Are Foxes Friendly?
Reading Time: 5 minutes
Are foxes friendly to humans and chickens? Learn more by reading about a family of foxes discovered on a homestead.
by Gina Stack
The massive brush pile I passed daily made me think something was living in it. Peering in, I could see evidence that lots of digging had gone on underneath. I felt like eyes from within were staring out at me, giving me the creeps!
One spring day, I walked past the sinister-looking pile, imagining what kind of creature was lurking inside. Dismissing these thoughts, I began to walk back to the house when, without warning, an animal jumped out beside me from its hiding place in the tall, dead grass and took off! It was a mangy looking fox, obviously terrified.
Frozen in my spot, I began to wonder why it looked so scruffy and why it was hiding so close to that brush pile. Unless she had young ones, which would explain her bedraggled appearance; motherhood can do that. Every morning, afternoon, and evening after that, when I came out to do chicken chores, I was on the lookout.
Our friends had had fox issues with chickens, and I was fearful. Life was busy and there wasn’t time to know what to do. Praying was my only option. I was thankful my chickens were in a chicken tractor and never out loose. I made sure they were secure but was sick with dread thinking they’d be devoured.
Fox parents will leave food at the opening of the den for the pups to come and get when it’s time to start coming out. We started to spot bones and bird wings near the den, wondering if there were young, but we weren’t sure.
There were no sightings for a while, as we scrutinized the area whenever we were out. I had a small section of woods to go through to get to my chickens. I could see the evil brush pile through the trees. The chicken pen wasn’t far away, and I expected the worst.
One day, I stopped dead in my tracks in the middle of the woods as there, on a mound of dirt, was a little fox pup. It had a bone in its mouth, which it dropped upon seeing me. It looked like a regular puppy, complete with one ear down and one up. Its eyes were a light color with an expression of wonderment as I said hello. We stared at each other for a long moment, then picking up its bone, it left.
My pent-up steam about these evil, good-for-nothing foxes floated away. I was still nervous for my hens, as these were wild animals, but my heart softened. I couldn’t wait to get another glimpse and alert my husband.
For a period, we both had pup sightings. We saw only two of them, and they didn’t venture far. We talked softly at each sighting so we wouldn’t startle them. They always dropped what they were carrying, as if shocked at the sight of us. They’d now graduated from bones to small rodents.
I knew they’d started to widen their wanderings, as I saw scat in new places. One day, as I was walking through the woods, a small fox leaped across my path directly in front of me. I froze, wondering what this was about. At my feet was a small animal corpse. Was it trying to attack me to protect its prey? Did it carry rabies? Was it playing with me like our daughter’s dog? Was the little corpse a gift, like what cats do? I resumed my chores, musing about this. As I came back through, it flung itself across my path again, from the opposite direction. The same little corpse was at my feet. It apparently was watching me and planning this. It crouched and waited till the right moment to jump out at me. The same thoughts crossed my mind as I stood there. I was leaning toward it being playful. What would you think?
We continued to witness the siblings as they learned to hunt. As long as they weren’t hunting my chickens, I didn’t mind having fewer rodents around. While doing dishes, I witnessed the kits through my window, running past with their latest catches: gophers, squirrels, and an opossum.
Another odd thing happened: In the middle of a grassy patch in broad daylight was a large, dead mole that was about 10 inches long. These are hard to spot and harder to catch, but these little guys were becoming skillful. I wondered why it was left lying there, as foxes will bury their prey for later. I went about my work and came back through a few hours later and saw it was still there. I imagined that possibly the fox was leaving me a gift. I did some research but didn’t find answers. I’d like to believe it was!
We were decreasing our chicken flock and transferring chickens to a box when, of course, a young, sprightly chicken escaped. She went underneath the pine trees that lined the area but was impossible to catch, so we gave up trying. Being on a time crunch, we had to leave her loose, thinking the foxes were going to enjoy a nice, fat chicken for dinner. We left, praying as we went, that she would be spared.
When we returned, she was strutting outside the pen with the fox sauntering around nearby as if she wasn’t there. What a miracle! I coaxed her back into the pen and all was strangely well. These undomesticated animals could easily have had a free meal, and I’d never trust them. My fear of them being ravenous was softened, however.
One day, we came home from camping, and as we drove into our driveway there was the mother fox sitting on the side of the driveway facing our car, as if welcoming us home. She watched us enter the driveway and then ran off. Was she greeting us or did she think she owned the place?
The last one we saw was out our front window. The young fox had its beautiful fur coat and bushy tail and was hunting in our front garden. It crouched, sprang up, pounced on its prize, and toyed with it a bit before taking off. I was excited to see one so close in action. That was the end of the show for us. We are so thankful for the gift of watching this fox family interact and grow up.
Resources
- National Wildlife Foundation
- National Park Service
Gina Stack is a freelance writer in southwest Wisconsin. She, along with her husband and son, reside on five acres with 22 laying hens (some as old as 10 years!), a large vegetable garden, perennials, and Lily the pug.
Originally published in the September/October 2025 issue of Countryside and Small Stock Journal and regularly vetted for accuracy.
