I'm worried about residents & a vixen who has her den with kits under the gazebo

[applegrove]

outside my dad's nursing home. I'm worried she will bite someone as they roll onto the gazebo. The den is right there. When the weather is a little warmer it is a busy place with about 10 residents and guests going there an hour and feeding the ducks and geese by the water. If she bites someone she will be killed and tested for rabies. What will her babies do on an island? I asked the nursing home if they knew and they said yes they were trying to figure something out. It is a city run building but the city does not deal with wildlife. Should I call around and look to involve a wildlife group? Or should I stay out of it. One of the cubs got loose from under the gazebo. Mama had a time coaxing it back underneath. It was kind of wobbly. How will they get them out without digging or tearing apart the wood? There is only the tinyist opening for the kits.

The kit:

Link to tweet

?s=20&t=Swt0DgGjwADizU3FBUYQnw

Mom the fox vixen:

Link to tweet

?s=20&t=v9UY609DR3GgGXyXLEmQdA

[Phoenix61]

1. My 55 pound Husky could make like a cockroach

and slither under a gate. I have no idea how she did it.

[applegrove]

2. Yup. I don't want to be the person who has to decide to pull the gazebo apart. They

rebuilt it two years ago and updated it last year. I see the recreation budget disappearing.

[applegrove]

3. Is this him?

Link to tweet

?s=20&t=Mi97NoEr9LRwtc6UZd2iRQ

[Phoenix61]

4. Nope! She flattened out all the way. I had no idea

she could get that thin. She spread out like pancake batter on a hot griddle.

[applegrove]

5. LOL!

[Kali]

6. how long before the residents start using the area?

if the kits are already mobile they will probably be out of there in a couple of more weeks.

[applegrove]

7. I think they can do that. They can lock the backdoor to the building

so residents and guests don't get out to the backyard. The receptionist told me they were trying to figure it out. The weather is not yet warm enough for residents. I hope they find a solution that keeps everyone from being hurt, including the foxes. Do you know when the kits start eating solid food Kali? The kit was wobbly but more than a handful for its mother to get it back into the den under the deck. But when the kits start eating solid food they would be able to trap them I think.

[Kali]

8. not sure but I expect like dogs or cats

they den for about a month?

[Kali]

9. here is some info, not sure how accurate

but it was at the top of the google list. LOL

https://petkeen.com/fox-cubs-growing-up/

[applegrove]

12. Fantastic. Forwarded to the nursing home.

[Kali]

10. this is interesting

http://www.urbanwildliferescue.org/humane/foxes.htm

seems to indicate people being around will cause them to move somewhere else, so maybe you could go walk around and make a little noise to scare them off?

FOXES LIVING UNDER HOUSE OR STRUCTURE [top]

Human activity in the area will make the fox feel uncomfortable and they will usually leave.
Any of the methods described under Foxes in Den, can be used. Ammonia rags and a radio is the most pratical way of humanely evicting them.

NOTE: A fox living under a house or structure will usually only occur during the spring. It will usually be a fox with kits.

[applegrove]

11. Thanks I forwarded it to the management of the building. TY. N/T

[Donkees]

13. Had the same situation here. The kits came out mostly in the early evening and would play ...

I left out canned dog food to help them on their way. In about two weeks their mother began carrying them off when it was dark, to another location down the road.