The wife and I were returning home from a Sunday ride last night when we spot a gray fox laying beside of the driveway. The lights were shinning on it and it got up and walked right to the drivers side of the car. I knew that something was wrong for the fox to approach the car and it ran off before I could get any guns a blazing. It might have been curious but it just didn't seem like it had any fear. This morning I found the same fox laying dead in the driveway near where I saw it last night. I put my gloves on and bagged it up. Took it to the local animal control office and they are going to get it tested for rabies. Last week I found a dead possum under my utility building so now I think there could be a connection between the two.
Fox With Rabies?
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Art Eatman
Moderator In Memoriam
At my level of ignorance, I'd call a vet and ask about what's best to use to wash those gloves...
Art
Art
Double Naught Spy
Sus Venator
There could be a connection between the two, or not. If there is, then the chances of the connection being rabies is extremely low as opossums have evolved to not be likely to suffer from rabies. In our local animal control shelter, the only mammal they will capture and release in town and without testing for rabies is opossums, for this very reason.
Dead fox and dead opossum and the dead fox show no fear? My guess is poisoning, assuming they are connected.
Dead fox and dead opossum and the dead fox show no fear? My guess is poisoning, assuming they are connected.
Any mammal can get rabies .Racoons and skunks are on top of the list but foxes and possums are included. In NY there have been horses and deer on the list too !! ...Remember that you don't have to be bitten to get rabies . It's in the saliva and just handling the animal can transmit it .Educate your kids !! A kid in Texas just died from rabies from a bat [ he had been awakened by the bat but didn't realize he had been bitten]. It takes a while for the rabies to incubate so the fox and possum aren't necessarily related .Beware the animal that has any abnormal behaviour !
Tiber
Member
Foxes, if I remember correctly, are related to dogs. Which is to say that they're not the most paranoid of animals.
I've had a few running around my parents yard. The most recent 'invasion' has been under their neighbors shed. He called animal control and was told flat out that he wasn't allowed to touch them. They are a protected species in PA, apparently, so you might want to check the local laws before going out guns blazing.
As far as them being rabid for being curious about the car, I wouldn't sweat it. The neighbors fox has no problems raiding my fathers garbage cans (I helped him lug one of the winter tires on top of it which solved the problem) and it loves the birdfeeder both for the feed berries -- and the birds. While they are nocturnal, it's more in the sense that most animals are which is to say they're active in the morning (shortly before sun-up) and evening (shortly after sundown). So basically there was a loud smashing about the cans at the most annoying hours you could imagine and my mother threatened to invade my apartment for some quiet.
I have had foxes pace me while hiking and geocaching, remember, they think you're fantastic for kicking up all those juicy McMice. They seem to regard people as walking buffet lines. I have run across a few rabid animals while hunting, and it's generally pretty easy to spot the loping, aimless walk. But my guess would be your fox died of antifreeze poisoning.
Just don't tell the neighbors if they ask where there cats went. I need to use the driveway too...
I've had a few running around my parents yard. The most recent 'invasion' has been under their neighbors shed. He called animal control and was told flat out that he wasn't allowed to touch them. They are a protected species in PA, apparently, so you might want to check the local laws before going out guns blazing.
As far as them being rabid for being curious about the car, I wouldn't sweat it. The neighbors fox has no problems raiding my fathers garbage cans (I helped him lug one of the winter tires on top of it which solved the problem) and it loves the birdfeeder both for the feed berries -- and the birds. While they are nocturnal, it's more in the sense that most animals are which is to say they're active in the morning (shortly before sun-up) and evening (shortly after sundown). So basically there was a loud smashing about the cans at the most annoying hours you could imagine and my mother threatened to invade my apartment for some quiet.
I have had foxes pace me while hiking and geocaching, remember, they think you're fantastic for kicking up all those juicy McMice. They seem to regard people as walking buffet lines. I have run across a few rabid animals while hunting, and it's generally pretty easy to spot the loping, aimless walk. But my guess would be your fox died of antifreeze poisoning.
Just don't tell the neighbors if they ask where there cats went. I need to use the driveway too...
I have not heard from the testing facility yet about if the fox did have rabies. I will let you guys know when they contact me. Just 2 days ago a rabid fox was discovered about 45 miles from my location near a hospital. It ran out of the woods and attacked two people that were walking on a paved walking trail near the hospital. It bit the first person and the second person was able to fend it off. A hospital employee went and found the fox and killed it. The news never would say how he killed the fox. Might have been a good ol gun carrying red blooded American male that just so happen to have his pistol with him at work.
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