Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/04/30/man-tries-to-convince-strangers-that-a-wild-fox-is-friendly-then-the-fox-attacks-his-leg-video.html
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We have lots of them in and around our neighborhood, they are fun to look at from a distance but you do not want to get in their way. Happy just to listen to their otherworldly screams in the night.
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Somebody give this man a bottle of disinfectant!
…and a test for rabies would also be wise.
Can Foxes Have Rabies: What To Do If Bitten By One
… Here are some potential signs that a fox has rabies:
- Fighting or attacking inanimate objects – this is sometimes called fly biting.
- Having no fear of people or appearing tamer than you would expect.
- Seeming unaware of its surroundings or blind.
- Weak, lame, or completely paralyzed.
- Being more aggressive than you would expect.
(kinda think in cartoon terms of a virus already abundant in a mammal’s saliva looking to be transmitted and therefore piloting the animal to give another animal an injection bite of virus)
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It’s probably just as well (for the foxes at least) that the ones under our porch evidently moved to another den (they’ll do that, I’ve read).
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That was my immediate thought, but it appears to be in the UK, where rabies is virtually non-existent.
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One quick bite and the fox casually trots off. I guess we don’t taste like chicken.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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Uh… it’s a wild fox, it’s not “friendly” (certainly not to a bunch of strangers). It’s also a nocturnal animal, so the fact that it’s walking around during the day means something is wrong - either it’s sick (that kind of behavior normally might indicate rabies, though in the UK I’d worry only slightly about it, since bats rarely bring it in from Europe*) and/or extremely stressed (and therefore unpredictable).
*Looking it up, it’s been 20 years since the last transmission in the UK, a naturalist who was spending a lot of time working around bats. Apparently foxes are major carriers of rabies in Europe, but they’ve had large vaccination programs for them in Western Europe that have been pretty successful. Also foxes carrying rabies is not uncommon in the US, but the strain of rabies carried by foxes here seemingly doesn’t get transmitted to humans? Huh! Okay, I guess one really shouldn’t worry about getting rabies from foxes then. Just… all the other things they carry.
Basic misunderstanding - the fox didn’t bite him for food purposes nor because it was warning him off. No, it was just annoyed at the guy for speaking on its behalf. “Oh, I’m friendly am I? We’ll see about that!”
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&/Or it’s nursing &/or the kits are out wandering.
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They were British yo…
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We see them out and about during the day quite often. Sometimes just sitting in the middle of the road like they own the place.
It’s not unusual to see one napping in the grass in my back yard which might explain how random dog toys end up there.
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So foxes don’t like bangers then. 
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5:45 is shortly after sunrise for April and well within fox foraging hours – not an indication that something is wrong
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In my experience it’s rare that wild animals are ever really “friendly.”
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Please don’t use that kind of terminology. People seeing Europe as distinct from the UK is what brought us Brexit
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They are beautiful animals and I wouldn’t describe them as dangerous, but I also wouldn’t use the word friendly for any wild animal. Okay, maybe for capybaras.
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