Friend Jennie writes that she was able to take a photo of the dead young fox at Good Harbor Beach this morning before Animal Control arrived. This is the third dead fox found in Gloucester recently. Such beautiful creatures and so heartbreaking to see.
Although Gloucester does not do autopsies unless rabies is suspect, the ACO believes that the foxes were mostly likely killed consuming rat poison.
In the graphics below you can see how rat poison kills not just rats, but all that come in contact. Fox and raptors, such as owls and hawks, hold a similar position in the food chain. Rat poison also sickens and kill dogs and cats. Here is a link we posted a while back about alternatives to deadly rat poison:
ALTERNATIVES TO DEADLY SECOND-GENERATION RAT POISON
Good Morning Gloucester 
I would love to see an article about this in the Gloucester newspaper. People need to be told what the poison alternatives are. AND people need to stop thinking they are going to catch rabies from every fox that passes through the neighborhood.
LikeLike
No one should assume anything! If three were found dead, testing should be done to know if someone killed them intentionally. These are the wild that are in my town that I enjoy so much as many others do but unfortunately some see them as a nuisance or threat. We have the right to know! Stop assuming and get the job done!
LikeLike
If you have rats, you are attracting them with a food source. Either eliminate the food source or set traps. And if you kill the rats, please do it quickly and humanely. It does not require a rocket science degree to understand that poisons are bad.
LikeLike