ADULT FOX(S)
Do not underestimate an injured adult.
1. OBSERVE
What is normal behavior?
It is perfectly natural behavior for a fox to be outside during the day, especially during the spring and summer when they are busy hunting rodents to feed their young. Just seeing a fox during the day is normal because that is when their prey is most active. It doesn’t mean the animal is rabid, aggressive or dangerous.
3. CALL
Something is wrong.
If an injured fox is seen, contact a wildlife rehabilitator or animal control officer for assistance. This fox was unusually tame and found to be partially blind in one eye from an injury:
A “City” fox is trapped on a roof (probably from chasing rodents) and needs help getting down:
Stay Safe:
Signs such as unprovoked aggression, impaired movement, paralysis or lack of coordination, uncharacteristic tameness, disorientation, or self-mutilation (paw chewing) can indicate rabies or other neurologic diseases/problems. Keep all people and pets away from the animal in distress and monitor from a safe distance until help arrives. Veterinarians and rehabilitators licensed to handle foxes have had the rabies vaccine.
The signs of rabies are obvious in this video example, but can you tell this is not a victim of a car-strike? Always exercise caution and stay in your vehicle to observe.
Does the fox’s coat look patchy?
If a young or adult fox is seen with partial or complete hair loss, this usually indicates sarcoptic mange, caused by a microscopic mite that moves around in the skin. Animals with mange lose hair and weight; they become debilitated, their skin becomes cracked and encrusted with heavy scabs and they usually die within a few months as a result.
Treatment without capture:
Some rehabilitators report success treating mange in the field by giving the afflicted animal a piece of hot dog or chicken with a small pea-sized dab of Ivermectin (such as Strongid horse wormer) in it, administered every five days for three rounds. Note that this is considered an “off-label” usage of this product. It is vital to ensure that the medicated bait gets given to the target animal. Medicated food should never be left out, because the wrong animal could get it, and over-dosing is a real risk. Rather, a site can be pre-baited at the same time each day, so the target animal appears with regularity and can be thrown the bait.