06/06/2026
You found foxes under your shed. Or your deck. Or your porch.
There's a mother. And 4-6 kits. Tiny. Fuzzy. Playing.
Your first instinct: call animal control.
Wait.
Red foxes and gray foxes raise their kits under suburban structures because it's safe from larger predators. They chose your deck because it's sheltered, quiet, and has easy access to the rodents in your neighborhood.
They'll be there for about 8 weeks. The kits grow fast. By mid-summer, they'll be exploring independently. By fall, they disperse.
While they're there, the parents are hunting every night. Eating mice. Rats. Voles. Rabbits. Squirrels. The rodents that chew your wires, eat your garden, and nest in your walls.
One fox family eats more rodents in a season than any exterminator you could hire.
They won't attack your dog. They won't attack your cat (most adult cats are larger or equal size). They won't attack your children. Foxes are extremely shy. They avoid all human interaction.
What to do:
Leave them alone. Enjoy watching the kits play — it's one of the best wildlife shows you'll ever see from your window.
Keep small pets supervised outdoors — rabbits, guinea pigs, and tiny dogs under 5 lbs could be at risk.
Don't feed them. They don't need your help.
Secure garbage cans.
Once they leave in late summer, seal the den entrance if you don't want them back next year. But only seal it AFTER they've left — never seal an occupied den.
They'll be gone before school starts.
You'll miss them when they leave.
