VIDEO: Mooresville Resident Makes Pet Warning After Driveway Find

MOORESVILLE, NC — A Mooresville resident is warning others to make sure pets are brought inside at night after a home security camera caught a fox lounging in their driveway.

In the 45-second New Year’s Eve video, the small red fox is seen casually walking from one end of the driveway to the other. “Make sure [your] pets are inside,” the resident said when posting the video. “Fox was just in my drive way on Sundown Road.”

It’s the second such footage of a red fox near a Mooresville home that has emerged in the last week.

Red foxes are found across all of North Carolina and can weigh up to 15 pounds, according to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. While they prefer farmland and brushy fields for their diet of mice and rabbits, they will eat insects and birds and may scavenge through garbage.

SEE ALSO:

• Video: Coyote Caught Wandering Around Davidson Backyard
• Mooresville Resident Reacts To Finding Fox On Front Porch

Here are some tips from NC Wildlife for preventing conflicts with foxes:

• Don't try to approach or pet a fox. Enjoy the sighting of a fox, and other wildlife, from a respectful distance.
• Don't feed foxes, wild animals, or feral cats. Foxes will lose their fear of people. Feeding a fox rewards it for coming near people. Once a fox becomes habituated to people, it may become bold and aggressive.
• Secure garbage in containers with tight-fitting lids, and take them out in the morning of pick up, not the night before. Coyotes and other wildlife will scavenge trash that is not secured.
• Feed pets indoors or remove food when your pet is finished eating outside. Foxes and other wildlife are attracted to pet food left outdoors.
• Close off crawl spaces under sheds, porches, decks, homes. Foxes may use these spaces to rest or to build their dens.
• Clear fallen fruit from around trees.
• Keep bird-feeder areas clean, and use bird feeders that keep seed off the ground. Foxes are attracted to small
• Secure pets or keep them indoors. Dogs and cats can disturb dens, prompting aggressive fox behavior from the foxes.
• Install fox-proof fencing, around your home, chicken coop or rabbit pen to protect unsupervised domestic pets. Electric fencings work well to protect chickens and rabbits and can be found at your local home improvement store.
• Place and play a radio near a den site. The noise will encourage the fox to move her den. Shining a flashlight on the den entrance and leaving it there will also encourage the fox to leave.
• Yell, bang pots and pans or use other noise-making devices to scare foxes from your yard. This will also maintain their wariness of people.
• Educate your neighbors. Your efforts to prevent fox conflicts will be less effective if neighbors are still providing foods.

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