Sightings of the red fox in northern Virginia have increased over the past few decades.  These sightings have led many homeowners to wonder not only why they are seeing foxes, but also what those sightings mean in terms of potential danger to their family and their property.

Below we discuss three reasons why:

You live surrounded by a significant amount of land

The most innocent explanation is that if you are living in a rural area surrounded by land, that seeing foxes are normal.   Foxes, generally, wander by before going off on their own.  The problem arises if the red fox decides to stay.  If you keep seeing the same foxes over and over again, then there might be something about your property they like.

You have something that may be attracting Foxes

If you have lots of clutter around your home, that will naturally draw foxes.  From old fire pits and thrown out food, red foxes naturally gravitate towards these types of things.  In addition, red foxes will then stay around your house, seeing it as a potential future place for food.  The best thing you can do is to clean up your property and to clean or remove anything that may be considered food or have come in contact with food over the past few months.

What kind of risks do red foxes pose?

Red foxes pose very little risk, unless they are infected by rabies.  This however, is very uncommon.  On another note, foxes have been known to occasionally eat smaller pets owned by homeowners, including very small cats and kittens.  In addition, foxes around northern Virginia have been known to raid gardens, eating sweet berries like strawberries and raspberries.  If you believe this may be happening, then the best thing you can do is to create a fence around your garden.  This should keep the foxes from getting through, and help them naturally move on towards a more natural habitat.