I’ve written many, many words about wild canids, but I’ve never lived with one.
Until now. Jenna asked me one morning if we could pick up a free fox that was being offered in Craig’s List.
And I didn’t say no…
So we got Clive, a cross phase red fox. His previous owners were feeding him cheap dog food and not the cat food he really needs to thrive. He also was being kept in a tiny dog crate. He now lives in a German shepherd-sized dog crate with lots of house time to run around.
I had no idea Ohio was so open to allowing people to keep pet foxes. You have to apply for a $25.00 permit through the Ohio DNR, and a conservation officer comes to your house and approves it. So Clive is fully legal through the state of Ohio. In Ohio, you can buy a fox from a breeder with your permit, but you cannot just catch little ones in the woods and try to make them pets.
Jenna and I have a lot of dog experience, but he’s still not fully domesticated. He likes to steal things and hide them, and if he decides an item is worth guarding from you, don’t try to take it. Also if you don’t keep his cage clean enough, it will smell like burning rubber. That’s what his glands smell like.
I wouldn’t recommend one of these to just anyone, but if you want something a little different, it’s worth looking into.
Most states in the US are not as lax as Ohio when it comes to keeping foxes, so please consult your state’s wildlife agencies before trying to get one of your own.
This is the most interesting animal I’ve ever lived with. He wags his tail at you just like a dog, and he loves to have his ears rubbed. He gets those zoomie things that dogs get, which he does all over the house.
We don’t let him interact with the dogs, because he’s a bit stroppy, they are bit leery of him, and he’s pretty fragile. He’s really not much more than an Italian greyhound with lots of fluff.
He’s not a Belyaev domestic fox, but whoever bred him was definitely concerned with producing a fox that is fairly docile and friendly.
You may judge me for keeping such an animal, but I think we can provide him a far better home than just about anyone else who’d pick up a fox on Craig’s List.
I’ll be writing about him a lot more, and there will be Youtube video. I am looking into buying a gray fox from a breeder this next spring, which is sort of my dream animal.
So yes, we are crazy, Crazy to like foxes!
I’ve heard a few anecdotes over the years about red foxes being surprisingly “fragile” animals. I recall in the book “The Catlike Canid” the author notes that a red fox’s bones weigh significantly less than those of a coyote of the same size (presumably a small western coyote). IIRC the speculation was that the very light build was an adaptation for the fox’s trademark pouncing hunting method. I stuck part of a deer carcass behind my house last year with a trail cam and got a lot of pics of the local red and gray fox (Plus coyotes, a bobcat and a fisher). I stuck the camera and another carcass out back this year and the gray fox has been back (Or *a* gray fox anyway), as well as two of the fattest raccoons I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately the crows and vultures did a number of the carcass before the mammalian scavengers got to it this year so it’s not drawing the same crowd as last year.
We have a flighted Caique parrot and three flighted cockatiels free range in the house, so we are crazy too. Living with animals is fascinating, and often more fun than living with people.