Recently, a Red Fox moved into the neighborhood and has started chasing and harassing my wife’s cat. This morning he cornered the cat as he has previously by chasing him onto the back steps, then standing at the bottom about 8 feet away, and barking at him until we hear it and let the cat in. We have not witnessed nor is there any evidence of any physical altercation yet, but seems pretty bold for a fox who doesn’t scurry away when we show up to open the door and even step outside. The fox is a fairly large one, and is pretty mangy to boot. It isn’t the only fox around, but seems to be the one interested in the cat.

Is the fox a danger to the cat? Consensus on the web seems to be that a cat can take care of himself, and no real evidence of Foxes killing cats, but that’s not unanimous. I trust the experience here. What do we know?

Risk of rabies maybe?

Foxes are territorial and "patrol" an area they have adopted. My guess is your Fox is upset your Cat is on his ground.

If it were my cat, I would likely dispatch the fox.

I'm not an expert on foxes, but one that is mangy and not fearful of your approach may well be rabid.

I've killed foxes for less. My advice, do the same.

And cats aren't really outside pets. Keep yours inside, is my advice for its longevity.

.22 LR.

We have had a rash of people's cats going MIA, many are indoor cats, that got out. They have been ripe targets for foxes. You will never know the score of these encounters. Most never are found. I don't blame the fox for doing what foxes do.

quote:

Originally posted by newtoSig765:
I'm not an expert on foxes, but one that is mangy and not fearful of your approach may well be rabid.

I've killed foxes for less. My advice, do the same.

And cats aren't really outside pets. Keep yours inside, is my advice for its longevity.

I agree ^

What does the fox say?

We have a ton of foxes in our neighborhood, a couple of them seem to have moved out of the adjoining wooded park, and taken up residence in people's back yards. They susbsist on a diet of unsecured garbage cans, chipmunks, and yes, the occasionaly cat. Once or twice a year, in the middle of the night, we will hear a terrible screaming and yowling that eventually dies out, to be followed a few days later by signs on telephone poles, "has anyone seen Fluffy?" The foxes are quite bold having learned that they have nothing to fear from people or their dogs.

In this jurisdiction, discharge of firearms is prohibited. Same with air guns and anything that shoots a projectile. Neighbors are quick to turn you in if they even see a firearm. Sooner or later, a fox will injure a child, then we'll see if control actually is an option after all.

Awhile back our Dept. received numerous phone calls about a large red fox prowling the neighborhoods during the day. People were concerned that it maybe rabid since they weren’t used to seeing foxes out in the daytime. I encountered him several times over a few weeks. He was a healthy, handsome beast and showed no signs of distemper or rabies. I contacted our State Game Commission & spoke with a biologist about the behavior. She explained that foxes aren’t particularly nocturnal although they tend to avoid humans. She went on to say that they have observed similar circumstances wherein a fox would “stake out” locations where people fed their cats outside. Then they’d eat the cats!!
She said a male fox would usually move on after they cleaned out all the easy prey. Pretty much what happened, along with a spate of “Missing “ posters…..
We also had a few instances of rabid foxes feeding off feral cat colonies. Rabies outbreaks peak around 14 days unless the transmission is interrupted. Cats and foxes are not a good thing at all. I’m worried for your cat.

The best part is how you refer to the cat as "the wife's..." It's ok if you have a cat!

I believe that a fox will eat a cat, although I have never actually witnessed it.

I live on a farm and have several barn cats. Big tough barn cats. As I walked up to the barn one summer day, the biggest, toughest barn cat came running out of the corn field with an average sized fox in hot pursuit. When the fox saw me, he stopped and ran away.

The cat and I are both certain that the fox was about to eat the cat.

I have seen foxes carry off chickens, ducks, a large turkey and a lamb.

This will do the trick in an urban area.

https://www.amazon.com/Havahar...aps%2C51&sr=8-4&th=1

I've seen a fox in our neighborhood attacking a cat. Don't know who won. Wouldn't be good for the cat either way....

The fox will indeed kill the cat, given an advantage. He's probably working on it as we speak.

They're like raccoons, they'll eat all the cat food, then they'll eat the cat.

quote:

Originally posted by DonDraper:
The best part is how you refer to the cat as "the wife's..." It's ok if you have a cat!

I do not have a cat. I have a wife who has a cat. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

quote:

Originally posted by Lefty Sig:
Risk of rabies maybe?

Always top of mind for us. My mother was attacked by a rabid raccoon. It latched on to her lower leg while she was gardening and wouldn't let go until a neighbor 2 doors down showed up with a shovel and beat it until it to let go. Mom required surgery to put her calf and achilles back together and treatment for rabies.

Cats are cool...even if they belong to the wife. The Fox is a predator, but a cat is much larger than most of their prey. In fact, some cats might kill the Fox! I suspect the Fox was being a dog and instinctively chasing the cat. The fox will likely regret actually catching the cat. The size of the fox and cat are also relevant...it's a jungle out there.

quote:

Originally posted by RichardC:
What does the fox say?

Jacha-chacha-chacha-chow!
Chacha-chacha-chacha-chow!
Chacha-chacha-chacha-chow!"

I'd say that it depends on the cat. Here is a picture of Henry, a 19 lb. cat we had for 15 years that beat the crap out of a raccoon a number of years ago.



Jim