Yes, we have fox in proximity. I've seen the scat and they are also, unfortunately, not uncommon road-kill in front of our home.

Mostly when we have exercised our dogs, they've been on a tether. When they get on a scent or excited, we often don't know why, only they do in their little doggie minds. Across the road from us, the new people have a large golden whom they leave outside 24/7 and I have no idea how he has managed to live as long as he has since he crosses the road often to chase deer. He also attracts any strays who come on him and pack up with him. They all go 'chasing' and I've no idea if fox are in their repetoire.

I do know that the fox are really timid to humans, and I guess they don't call them crafty for nothing. I suppose to them the best offense is a good defense.

As for mating seasons, we are seeing the grey squirrels preparing for their litters now. I'd guess they'll do their first whelp in early march. The mockingbird is also starting to get territorial.

Yes we have them in our woods and since the tracks leading up to the raccoon food I put out are dog like and direct register,I know it has to be one of the foxes I've seen out there. They are such beautiful animals but the hunters shoot them right along with the deer. What do you do with a dead fox anyway? Sell the fur for a fur coat? Do women still wear fox wrapped around their necks with the tail hanging down?

Well I'm a hunter and not only have I never shot a fox, I can't imagine why I would.

I've seen them alongside the road & occasionally running across it. And I am here to tell you that a dog with hunting genes will go after it just like he'll go after a raccoon, a possum or a squirrel. Whenever I walk my dog, I always watch for his big ears to stand straight up. That's when I know to hold tight to the lead because he's ready to go after something.

Farmers used to dislike them intensely, as they are hell on chickens. The only time I saw my ex-mil 'lose it', was when she saw a fox sliding into the chicken house and she grabbed a twenty-two and was out the door faster than I can recount it. I find the ordinary old racoon to be my worst chicken predator, and I don't free range my fowl, so as long as I keep my fencing repaired, it's not an issue. I've never had a fox problem, not that they wouldn't opportune if they could. But killing the predators isn't the answer. Tending the flock is.

I don't even like to lump those yo-yos who come after beasts with guns once or twice a year, with their coolers of booze and fancy electronic instruments into the catagory of a real 'hunter'. There is always that minority who ruin it for the rest, and hunting is not exception. They'll shoot anything, if it moves ...including dogs, goats and cattle. And, occasionally, each other or themselves. Serious hunters are very concerned with the welfare of game animals and their perpetuation. And, no matter how it pulls at the heartstrings of people who don't hunt, will take their animals in a humane manner and serve a real purpose in control, since human habitation has mucked up the environment.

No, pelts are worthless anymore for the most part. I think foxes are beautiful and beneficial. I sincerely hope they remain in this area and thrive.

You rarely hear the term hunting used around here. It's called harvesting..especially when killing deer. Most of those weekend hunters to which you refer Suzy and are long gone from this area and have been for several years. I guess foxes are seen as a threat of some kind which is why they get shot I guess. A few years ago we had one in our driveway and I put some water out for him and he got up and drank it. Turned out he was a pet from about a mile away but he never made it home. One of our neighbors shot him.

Well, I'm glad the yo yos are history. They aren't here. I call hunting, hunting. Harvesting is one of those politically correct terms, like harvesting timber. We've sat in meetings at the Extension office and talked about how to make things like logging and hunting more palatable to the folks who are removed from it, and chafe at having it called by its traditional names.

Garter and black snakes suffer from the same fate, as do (quite illegally) hawks, who still get pot shots taken at them because they kill other birds. IOW anything predatory seems to have an invisible bounty on their heads.

As an aside, I see in our daily paper that over two thousand black bears were legally shot in hunting season in Pennsylvania this year.

Unfortunately, the yo-yo's are very much in evidence around here, especially in deer season which seems to be amateur hour for these so-called hunters.

I'm not sure that I like the term "harvesting." It seems to be putting a pretty face on hunting so people won't think about an animal being killed. I'd prefer to call it what it is & have people face the facts. With the predators gone, hunting is necessary, especially for the deer whose numbers now in the US are larger than they were before Europeans arrived in North America. However, I find it disingenuous to try & mask what is being done by a prettier term.

I thought about you on Sunday Michelle. I had venison for the first time. I tried it because it was served up with spices; that's what you said to do with it, so I figured it was safe. Tasted good. For a split second, when I saw your title, I thought, surely she's not cooking the guy? I mean I know she likes game and does what is appropriate when hunting, but fox? and it went right back out of my head. I was pleased to see you were just being curious. So many questions, none of which I can answer. I always like how their pelts match my hair, I feel connected to their beauty. Their shy faces appeal to me too.

