Wild Baby Red Fox Rescue – Spring 2022

So this spring has proved to be a lively one for many reasons, not least of which happened this week here in my own backyard.

Early this year I spotted a red fox dashing across my yard while there was still snow on the ground, but I hadn’t seen any sign of it since then. If you’ve followed my winter 2020-21 adventures, you’ll know my search for what I thought was an elusive fox in northern Ohio turned into a series of adventures with the local coyotes in Bradley Woods, near where I was staying at the time.

Now I’ve finally spotted, and confirmed, the red fox here, I was excited to see more of it, but was left with only a brief glimpse. But today I was treated to a full-on interactive fox show. A mother fox was moving her kits (baby foxes)–I’m guessing from a winter den location to another spring one–in the middle of the day. Somewhere during this process the local hawks and crows noticed, and the mother became a target for the hawks, especially the larger of the two. Interestingly, the neighborhood crows were also quite vocal the whole time the fox was out, signaling between each other as she ran from one side of the woods to the other. I don’t know enough about crow-hawk dynamics to full appreciate the interactions that were taking place, but it looked to me like the crows were drying to drive off the hawk away from the fox.

Initially when I saw the fox I thought it was coming back from a hunt with a rat or squirrel or other small, furry rodent in its mouth, but it turned out it was actually her furry brown babies! On what I think was the third run from one den to another the mom either dropped one of the babies or she was attacked by the hawk and lost it–I was too far away to see the actual incident–but shortly after I saw the larger of the two hawks hopping around on the ground and the crows continued to make quite a ruckus.

As I went over to see what was going on I saw what looked like a brown lump at its feet, similar to what the mother fox had been carrying in its mouth before. It saw me and took off, and it turned out to be a furry little brown baby fox! Here’s a close up picture as I first saw it.

After a few gentle pokes with a stick I confirmed it was still alive, and I didn’t see any obvious blood or cuts or signs of an attack from the hawk, and after a bit I could see its chest rise and fall regularly as it was breathing. I pondered for a while what to do with it–should I leave it and let nature take its course, which would likely mean the hawk coming back shortly to retrieve its afternoon meal–or should I try to rescue it and move it somewhere it would not be immediately eaten by the hawk? Or, alternately, should I try to bring it inside and raise it as my own little baby red fox friend?

Ultimately I decided to try and move it to a safer location about 100 yards away, along the general path I believe the fox uses to go from one den to another. As I was getting ready to move the baby the mother came spring back across from the direction of where the den she was retrieving them from was. She was running quite fast, but did not have anything in her mouth this time. I tried to call out to her and let her know her baby was right here, but I doubt it made a difference.

So after walking a bit along the game trail in the woods I found an old rotten tree with a nice hollow and space under it could shelter the baby fox from the immediate gaze of hawks above, and where it would be impossible to simply swoop in and snatch it. I have no idea if this was the right move or not, or if the fox parents will discover her, or if it will simply be left to die on its own. It didn’t look like it had fully opened eyes yet, which usually means it is quite young, since baby fox are effectively blind for the first 12-14 days, and this is the right time for a litter of new foxes to be born. I’ll try and check back on the spot I left the baby fox later to see if it has moved or is still there. 

As an interesting afterward, for about an hour after this happened the two hawks were sitting up in a nearby tree calling out, quite annoyed I imagine, for having stole their mid-day snack! Here’s a short video I edited and put together with the mother fax and baby fox rescue.