Credit: Brian Clark/Facebook
A vixen with sarcoptic mange that roamed during daylight on residential streets and alleys near North Wales Area Library, frightening some neighbors due to its appearance and behavior, has been treated for the parasitic mite and healed this week, according to a group of North Wales residents who took action.
On Saturday, a concerned parent named Brian Clark posted in the private 7,500-member-strong North Wales Borough Community group seeking advice about a red fox that was not fearful of humans and would approach his children.
Other residents also expressed concern – and execution – of the animal that had been spotted on West Washington Avenue, West Montgomery Avenue, Poplar Alley, Montgomery Avenue, Shearer Street, West Street, and South Pennsylvania Avenue.
By Monday, a group of neighbors tracked her to an area where she could eat a low dose of Bravteco hidden in cooked chicken. Ivermectin was also an option for treatment of the parasite.
“The fox has been successfully treated and will start showing improvement very soon. Just a reminder, it is illegal to hurt this fox because she is a female with kits,” wrote resident Jay Maiale in an update. “I had a lot of help from a friend who has successfully treated more than a dozen cases. Thanks to everyone for all the help finding the fox.”
The vixen is also a mom and has a litter of kits. A den is suspected near the area of Windsor Way and West Prospect Avenue, on the border with Upper Gwynedd, according to posts in the Facebook group.
Likely, she was out during the day scavenging for food for her babies. Foxes are opportunist eaters: They will eat the most easily obtained meal. Be it mice, voles, bird eggs, rabbits, or insects, a fox will eat it. Even native fruits such as blueberries, blackberries, chokecherries, and black cherries are in a fox’s diet, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
Resident Rachel Brick was part of the initial effort, contacting Philly Metro Rehabilitation to inquire about treatment.Maiale wrote that there was no need to trap the fox; they had medicine, and one treatment is all it takes, and just wanted updates on sightings.
One North Wales resident gave the fox the moniker “Rick Fox.” He wrote that the fox got mange about two to three weeks ago and was healthy before.
“He probably does more good for the area catching mice and rodents so hopefully he can get better,” he wrote.
Resident Donna Wagner thanked Maiale and others for their kindness in helping the fox, and she shamed those who suggested killing the animal.
“Poor thing needs help,” wrote one resident. “He’s trying to exist in an environment that is not conducive to his survival.”
Resident Lucy Knowles told Brick that Aark Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center had advised her not to trap a fox with mange, as it can get stressed out. Another resident asked Brick how she could treat a fox with the same disease outside her home, and Brick told her Invermectin or Bravteco treatments require only one dose in food. However, it could be dangerous to other animals in higher doses.
Resident Mike Patterson wrote the red fox is the head predator in the area.
“Foxes cured my vole problem in my yard. The foxes in my neighborhood are not a threat to my family and provide a great service and controlling the squirrel population also,” Patterson wrote.
According to VCA Animal Hospitals, sarcoptic mange is highly contagious to other dogs and humans.
Since the mite may be found in areas where infected dogs or foxes frequent, according to VCA, keep your dog away from these areas to help prevent infection, which includes showing signs of hair loss and peeling skin. Although sarcoptic mites cannot complete their life cycle on humans, they will cause severe itching until they die.
One family in the area wrote they found all this out the hard way: Their dog contracted mange more than likely from the fox and shared it with the family.
The red fox is not a threatened or endangered species in Pennsylvania. Only red foxes get mange, not gray foxes.
Its birthing period, according to the PA Game Commission, is coming to an end. Its pups are already born and now they are raising them in dens, either the natural kind or the under-the-porch kind. According to the Commission, foxes use more than one den to raise pups and constantly move them around.
Both species of fox are protected in Pennsylvania, however the state regulates foxes as game species with set hunting and trapping seasons. Foxes can be hunted on Sundays. There is no bag limit.
According to the state Game Commission, foxes are highly intelligent – that is why “sly as a fox” is a phrase – with extremely sharp senses. A fox can hear a mouse squeak about 150 feet away, the Game Commission said.
“Populations fluctuate and shift, often as a result of human activities such as logging, farming or development. Disease also plays a role. In areas where mange outbreaks occur, red-fox populations are often severely impacted,” according to the Game Commission. “But foxes are very resilient. Both species seem to readily rebound from disease and other limiting factors, so long as the area they inhabit can provide food, escape cover and safe havens.”
The 2023-24 fox hunting season has ended as of mid-February.
Per Title 34, Chapter 21, Section 2141 of the Pennsylvania Constitution, “it is unlawful for a person to kill any game or wildlife as a means of protection unless it is clearly evident from all the facts that a human is endangered to a degree that the immediate destruction of the game or wildlife is necessary.”
Punishment for violating the above law is a 5th-degree summary offense.
