CANINE PREDATOR OR CUTE CRITTER?
How Foxes Break Human Boundaries
PETER HAMEL
The Fox and the Heron, an artwork from the 17th century Flemish painter Frans Snyders, depicts its titular animals in the foreground; in the background, a previous encounter between the two of them occurs simultaneously. Housed in the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester, New York, this painting recalls Aesop’s fable of the same name—a story of karma and the notion of “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” The story goes like this: When a crafty fox brings a heron to dinner, only to trick the bird by eating soup from a bowl the bird cannot drink from, the heron gets its revenge by returning the invitation to a meal served in a narrow vase. The fable presents a simple message of treating others well, but in nature, such direct confrontation is not conducive to survival, and opportunistic feeding is what keeps animals alive. Foxes are exemplary of this, taking advantage of whatever surroundings and food sources to stay alive and create offspring. Their adaptability to human environments gives them a uniquely ambiguous position, neither fully domestic nor fully wild, and this ambiguity is what makes foxes effective predators.
FIGURE ONE
The Fox and the Heron by Frans Snyders, circa 1630-1640, Antwerp, Belgium
(Memorial Art Gallery, 2023)
By taking a closer look at how urban residents of Rochester have documented foxes in and around the suburbs in the second half of the twentieth century, a clearer understanding of our relations with them today can be glimpsed. This era, specifically the 1960s to the 1990s, is notable for the surge in suburban settings and the establishment of the middle class in distinct neighborhoods. These neighborhoods encroach on natural environments further than cities, as suburbs reflect similar populations of a city, while being less dense in its housing of residents. Like a fox, suburbs straddle a line, but in this case, it is one between rural settlements and compact city life. With the classification of a canine and the solitary, light-footedness and pointy frame of a cat, the fox is an animal that transcends boundaries in a variety of ways. Red foxes, with their distinctive orange coat, and gray foxes, distinguished by a mostly gray coat and orange undertones, are the two species of fox found in the greater Rochester area.1 The adaptability and transcendence of foxes beyond human binaries of urban/rural, wild/domestic, and peaceful/violent begs a further inspection of how we construct these dual perceptions and how they restrict thinking into these two sides.
Many animals have one or two defining traits that are reflected in Western cultural concepts. Bees are busy, horses are majestic and free, and foxes are sly and cunning. There is a kind of mystical presence that a fox carries, with craftiness and deception reflected in the saying, “sly as a fox.” In reality though, the concept of deceitful foxes must come from somewhere. Adaptability, key to any species survival, is notably strong in foxes. While opportunistic in diet, they are still careful of the context and surroundings in which they hunt, forage, or scavenge for such foods.2
In the mid-20th century, foxes were seen as pests—carriers of rabies. Though they are not alone in their ability to spread this deadly disease, their proximity and illusive behaviors made them a more threatening carrier. Preserved in the February 27, 1966, edition of the Ogdensburg Journal, an anti-rabies bounty hunt was not shy about using language to strip away any sympathy or affection that may be held for these animals.3 Calling for “the destruction of foxes” in return for 30 dollars removed the animals’ right to exist in the eyes of the audience. When an animal exists in the margins, public perception is more easily swayed by the most current news story or community event including that animal. In this instance of rabies, any sighting of a fox immediately cast it in a dangerous light and marked it for death, with such paranoia that may punish foxes without the disease.
Foxes were not just scorned for their ability to possess rabies, but also the threat they posed to local farmers and their chickens. An anonymous 1983 article from the Honeoye Falls Times (HFT) tells of this dynamic. Foxes being “very efficient chicken catchers,” even in free-range settings, is something a farmer would despise.4 It is around this moment that suburban settings had established themselves in their surrounding ecosystems for several decades. Though the implementation of houses and yards disrupted more natural landscapes, it offered enough foliage and hidden places for foxes to live in the vicinity and take advantage of these locations.
The ranges of foxes can also be determined by whether they are on their own, versus with a mate and children, as well as the ease of finding food. An exploration of fox habitats in a 1983 issue of the Honeoye Falls Times reveals the close proximity of foxes to local homes, “seldom exceed(ing) a square mile.”5 Additionally, with “an alternate nearby den,” these canines have ensured that they are both well-hidden during raising of their young, as well as having multiple options to further make their exact location illusive. When denned near a suburban home, wandering foxes with returning food may repeatedly appear, acting almost as an unintentional tease towards the homeowners. Their perceived threat could appear recurringly, but they will likely not be interested in the home, as they understand it as an inhabited zone. Their careful coverage of their multiple dens will make the foxes only harder to track down, with gray fox tracks easily confused with cat trails in the anonymous column, and as Stephen Sheppard notes in a 1980 issue of the same periodical, red fox tracks are easily mixed up with pet dogs, further adding to confusion around these animals.6
The anonymous article from 1983 stemmed from the high quantity of fox tracks observed in that year’s snowfalls, particularly as hunters came into contact with their trails. Though it is hard to discern emotional attachment from the author, the column’s matter-of-fact tone and placement in the “Conservation Comments” serve to describe this article as an environmental statement of awareness. This piece was meant to inform the locals of some in-depth behaviors of foxes to allow them to better understand these canines and make sense of their sightings throughout the year. By the time of the 1980s, suburban and nearby rural communities would have long witnessed the foxes scurrying along the outskirts of properties and hiding in nooks. Without a stronger grasp on how these animals operate, any instances of fox sightings would have appeared intrusive, as locals might not have understood the boundaries that foxes set on themselves. The effort to appreciate wildlife behaviors may have also increased community sentiment and engagement with local ecosystems, as it gave the public a tangible cycle to latch onto.
