- Apr 15, 2011
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My husband and I were walking our dog and a friend's dog down in the currently fairly dry river bed by our house. On the way home, a grey fox comes sliding down one of the steep banks. I figured it had just been startled into a panicked run, so softly yelled at it to make sure it knew where we were. Instead of running in the opposite direction, it wandered slightly towards us, then slightly away. Its mouth was agape, and was very obviously not a healthy animal from its behavior (the coat was very sleek though). The banks were too steep in that area to climb up, so we had to carefully maneuver the dogs around the mindlessly wandering fox until we could scrabble up. It never purposefully approached us as I first feared it would do, rather, it was pacing in circles seemingly completely oblivious to our presence.
From the bank top, we could see it collapsed in one of the larger puddles. It made convulsive snapping motions and head rolls for a while, then collapsed again for a few seconds, then started the blind wandering again, and was still doing that as we made our way back home. Had I a gun, I would have shot the poor thing.
The direction it came from are fields of cattle and goats. We do have coyotes in the area. Does it sound like this fox may have gotten into poison meant for coyotes, rabies, or something else?
From the bank top, we could see it collapsed in one of the larger puddles. It made convulsive snapping motions and head rolls for a while, then collapsed again for a few seconds, then started the blind wandering again, and was still doing that as we made our way back home. Had I a gun, I would have shot the poor thing.
The direction it came from are fields of cattle and goats. We do have coyotes in the area. Does it sound like this fox may have gotten into poison meant for coyotes, rabies, or something else?