Fox Angels Foundation
Charity No. 1183633
You are very lucky if you have one (or several) of our beautiful reds visiting your garden, we have gradually encroached more and more into their territories and habitats and that’s why we do see them regularly in people’s gardens and on parkland.
Not everyone loves foxes and if you do start feeding those that visit your garden bare in mind your neighbours may not be so thrilledWe need foxes to keep a level of fear and timidness towards humans, as much as we know you wouldn’t ever wish to hurt them, you wouldn’t be reading this if that were your intention; however, some people do wish harm to foxes and if they get too used to humans, or to humans being ‘safe’ they may approach the wrong person and get hurt and none of us want that.
We understand that they will scavenge so we see all too often people saying ‘oh they can eat anything they eat out of rubbish’ but that doesn’t mean it’s the ideal scenario.
In the wild they have one of the broadest diets of our wild animals, they catch rabbits, rodents, birds, frogs, earthworms and will eat carrion. They are also known to eat berries and fruit and urban foxes will hunt pigeons and rats as well as enjoying our scraps!
Their ideal diet is high in taurine which can be found in chicken especially the legs or liver, if they don’t have enough taurine in their diet, they are at risk of going blind or at risk of having seizures.
If you do have visiting foxes that you would like to help a little, remember it’s really important not to try and hand feed them. Leave food in a quiet area of your garden, many people set up Ring cameras or trail cameras so they can watch them without disturbing them!
Below is basic guidance on the dos and don’ts of feeding visiting foxes:
Food that is okay to feed your foxes:
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Eggs – cooked or raw, they can be put out in their shell
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Turkey and chicken, both high in taurine; raw or cooked (If cooked no bones as these can splinter and be harmful to the fox)
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Oily fish is excellent for their coats such as sardines or you can purchase salmon oil and this can be poured over their food (Can be purchased from Amazon or pet stores)
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If giving milk, make sure it is goats milk as they cannot digest cow’s milk
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Dog food, although don’t solely feed this as there isn’t enough taurine in the ingredients
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Bread (with Jam or Peanut butter – although make sure it doesn’t contain xylitol or birch sugar as this can be toxic) as a treat, ideal for giving homeopathic medications which need to be fed in something sweet
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Manuka honey is an excellent natural healer and has many health benefits
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An occasional bit of cheese won’t hurt but don’t make this a regular thing
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Amazon also sell a dry fox and badger food
Avoid feeding any of the following:
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Cat food – cats have very different nutritional needs to foxes as they are obligate carnivores so cat food, although high in taurine doesn’t contain the correct nutrients for foxes
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No grapes, raisins, garlic, onions, chives, green potatoes
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Raw Pork (as it can contain parasites)
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Macadamia nuts, walnuts
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Chocolate
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Raw salmon
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Anything too salty