How is it hunting like it should be with the scopes, high powered rifles, tree stands, 4 wheelers, etc. Hunting was a means of getting food. Then it was a sport/hobby. Now it's bait them, hide up in the trees, or in planes like Palin, run them down, or spotlight and kill what we can. Real macho!!!
I come from hunting country in Nebraska. There is hunting that is true and then there's the game of playing hunter. I really have little use for hunting with the practices used now. Deer are killed and left where they are. Oh, sorry, it was a fawn. Can't take it with us.
The worst part is the unnecessary deaths. Shooting a friend or family member. What about hunting in areas in close proximity to homes where a stray bullet or one that ricocheted killed someone.
I won't go hunting again as I value my life. I think it is shameful what is done today.
Oh, is it really over population or is it that all the woods are going bye-bye to make new subdivisions and less land for the animals? Progress is sometimes regress.
Lynn

Lynn, how I agree. Had all the hunting I ever care to do when I was a kid. We never killed an animal unless we intended to eat it.

OK, I'm just going to say what I've been thinking for the last couple of days now: What the *$!!!! Seriously!

I've attempted to respond here several times, but I've deleted every attempt because I don't know how to do it correctly. I genuinely like everybody who's posted here and don't even think I disagree with you about most things... but how the heck did this evolve into a "hunters these days are evil" thread?

I just wanted to get a little more info because I really don't want my dogs molesting a den of foxes that will probably be whelped on or near our property soon and I wanted to get a feel for whether or not it was something I should look out for. I really do welcome their presence in our midst. And so does my (hunter) husband, and so does my (hunter) neighbor. And so do the other (hunter) neighbors we told. None of us want to shoot the dang thing. Honest!

Tonight I cooked homemade pheasant sausage, cannellini, and fried sage casserole. The day I made my original post I cooked venison chili from a deer my husband shot out of his deer stand. He hunts from a stand because (unlike in the flat, treeless land from where I hail where no one uses stands because there are no trees) when one considers the trajectory of a rifle round, and the visibility-limiting reality of shooting through trees, and the fact that the nine day gun season in WI brings out 600,000+ participants (not to mention all the innocent hikers and people who happen to live on the periphery of the wilderness), a tree stand is the most respectful thing one can do for anyone and anything in a one mile perimeter. Considering his multi-vertebral spinal fusion and age, in a few more years he'll probably need to consider taking along a four wheeler to haul the 200+ lb animal out of the woods. I'm still going to call his annual trip to deer camp "hunting." Baiting (and feeding!) deer is ignorant: It spreads disease, encourages deer to cross roads (getting hit by cars in the process), and artificially increases the carrying load of the land.

Contrary to what some may believe, the majority of a hunter's time is not taken up by shooting things. Mostly my husband spends his time silently watching wildlife. He sees turkeys, pheasants, (he hunts both of these, but not out of season, and never while deer hunting), songbirds, squirrels, foxes, porcupines, skunks, armadillo (from the many years he's hunted in Alabama) and a lot of deer he can't shoot. Why can't he shoot the majority of the deer he sees? Well, it depends on whether he has an antlered or antlerless tag, whether or not the deer is too big or too small, whether or not he has a clean shot, and what sort of activity the deer is engaged in. He's not even an anomaly. I don't know any hunters who don't experience the same... though I do know "of" some, but that's different.

I'm not trying to make anyone feel bad. I don't even disagree with any of the points made about irresponsible "hunters." I'm the first one to call the DNR with anything I suspect of being unethical, in no small part because I know that when people are caught in the act, that everything (guns, trucks, everything) can be confiscated and I'm happier than anyone to be rid of the yahoos.

I'm just genuinely hurt when a post like mine can bring out so much anti-hunting vitriol. Can we just agree that unless your hitting a deer with your combine, it's not "harvesting?"

I realize this is very much a hot-button issue of mine. I'm probably over-reacting. Forgive me. I confess I feel a little put off by some of the comments that seem overly broad and have been struggling to come up with a fair, honest, and productive response. I'm not sure this is it. But it's a toned-down version of what's been floating around in my head for the last couple of days.

