Spotted: Fox in Port Washington

To the surprise of some in Port Washington, at least one fox has been spotted in residential sections of the peninsula.

Patch has learned of sightings in the Sandy Hollow area as well as in Soundview and Beacon Hill.

Sheila McDonnell spotted a fox at 10 a.m. in late August on Sandy Hollow Road. “It walked into the Water District facility,” she said.

And Bob Weitzner, the mayor of Port Washington North, said several months ago he and some neighbors saw a fox on Soundview Drive make its way from one yard to another. “Then shortly after, the fox proceeded to go down the street, right past us, and make a left turn on Marlin Lane,” he said.

Others have spotted foxes in Beacon Hill.

Patch sent a copy of the photo snapped by Sheila McDonnell to the Department of Environmental Conservation, and heard back from Bill Fonda.

“Staff believe the photo you sent is a red fox,” he said.

Why the sudden fox sightings?

According to the DEC, the suburbs

provide ample habitat and a substantial prey base. Broken wood lines alongside lawns, roadside ditches, and utility rights-of-way provide plenty of cover and potential denning sites. Expanding coyote populations (a potential predator of red fox) have pushed red fox further into residential areas in recent years.

Fonda points out that red fox are “very susceptible to mange, a disease caused by the mite Sarcoptes scabei. Mange mites burrow into the skin, thereby causing irritation, skin thickening (hyperkeratosis), and hair loss. Infected individuals may make it through the summer months, but quickly succumb to hypothermia once winter arrives.”

And though Fonda said DEC experts believed the fox was likely not rabid, it is important to know the signs.

Disorientation, a marked increase in aggression, and a basic loss of all typical behaviors, are all clinical signs of rabies, according to the DEC. Rabies is transmissible through saliva via bite wounds or exposure of damaged tissue to saliva and almost always result in the death of the infected animal.

Rabies poses a substantial human health risk, as well the DEC says.

Learn more about wildlife and rabies in Nassau County.

Have you spotted a fox in Port Washington? Tell us in the comments.