Mangey fox eating chicken leg and scratching himself

 
 
  

Mangey fox in the woods eating a chicken leg

 
 
  

Update on feedings

I think I had mentioned we were going to try to cure the mangey fox by injecting a chicken leg with medicine that Leotis got from a wildlife rehab place. Well, since the raccoon ate the chicken leg, Leotis had the bright idea ;) to put out so much dog food, that the raccoon couldn't possibly eat it all and then there would be leftover food to entice the foxes. Well, I think the raccoon tried to eat all the dog food! Then the batteries went dead, so we didn't get pictures of what actually finished off the dog food. Then Leotis cooked up a second batch of chicken legs, and started putting them under the pond deck during the daytime, so that the crows couldn't get to it as easily, and so that the raccoon might not get it before the foxes, since we had seen the mangey fox in the daytime but the raccoon at night. Then the raccoon was onto the new plan, and made a daytime appearance. Leotis did put out one medicated chicken leg, which we think the mangey fox had a good chance of eating, because we saw him that day. He looks better in real life, and was running around at a good pace. He looks smaller than how he looks on the camera trap, since that is more at fox level. Leotis saw the healthiest fox in the woods, scratching itself, and it does appear that fox is starting to get mangey. My brother in law (a vet) advised us against this whole scheme, because we're messing with natural selection and we might be creating resistant strains of mange-causing mites because we can't control who gets the medicine and how much of it. So some foxes might not get enough medicine to totally get rid of the mites. Anyway, I had gotten behind in posting since I was getting used to my new software, but I have more photos I will post later. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. The frogs are back. I counted like 6 of them today.

Raccoon makes a special daylight appearance

 
 
  

Return of the Raccoon

 
 
  

Mangey fox, looking fatter, but still mangey since we hadn't medicated the chicken legs yet.

Hey, where'd all the dog food go?

I think this is a new fox! At first I thought it was the mangey fox getting cured, but it's not. And its tail looks mangier than the healthier fox. So I'm thinking it's a third fox.

I think this is the fox we had seen before, who looks pretty healthy, but is looking like she is starting to get mangey. I'm thinking this is last year's mother, but who knows.

Not sure which fox this is. Either the healthy fox looking slightly mangey, or a new one?

Mangey fox, looking like he has a full belly.

Attack of the crows

 
 
  

Crows checking out the chicken leg

 
 
  

Raccoon still chowing down

 
 
 
  

Raccoon chows down some more

 
 
 
  

Raccoon chows down

 
 
 
  

Best meal he ever had

These are the pictures of the raccoon after he ate the chicken leg Leotis put out there. Also the black cat visited that night. These are from March 11th and 12th. I got a new computer and it took me a while to load some software so I could get back to posting. The frogs went back into hibernation since it got cold again. At least I assume that's where they disappeared to.

raccoon

raccoon

raccoon

raccoon

Removing the pond net

Today Leotis and I removed the pond net. Problem is, there were frogs in there, and a bunch of leaves. So I had to pick through the leaves to find any frogs. Plus there were a bunch of frog eggs in the water! They don't waste any time. So I made sure to scoop the frog eggs to where there was no net, so we wouldn't lift them out of the water. There were 4 frogs caught in the net. Two hopped off into the woods. Hopefully they will make it back. Two more were stuck in the net. One we freed and put it back in the pond, easily enough. The other one was more stuck in the net, and I had Leotis go get some scissors. I cut the net off but I think he may have lost a toe because of it getting caught in the net and struggling. (I didn't cut it off!) I hope he's okay. We put him back in the water. I think he'll be alright. So I guess we'll have a new crop of frogs. It already seems like there are too many! Some of the aquatic plants are still alive. I don't know if the frogs need all those leaves to live off of, but there are still plenty of leaves in the pond I'm sure, since I only covered 3/4 of the pond with the net. Anyway, hopefully they're happier now that the net isn't in the pond. Next year we'll have to take it off sooner. Leotis put an unmedicated chicken leg on the pond deck in front of the camera. At dust we saw the flash go off a couple times. I hope it was a fox and not the raccoon. I'll check tomorrow. Drat. Leotis said he just saw a raccoon out there. That's probably what got the chicken leg.

Strange Events

There had been a tree that was leaning in the woods, and after the snowstorm, it was leaning even more. Last night we heard it fall. Then I had a dream of a tree falling, and all these animals came running towards the house (including camels and all kinds of things).
This morning the pond water was moving. At first I didn't know what it was, but it wasn't raining, and then I saw it was a bunch of frogs-I counted 18 of them!!! Unfortunately we hadn't taken the net off the pond yet which we put on in the fall to catch the leaves, because it had frozen, and today all of a sudden it was like 70 degrees. So hopefully the frogs won't get stuck in the net. I'll take it off tomorrow. I don't know where they all came from-I only ever saw like a few frogs last summer from all those tadpoles.
Leotis called a wildlife hotline and today went and picked up some medicine to treat the fox's sarcoptic mange. He also got a bunch of information on what to do, and he cooked up a ton of chicken legs that we're supposed to feed to the foxes, once a day. Then when they are used to being fed, we're supposed to inject a chicken leg with the medicine. Hopefully that will work and that we won't just have a bunch of fat raccoons and cats.

Return of the mangey fox

Well, the cat seemed to hang out for a long time, and the raccoon made 6 appearances. I feel bad for the mangey fox. If you look at the first picture of him, he at least had some fur on the end of his tail but now nothing! I definitely think there are 3 different foxes. I wonder if the healthy fox and the mangey one are a couple, since this is the second time they both came around. I hope it's just mange and not a more serious health problem.

At least the other fox still has a good coat.