# My wife saw a fox **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 20, 2018, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wife-saw-a-fox/816461 "2018-06-20T19:59:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wife-saw-a-fox/816461/21 "2018-06-23T00:58:47Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > This is why our 2nd Amendment rights are so important. Ain’t it the truth.😉 ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wife-saw-a-fox/816461/22 "2018-06-23T01:35:15Z")
I agree that cats should be safe from foxes, especially when there are plenty of squirrels and/or rabbits around. Cats are much more able to fight back. Our cats stay indoors, but if a Fox made a move toward one of them their dog would show why that wasn’t a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wife-saw-a-fox/816461/23 "2018-06-23T01:36:12Z")
We’ve seen foxes in my city, right in the middle of town. I saw a show on urbanized animal populations, like turkey vultures in downtown Miami. It said there are more foxes in London than the countryside. Can’t provide a cite, as I forget the name of the show. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wife-saw-a-fox/816461/24 "2018-06-23T02:35:28Z")
Foxes make good pets if you selectively breed them for several generations, I think it’s important to remember that in these situations. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wife-saw-a-fox/816461/25 "2018-06-23T06:55:12Z")
> [@CelticKnot](#): > > Out here, we have plenty of coyotes and some foxes, but the biggest predator of cats is dogs. Our backyard is fenced, but there’s a hole the landlord won’t fix. Cats come in and have a litter, and a pair of dogs (we know which ones, and even which house claims them) squeeze in and tear the cats and kittens to pieces. Animal control seems to go by a policy that if they don’t see the dogs in the act and no human is hurt, the dogs can continue their reign of terror. I don’t like the cats in the yard either (feral cats are bad news for ecosystems) but there’s a very small and ramshackle “mini-storage” facility across the street, and the owner feeds all the feral cats in the neighborhood every day. > Mr. CK got tired of burying dead cats and has jerry-rigged a patch for the hole in the fence. I do not know yet if it is effective. In Texas, dogs like are are controlled by the Shoot-Shovel-ShutUp doctrine. ---
**Author:** ![skyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/54ee81/32.png) [@skyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skyr)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wife-saw-a-fox/816461/26 "2018-06-23T15:08:50Z")
I would be much more worried about that cat being killed by a coyote than a fox. Coyotes kill many outdoor cats nowadays, and you almost certainly do have them in your neighborhood even if you haven’t seen them. Coyotes have learned to live in human habitats very well over the last few years and are now widely distributed all over the country. There are even coyotes living in dense urban areas like Chicago. You may not notice them because they usually hide during the day, but they come out at night to hunt. If you guys don’t want that cat to suddenly disappear, I strongly recommend trapping it and trying to keep it inside. Most outdoor cats live much shorter lives than indoor cats do because of these kinds of issues. ---
**Author:** ![betterlifethroughchemistry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/betterlifethroughchemistry/32/3094_2.png) [@betterlifethroughchemistry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betterlifethroughchemistry)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wife-saw-a-fox/816461/27 "2018-06-23T21:22:24Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Several, in fact. They’ve never been in our neighborhood before. > > She’s concerned about the neighborhood cat. We’re across the river from you in the Glenville area. We live in a neighborhood, but there is wildlife all around the place, we see deer and turkeys regularly, foxes and skunks occasionally, not to mention the ubiquitous chipmunks and squirrels…our neighborhood is full of outside cats, the next door neighbor cats hunt chipmunks in my yard…I’ve never heard of anyone losing a cat to a fox, not to say it wouldn’t happen, more likely one would never know… I personally witnessed two cats being run over in front of my house last year, which, while unusual, would make me think cars are a bigger concern for cats in our neighborhood… ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wife-saw-a-fox/816461/28 "2018-06-23T23:41:33Z")
I wouldn’t worry. There are some foxes in my parents neighborhood, a mother and five nearly-grown cubs. They keep their tiny, old cat inside most of the time (easy, since she doesn’t want to do more than hang out in the back yard and nibble on grass) and watch the little foxes run around and play. Those things are super cute and make me want one as a pet. The only person who has any worries is the guy who feeds the squirrels. They also keep the rat population down. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2018, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wife-saw-a-fox/816461/29 "2018-06-24T01:49:04Z")
We see foxes in my suburban neighborhood all the time. One treed a feral cat in my back yard recently, so they will certainly take on a cat, even the tough ones. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2018, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wife-saw-a-fox/816461/30 "2018-06-24T02:18:05Z")
Tiny nitpick, foxes have kits not cubs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wife-saw-a-fox/816461.md?page=1)