Thanks for asking Denise Yes, I tried the local wild animal rehab center and they said it looks like the fox has mange/scabies which is very contageous. They will not allow the animal in the facility in the advanced state. They did suggest I contact my local police dept to shoot it, the only problem is I haven't seen it in a few days and I can't assure them the fox will be here long enough for them to respond. The Fish & Game dept suggested I find a friend with a small calibre (.22) gun to dispatch it for me - they will offer a one time permit to eliminate this particualr animal. Of course, with the heavy rains the last few days it seems to have gone back into the woods behind my house and I haven't seen it. Both people I spoke to suggested it might go into the woods to die and it would be gone no matter what. So I guess I wait and watch Thanks again for the response Alexa

poor fox! At first it looked like he had a form of leprosy, but I knew that couldn't be. I found a link that describes what he has---unfortunately it's a long, slow death. If it's still around, I'd call a game warden and maybe they can come put him out of his misery. "Sarcoptic mange, a skin disease caused by a species of mite (a member of the spider family) causes lesions in the dermal layers of the skin, accompanied by intense itching.These lesions open to the surface and extrude a nasty looking mess with an odor similar to dirty sweat socks. The lesions eventually cover most of the infected animal, somewhat similar to leprosy. Death is almost always the result, often from a secondary infection or possibly hypothermia or frostbite."

Thank you all. There are days its bad, but i also have good days too, and the way i look at it, I could have a much worse disease. My neuro. suggested I use play dough to keep my muscles in my hands limber and thats how I got into making little sculptures, was cuz when i was shoppin, i ran into the clay, and thought that would be better than play dough. I got on disability 2 years ago, but didnt qualify for medication help, So i have a prescription insurance i purchased, and it helps, but some of my meds for other ailments arent covered including 1 of the pd meds. But its just such a relief to get some help. One day i would love to meet michael j. fox in person. I have his first book he wrote, now I need to get his latest one. There may not be a cure in my lifetime, but i pray for a cure for other generations.

You can google up Mushroom Identification and look at images, or you can search for "mushrooms of [state]" and often find guides from state conservation agencies. That one does look a lot like the Orange Fly Agaric, which grows red out West but yellow orange in the east. I've seen them out west when they open up to a flat top 6" across and red like a mini pizza with toppings. Anyway the Fly Agaric is hallucinogenic and also somewhat toxic. Natives used to use it, and in some cases, the tribe's shaman would eat the mushrooms, thus filtering the poisons out (since he was a shaman), concentrating the hallucinogenic parts in his urine, which was then consumed by other members of the tribe. Hey, I don't make this stuff up! Yellow Orange Fly Agaric They are not harmful to plants and are probably enjoying the shredded wood in your potting mix.