Forgiven, no need! You are clear and kind, and not over reacting, as far as I can see. We all have our hot buttons, and good for you to put it here as a respected member of this very diverse gang. I only wish I could taste some of the cool stuff you cook! Not much hunting around here, I'm afraid. But we have what can be loosely translated as jackals or some type of wild dog/fox right around the corner in a copse, and they howl in the night. I adore them, and howl right back. They are secretive but now and again we catch them in the headlights. They don't bother the dogs and the dogs don't seem to bother them, but they really stay away except at night. No bad meetings as far as I know and I've been here for ten years. We move in June, though, and I dearly hope I will still hear them howl, as it stirs my soul.
BTW, where near Madison are you (if you'll answer that online?) I was around there for years, and loved the surrounding countryside. Batya

Our threads always wander down many paths helter skelter and mine was the first hunting post only because that's what I think of when when the subject of foxes comes up..because of those I've seen alive and dead in our woods and of course the whole fox hunting/hound issue here and abroad. It sounds as if you are saying I shouldn't have mentioned it and should have stayed on the subject of your post. We have never been about that and why would we begin now? When you start a thread,it's a gamble and you can be assured it's not always going to go the way you like. It sure hasn't for me in the past and probably a lot of others too and if we all had our feelings hurt every time that happened or the subject became uncomfortable,this would be one miserable place.

No Marda, that's not what I'm saying. I think it's pretty fair to say that I'm not normally petulant or easily wounded, just as it's fair to say that none of the posters here has a reputation for being cruel. I left it alone for a couple of days. I was really upset, and while I'm pretty sure I could have handled a meaningful dialogue on the subject in person, I couldn't respond on line because I kept committing the same thing I was objecting to: Painting those who think differently than I on the subject of hunting with broad strokes in a cartoonish, unenlightened and contemptuous manner. And ignoring the nuances of some/all/none differentiation.

I'm not saying that all my threads must go the way I want them to, but are you saying that all threads that start out all "Yay! A fox! I have some questions about coexisting with them peacfully." must end up all "Hunters kill foxes! Hunters are unethical. Let's collectively mock them. Man is in the woods!" (Obvious exaggeration to make a point.)

I don't think anyone should have to pussyfoot around my "tender sensibilities" but can you understand why those repeated responses would be so personally baffling to me?

Honestly, it had me rethinking about a fascinating book I recently read: Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely. Especially Chapter 9 "The Effect of Expectations." Perhaps people like me expect to find hunters behaving responsibly, and tend to see evidence of hunting activity as proof of such, and people like you expect to find hunters behaving like yo-yo's, and tend to see evidence of hunting activity as proof of such. The truth infinitely more nuanced than that, so we should probably both be wary of "auto-pilot" responses.

Sometimes too, things we encounter in the woods are not what they seem. A couple weeks ago, Steve came home after walking with the dogs on public hunting land and he was livid. All the gun and bow seasons on deer are over, and he encountered two still-warm deer gut piles in the woods. It could only be the work of poachers.

He came home and ranted about it. We logged on to the DNR web site and confirmed the seasons were over. So I dialed the hotline to report poachers and asked him to rant to someone who could address the problem.

Turns out, because of the presence of CWD in our local population (caused initially by irresponsible animal husbandry at a game farm, and later exacerbated by people who feed deer) there was a special gun hunting extension on that parcel of land, and the hunters were really acting in the long-term interest of maintaining a healthy deer population in our area.

Here are some questions for honest exploration: Had you seen the gut piles, what would you have assumed? Would you have followed up with anyone, or would you have filed it under "hunters are unethical" and gone on.

Pretend for a moment you hadn't heard my brief explanation of the situation. Pretend you encountered two individuals who live in an area with CWD present. Person A feeds deer corn in her backyard. Person B killed the deer whose entrails my husband found. Which person's actions are in the best interest of the animals she admires? (By the way, I'm Person C in this scenario: I'm eating leftover venison from the night before, and staring out the back window admiring the doe and young of the year tiptoe-ing through the woods behind us. I am capable of simultaneously ingesting and silently admiring the beauty of a deer.)

Does what I'm saying make more sense? I'm not at all saying that you were limited to the original subject of my post.

(Oh, and Batya: Thanks, and "The Only Waunakee in the World.")

We all come from different places when it comes to the subject of hunting and lot of it is based on our experience or our value system. So when you say

"can you understand why those repeated responses would be so personally baffling to me?" I would have to answer...no. I don't think any response at all to this thread would be baffling,merely someone else's train of thought just as in any thread that's posted. One time I started a thread about the joy of watching a little kid dancing with an old man in the grocery store and it ended up to be a diatribe on how awful society is today and how we have to watch our kids like hawks and on and on and on. I wasn't baffled,I wasn't upset,it just goes with the territory of a forum and certainly not enough to get the least upset about. You post a thread about something,and then wait to see how it ends up and everything is fair game,whether you like it or not. It 's a subject thing,not a personal thing. So I guess what I'm saying is that if the subject is ..yea..a fox,the first thing I'll think of is the fox I found in the woods a couple of years ago with a bullet in his head. So my choice is...do I say what I think or quietly go along with the subject. If it's you,I'll just not say anything because it would upset you,and what would be the point of that? If it were someone else here,I probably would.