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Across Britain red foxes are often spotted in back gardens, and increasingly in urban areas like cities as they hunt for food. These gorgeous animals are what’s known as opportunistic omnivores which means they can survive in a wide range of habitats.
Often you may hear foxes before you see them, with distinctive screeches as they greet one another.
According to National Geographic, male foxes give a short “scream” in aggression and females “shriek” as a mating call.
Foxes can eat prey like voles and rabbits, but will also take advantage of any discarded food.
While helping wildlife is often a good thing to do, should you feed foxes?
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Many of us may have left out some food for hedgehogs, or fill up a bird feeder – and you can leave some food out for foxes in your garden.
Foxes are unlikely to go hungry due to their scavenger nature, however, you can leave out leftovers like meat, cooked vegetables and bread.
Bear in mind you may attract other animals too if you leave food out!
Other scavengers like rats are likely to be attracted to leftovers.
However, always do so from a distance as trying to tame a fox by offering it food directly from your hand is not recommended.
As with any wild animal foxes are unpredictable, so keeping your distance is best.
And the Woodland Trust recommends not overindulging foxes, as this can cause them to “become overconfident”.
The Trust recommends feeding foxes with cooked or raw meat, or tinned dog food.
They also enjoy peanuts, fruit and cheese.
If you’ve spotted a fox in your garden you want to feed, try and stick to a set feeding pattern.
The Woodland Trust explains: “This encourages them to return to your garden at a certain time to wait for their meal.
“Food is less likely to be left standing, which in turn discourages rats.”
Are foxes dangerous?
Like any wild animal, there is an element of risk when encountering foxes.
Attacks on humans from foxes are rare, and if they do happen it is usually when they are cornered.
If you have pets, you may want to keep them out of the garden if planning to feed a fox.
Foxes have – albeit rarely – been known to kill cats or rabbits.
And any dog owner knows one negative to foxes is their pungent poo.
Dogs are often tempted to roll in fox poo, so if you are feeding foxes in your garden make sure to check for droppings or else risk a smelly dog!
If your dog does roll in fox poo, whether on a walk or in your garden, there are specialist fox poo shampoos to shift the stench.
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