Cause of death? (Fox cub)

[bendog]

We once had a fox die in our garden. We actually felt, in some way, honoured that she felt safe enough to come to us at that time. She was very, very weak and, although we called the local wildlife rescue, they arrived about 30 seconds too late to even try anything (although they arrived within about 5 minutes). We just stayed with her. Even our oldest dog (the only one we had at the time) came and sat beside her!

[Words]

Hi Mark,

Thanks for posting. It looked fairly peaceful, and two of the other foxes came by later this evening and looked fine.

[Words]

Originally Posted by bendog

We once had a fox die in our garden. We actually felt, in some way, honoured that she felt safe enough to come to us at that time. She was very, very weak and, although we called the local wildlife rescue, they arrived about 30 seconds too late to even try anything (although they arrived within about 5 minutes). We just stayed with her. Even our oldest dog (the only one we had at the time) came and sat beside her!

I know what you mean. Providing a safe haven has many plus points, and I think making an animal feeling safe at such times may be one of them. Sounds like you've got a great dog there, by the way!

[flying red fox]

I had another thought, you know the one that always was trying to open your house door, i wonder if it was that one trying to say something was wrong?

Or it may have just been curious but thats a thought anyway.

Hope the rest do survive, i know it wont be long till they start searching for new territory and natures way some may not make it but hopefully we see them still for a couple more months

[nightshade]

Is it possible it could have been involved with a car and just come to your garden
as somewhere it felt safe?

[Words]

Originally Posted by nightshade

Is it possible it could have been involved with a car and just come to your garden
as somewhere it felt safe?

It's possible, but it would have had to come some distance to end up where it was. It's very unlikely to have been hit in our road (very few cars). Disease is also possibility, or inadvertent poisoning, either by eating a poisoned rodent or picking up too many slug pellets (or similar) which unfortunately are used in a number of gardens round here. From what I've managed to find on the web, inadvertent or secondary poisoning is a major cause.

[adehinch]

Hi, was looking on web at something totally different and this thread caught my eye as I had an almost identicle experience in june 2005 On my diary entry for the 25th it reads "After returning home from Scotland during the day, we were woken during the night, by the death of Black tip, by an adult fox. We had been woken by the most horrendous screaming. I couldn't see what was happening through the window so I ran downstairs and turned on the outside light. I could see an adult fox with black tip by the throat shaking her like a toy. After grabbing my trousers and running outside I was confronted by the terrible sight of the adult fox still with the cub by its neck. On seeing me it ran off, leaving behind the dead fox cub. I never saw this adult fox again. "
I had many years watching the foxes in my garden until we moved last year but this will never leave my memory!
just for info a Badger is not as nimble as a fox and generally will only catch prey such that doesn't move very quick ie. baby rabbits in a stop, or unfortunate hedgehogs. I have seen fox cubs chased away by cats and by a hedgehog but being a hunter a fox would rather run off than risk injury.
I would say it was definetly another male fox. Younger vixens often act as nanny's and assist bringing up other family members.
hope this is of interest you can see pictures at Wonders of Wildlife

[Nightranger]

It looks as though the flystrike could have been secondary (as suggested) because this type of thing seems to be more typical of an injury. Sadly, foxes are scavengers and they often come into contact with injurous items such as tin cans and it only needs a small cut. The animal will lick the wound but once it opens and becomes infected there is a certain amount of anaesthetic effect. This means the animal largely becomes unaware of the injury and simply becomes feverish at some point and can die of septic shock.