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Could a fox in our yard during the day mean it is rabid?


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We live in a suburban neighborhood with a field behind our house, and there has been a fox running through our yard three days in a row now, in the middle of the day. Once it went up on a woodpile and was looking at some hovering crows, then it went to the base of a tree with its paw on the base of the tree, looking up at the crows.

 

Is it normal for a fox to be out and about like this during the day? We have lived here ten years and have never seen a fox before. The kids play out there so I want to make sure.

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Could it have rabies? Yes. It could. Does it? I don't know. Call your local Fish and Game Department and inform them of the situation. More than likely it is just hungry or has some hungry babies, so I wouldn't panic unless it starts to display other strange behaviors. Watch your outside pets. A hungry fox could be dangerous to them.

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The only time I ever see our foxes is during the day. When I was a kid we had a grey fox that would come play with our cats. Now we have a fox that runs through here every day and teases our dogs. They have always been pretty active during the day. Keeps our mouse population down which I like. I just have to make sure the chickens are well protected.

Edited by Dory
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We live in a suburban neighborhood with a field behind our house, and there has been a fox running through our yard three days in a row now, in the middle of the day. Once it went up on a woodpile and was looking at some hovering crows, then it went to the base of a tree with its paw on the base of the tree, looking up at the crows.

 

Is it normal for a fox to be out and about like this during the day? We have lived here ten years and have never seen a fox before. The kids play out there so I want to make sure.

 

We've had lots of foxes in the daytime. One morning we found a fox momma training her babies to hunt on our poor hens. We've seen them crossing the pastures during the day as well. Rabies? Perhaps, but I don't think seeing them in the daytime indicates rabies.

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Oh, great-that is good to know! For some reason I thought I remembered reading that seeing mostly nocturnal animals during the day could mean they are rabid.

 

So I'm glad to know it is normal for them to be around during the day. It is fun to have it around, as long as I know it's not dangerous. (we have no outside pets) I will watch for strange behaviors though.

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They can be out during the day. Sounds like he's engaging in normal fox behavior (spying on the crows). I wouldn't get too close, simply because it's a wild animal, but I wouldn't think it was rabid. We see foxes quite a bit during the day...especially the young ones.

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A wild animal can have rabies without being rabid. Our kids found a toddler coon yesteday- too cute, curious, chirping to them- they so wanted to keep it, feed it (the mom was long gone). The vet said get it away from the house, don't touch it, etc, because most coons and skunks (at least) have rabies, even if they don't act rabid.

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