Syracuse.com - More on the 'friendly fox' story (updated with reaction)

[HuntingNY-News]

"Rabies is a terrible, stinking disease and a dreadful fate for any creature cursed with it… your warning was appropriate and very important," one reader said.

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Submitted photo

This story has generated a good response. Here's what I wrote originally:

Dick Capella sent me these two photos and this story this morning about a fox he got surprisingly close to. Sounds strange and I wonder about the possibility of rabies or something like that.

Here's Dick's story:

"When I drove into my driveway today (May 7th) I found this fox sleeping next to the house. I called my wife to see the animal which, in time, woke up walked up to us and checked us out.

"Both my wife and I were astonished at its lack of fear of us and for the next three hours were treated to a most rare event. The fox wandered around outside the house, tried to get into the greenhouse and for a time came into my garage as I was repairing a mower, stretched out two or three feet away and watched what I was doing.

" A friend drove in and when he stepped from his car the fox walked over and stood between him and my wife and me. (Friend Mike didn't test the fox's intentions and retreated to the car until the fox wandered back into the garage) There was never any aggression or fear on the part of the fox---absolutely none.

"In time, the fox crossed the road and we thought we had seen the last of it----but it returned a while later and spent another thirty minutes near me. It finally left for good but I heard it softly barking across the road for some time.

"What an experience---I've never enjoyed such a "close encounter" such as that---What a delight to observe a beautiful animal at such a close distance."

Editor's note: Just a word of caution. Animals acting strangely should be viewed with extreme caution and never handled.

Submitted photos

Dick followed up with this message:

I'm out on Onondaga Hill--Makyes Rd. about 2 miles from the village of South Onondaga. We've had red and grey foxes on and around my property since we moved here almost 30 years ago. There was a den with 5 grey fox kits about 200 yards from my house a couple of years ago and last year I found a den with five red fox kits on my neighbor's property. The fox families have always tolerated me pretty well and I don't bother them at all---

The fox I had visit me yesterday was unusually friendly, I will admit. I DID call Onon County health dep't, but the lady thought that rabies wasn't a problem since the fox was mostly curious and not at all aggressive at any time. Having a fox stretched out and watching me repair a lawnmower from a distance of a few feet for half an hour is definitely an unusual event.

An adventure which my wife and I (and, of course, friend Mike) are not likely to forget.

The following are comments from Linda Salter of Georgetown about the situation: :

Dear Mr. Figura,

I had a strong reaction to the story on your newsletter about the "friendly" fox. A few years ago, I was attacked and bitten by a similar "cross" or grey fox at home.

I had seen it in the daytime trotting along the edge of the woods, but it had not seen me. It charged at me as I was coming around the corner of the house from the garden…. despite a number of successful kicks trying to keep it from getting to me, it nailed my shin.

At that point, I somehow grabbed it bu the scruff and tail and got on it with my knees and began to try to kill it (without damaging the head, of course) because it had to be tested for rabies, and I didn't want it to attack anyone or anything else. We have gentle older neighbors; it could have been awful.

It seemed to take forever but I was able to strangle it and break its back…. it just wouldn't leave its poor sick body…. when it stopped struggling, I carried it to the back door and hung it from baling twine around the neck so it couldn't come to and get away (no chances, here!) while I tried to clean up before going in the house to call for advice on how to proceed (we have house cats)…

Anyway, when I called 911 they knew just what to do (I had no idea about reporting, or how to get the body tested)… a Madison County sheriff's deputy was there inside of 10 minutes (with his latex gloves!) and bagged the fox to take to the Health Department up in Wampsville. It was sent to Albany the next day ( I think troopers drove it) and tested positive for rabies…they called me with the news and directions for treatment.

"I had gone to the ER right after the deputy left and had a series of both rabies immune globulin shots around the bite (thank god it wan't on my face!) and the first of five rabies shots.

"The others were around a week apart, and I had to drive to Oneida to get them…. nothing as bad as they used to be, more like a tetanus shot (in the arm)…. and there is no alternative but a terrible death.

"Nevertheless, that poor, beautiful fox had a cruel and killer disease, and wasn't to blame. I apologized to the fox, and thanked the universe for sending it to me for the help it needed… another person, a child perhaps, would not have been able to stop it and free it from what surely must be a kind of hell.

"A few days later, we had a very sick raccoon wobbling around the property with bite marks; we were able to shoot it and bury it (safely) with advice from our local DEC officer. It may well have been part of the disease chain that the fox was in…….

"The beautiful fox in the photos is probably sick. Not at the furious stage of rabies yet, or maybe it has distemper… but it shows in the eyes… I hope that it receives the help it needs, too.

"Rabies is a terrible, stinking disease and a dreadful fate for any creature cursed with it… your warning was appropriate and very important."

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog