One of my backyard fox from a year ago.
Mange is killing this fox, but it’s a teachable moment if for no other reason than we can see how long and whip-like a fox tail is under the fur.
Fox mortality is about 70 percent per year due to mange, distemper, infection, roundworms, heartworm, starvation, flooding, vehicle impact, poisoning, etc.
Mange is difficult to successfully treat in wild free-range fox, as the proper dosage of Ivermectin needs to be given twice a week for a month to succeed.
Mange mostly occurs in the winter, when lack of food resources and increased stress from mating and hormonal changes reduces natural mite resistance. Improved diet can help, as can a single dose of Ivermectin to rid an animal of round worm infestation, but death from mange is part of the natural life cycle of fox and should be accepted as such. Nothing in the hedge dies on a morphine drip and while listening to classical music.
Below is another fox picture, taken at the same location on the same night, showing what a full tail looks like.
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