According to the same article, it is around this time that “changing agricultural conditions have removed this temptation.” This seems to be due to a shift towards wide orchards, which foster hares and mice, as previous farms would, but also act as a kind of buffer between foxes and the farm. This is where the double-sided perception of the fox is especially apparent. Foxes are very efficient killers, whether of domestic chickens or small rodents or rabbits. A kind of pest hierarchy then forms, with foxes able to move upwards or downwards based on if it is attacking livestock, or carrying a disease.
The existence of foxes within the public eye also can be tracked around the year based on the foxes’ natural cycles. Paul M. Kelsey of the New York State Fish and Wildlife Division wrote of these patterns in a 1977 issue of the Honeoye Times.7 “By early January most have selected their mates and established the territory in which they intend,” he wrote, indicating the initiation of the domestic cycle in the middle of winter. He goes on to describe how red foxes generally mate and prepare for offspring faster than gray foxes, which anticipates high fox activity and the increased need for food. Stephen Sheppard’s descriptions bolster Kelsey’s, adding how the harsh conditions and breeding cycle in winter lead to constant, yet careful behaviors.8 Food is especially important in such a season, so foxes may also be more opportunistic than other seasons. The anonymous 1983 HFT article further explores the annual cycle, with pups born in late March and eventually increasing fox trails and activity by sheer quantity.9 By the time the families split up in the fall, some will linger in the nearby area, as many dens are proximal by ancestry, while others will venture further.
These characteristics all allow the fox to den within a close proximity to a suburban house. Whether taking advantage of nearby junk or thrown out food, or simply manipulating the terrain to build a den, these homes give the fox a uniquely marginal domestic space in comparison to their human neighbors.
Unlike other animals such as squirrels, who were partially integrated by humans into urban settings, foxes integrated themselves into these spaces due to their desirable food and hiding opportunities. This self-integration is admirable for the adaptability of the foxes, but it also presents less welcoming human reactions, as it was not on “our” terms that these boundaries were crossed, even though “we” crossed these boundaries when Rochester and other cities were established. Home ranges, or ostensibly the hunting grounds of foxes, seem to be much smaller on average when living in urban spaces compared to rural or pure wilderness areas. The ever so cunning fox has managed to balance the abundance of the city with the natural landscapes crafted within them.
This mix of appreciation and scorn for the fox continued into the 1990s. By this point, local communities were well-established in suburban formats and communities, yet the forces of nature always act as a confounding factor. Erway’s article in a 1997 issue of the Patriot and Free Press from Allegany, New York, offers more insights.10 Foxes are deceptively small, as Erway notes, highlighting their threat to small or young livestock rather than some full-sized animals, as well as pets.11 This is a marginal boundary that is perhaps more definitive. Whatever resemblance a fox may have to some pets would be discarded if they attack such a personal companion.
In a mosaic of hierarchies, whether pest/boon, urban/rural, cute/deadly, the fox may straddle the lines in each. They will take advantage of human factors, such as overlooked shelters or abandoned food, while taking precautions to mainly refrain from being spotted in high-traffic areas. Foxes will eat what they can, as their winter-based breeding cycle necessitates scrounging of anything viable, both for themselves and for their young. If this includes the animals that a human cares for or for small pests that the human despises, the fox does not discriminate if it is attainable. While the “cute factor” may be more arbitrary, the closeness yet blending of canine and feline characteristics makes the fox perhaps more sympathetic to human emotions than other similar predators. These all combine to explain and enforce the deeply opportunistic nature of the fox, who will operate closer or further from human sentiments based on what it needs.
NOTES
1. “Red Fox,” Department of Environmental Conservation, accessed April 23, 2025, https://dec.ny.gov/nature/animals-fish-plants/red-fox. And “Gray Fox,” Department of Environmental Conservation, accessed April 23, 2025, https://dec.ny.gov/nature/animals-fish-plants/gray-fox.
2. Kobryn, H.T., Swinhoe, E.J., Bateman, P.W. et al., Foxes at your front door? Habitat selection and home range estimation of suburban red foxes (Vulpes vulpes). Urban Ecosyst 26, 12 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-022-01252-5.
3. “County Now Pays Fox Bounties; Caution Advised,” Ogdensburg Journal, 11, New York State Historic Newspapers, February 27, 1966.
4. “Br’er Fox,” The Honeoye Falls Times, 4, New York State Historic Newspapers, January 20, 1983.
5. Ibid.
6. Stephen Sheppard “Thru the Window Pane,” The Honeoye Falls Times, 9, New York State Historic Newspapers, December 25, 1980.
7. Paul M. Kelsey “Red Fox,” The Honeoye Falls Times, 6, New York State Historic Newspapers, February 17, 1977.
8. Sheppard, “Window Pane,” 9.
9. “Br’er Fox,” 4.
10. Charles Erway “Foxes can still be a menace to farmers,” Patriot and Free Press, 4B, New York State Historic Newspapers, August 27, 1997.
11. Kelsey, “Red Fox,” 6.