we ask that all community members refrain from feeding the foxes. They are ultimately a wild animal and in order for us to be proper stewards of them in their environment--in the middle of the city no less--we must not take away that aspect of their nature or we invariably ensure their death when they become unable to fend for themselves or when we create a unnatural abundance of food and their numbers increase until they become a nuisance.

 Thank you for coming 

and appreciating nature

Respectfully