Seen any foxes or coyotes lately?
Several Annandale residents have reported seeing more foxes lately during daylight hours. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the fox population is growing, says Michael McDonnell, manager of the Hidden Oaks Nature Center off Hummer Road in Annandale. He thinks the foxes are changing their behavior in response to the growing number of coyotes in the area. Usually nocturnal, foxes are becoming more active during the daytime to avoid being attacked by coyotes, who hunt at night. The habitat destruction caused by the beltway HOT lanes project is also driving more wildlife closer to people’s homes.
McDonnell hasn’t personally seen a coyote but has seen tracks and “scat” (what naturalists call poop). There have been sightings by people walking dogs on trails near Lake Accotink and parks around Annandale and at least one incident of a dog attacked by a coyote—in Eakin Park on Prosperity Ave.
Coyotes are about 50 to 70 pounds and travel in family groups or packs of two or three, he says. There is no way to know how many coyotes and foxes are in the area, as “there are no resources to conduct an inventory.”
“Still rare and with a relatively small population, coyotes aren’t more or less a concern than any other wildlife,” says Fairfax County wildlife biologist Earl Hodnett in an online interview. There are actually benefits to having coyotes around: They help normalize two animal populations—rats and Canada geese—that have increased due to the lack of natural predators and have become a nuisance.
If you see a coyote, you don’t need to do anything about it, Hodnett says. “Often, people call saying they’ve sited a coyote when in fact, they’ve seen a gray fox or a mangy red fox.” [One thing you can do is please send a photo to the Annandale blog. The photos on this page are from Google images.]
“The big concern is letting out pets at night—cats or small dogs—which could be killed if they wander into coyote territory,” he adds. Don’t leave pet food out at night and keep garbage can lids secure. If you confront coyotes, “Just yell at them. Coyotes generally aren’t confrontational and would rather avoid humans and run away than get in a fight, although they might get into a tug-of-war if you tried to grab away their catch.”
In the past if you saw a fox during the daytime, it was likely to have rabies, McDonnell says. That is no longer the case, as it’s become normal now to see foxes in daylight. You don’t need to be concerned “unless they are foaming and at your front door.” Foxes can attack cats, he says, but mostly go after birds and squirrels. If you see a fox, coyote, or any animal behaving aggressively or like a rabid dog, call the police non-emergency number, 703/691-2131.
12 responses to “Seen any foxes or coyotes lately?”
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Have seen them at 1500-1600 Hrs and 0900 much more regularly now. This would explain that. Great blog BTW!
I sent a post about the foxes I have seen in the past week or two, but it does not appear. Why is that?
Sorry. All comments are moderated to prevent spam. Comments will be published, no matter how critical, as long as they are not spam and not offensive.
I can't imagine what was spam-like or offensive about two apparently different red tailed foxes on Gallows Rd inside the Beltway…
Where did you see the foxes? I saw one trotting across my driveway and another near Lake Barcroft. I live in Broyhill Crest.
The spam doesn't relate to anything I've written about. There hasn't been a lot of it, but there have been a couple of comments with links to porn sites that appear to be automatically generated. Not something I want to be associated with.
Saw a fox in the 7100 block of Wayne Dr. in Broyhill Crest early a.m. a few weeks ago. Looked like it was heading for the woods that abuts our cul-de-sac.
We have a lot of red fox here. Last night I scared one off the front porch when I opened the door, it was two am. Coyotes are very common in the plains also. There is so much building going on that they are living in the housing tracks.
BTW…this is in the upper plains of Texas.
3-3-11–I watched out my back window this morning a lone coyote in the woods. He sat sunning and scratching for about a half an hour before walking around and poking at brush. I thought he was getting a little too comfortable and was deciding to set up housekeeping, so I chased him away. He ran toward the Boyhill Crest Rec Pool. We see foxes frequently in this patch of woods and I prefer them as neighbors to coyotes.
Wow, that is cool. What time was it? If you can take a picture, please send it.
3-3-11 It was about 8:00am. His coloring matched the dead leaves and brush really well. He was too far away to be distinishable by my camera–about 100 ft. We used binoculars to watch him. When I first saw him moving, I thought in order of guesses: cat? no. possum? no. fox? no. Then I called my husband to look, and he said coyote. I quickly did a web search and sure enough his identical twin was looking back at me. He wasn't very large. I would guess in the 20-25 lbs range. He spent about half of his time scratching furiously at his itches. Mangy coyote came to mind.
A mangy looking coyote was spotted in the woods near Round Tree Park recently. Might be the same one.
I was amazed to see a large, healthy, and beautiful red coyote cuddled up, relaxing and cleaning himself in my side yard this past Monday at 11:50 a.m.! I tried to get a pix out my window. Not enough contrast so I tried to quietly go outside. He was of course on alert and gone by the time the door opened. Guess that's why the Fairfax Co. mice population seemed down this year.