by William C. Leikam
President, CEO & Co-founder, Urban Wildlife Research Project

Be sure to check out the interview Bill did with Alie Ward for her internationally acclaimed podcast Ologies https://www.alieward.com/ologies/urocynology. More about this below.

What I’ve Learned About Gray Fox Behavior

Part 6 – Gray Foxes & Chickens

In the process of understanding the behavior of the gray fox, it soon became apparent that I also needed to know what to do if you have chickens on your property and a family of gray foxes burrowed in under the shed. As you are probably aware foxes love chickens as much as we do, but how do you protect your chickens from the foxes? 

At age 14, my brother and I trapped gray foxes. (We didn’t know any better and it was at a time when our culture was very different from what it is today.) When we caught one, we brought it home and put it in a woefully small cage. Invariably, by morning, the fox had burrowed under our enclosure and escaped back into the creek. We dug down below the wire fencing and inserted a 4 inch by 12-inch plank, covered it up and the next gray fox simply dug deeper until it had come to the end of the plank, dug a bit deeper and dug its way upward to freedom. We were never able to contain those foxes. 

So now, many decades later, people contact me with all manner of problems about these foxes. Much of the time it’s how to keep the foxes from getting into their chicken pen, or keeping them from living under their deck. At first, I was hesitant to divulge a sure-fire way to keep the foxes out of the chicken coop because I believe that the foxes should be allowed to live their normal lives. Several years ago I got an email that read, “We have a small dog. She’s really small and we also have a family of gray foxes with pups living under our deck. We want our dog Missy to roam about over our one-acre property, but with the foxes under there, we can’t let her out of the house. What can we do to get those foxes out from under there?”  

At first, I was averse to giving up the solution, but then, after considering the situation and knowing that when people ask for the solution as to how to save their remaining chickens, I decided to give in and tell him what to do. This is for keeping your chickens safe, but with a few modifications it can be applied to a number of situations. 

  1. Dig a 1.5-foot-deep trench around the chicken pen. It can be more than 1.5 feet deep
  2. Purchase enough chicken wire to encircle the chicken pen plus enough to cover the top to make a roof. Additionally, purchase enough chicken wire so that you can bury the chicken wire down in the ditch and about 2 feet out and away from the enclosure. The chicken wire then would be in an inverted L shape.
  3. Before filling in the trench and thus burying the chicken wire, add a good layer of rock on the wire and bury it all.

I hope that all makes sense and that when the drawing gets posted that drawing above doesn’t slip. If you have further questions about protecting your chickens from gray foxes, please let me know.

What's Happening at UWRP?

We here at the Urban Wildlife Research Project are proud to announce that the Alie Ward interview for her podcast Ologies is now live. Her audience is between 300,000 and 400,000 people and for every episode she draws down approximately 3 million downloads.

Alie said, “Thank you so, so much for being on the show. This is one of my favorites and I’m so excited to have listeners get to know you and our little gray fox friends! We also plugged the non-profit, your book, and the documentary! Thank you for sharing your knowledge!” In the first 12 hours after release there were already 97,000 people who listened to this podcast. 

The podcast can be accessed on any of the podcast “stations” online such as Apple, Spotify iHeart, Podbay, or here at her website https://www.alieward.com/ologies/urocynology. If you chose the website, scroll down the page to find out more. In the very beginning there is a short advertisement before she and I get into the fray of it all. Enjoy. 

If you thought it worthwhile, please, spread the word through your personal networks.


 

On June 14, in the Elephant Room at Safari West, 7:00 PM, Bill will give a talk on the behavior of the gray foxes that he has studied over this past 15 years. 

Be on the lookout for Bill being booked to give another talk over at Meta (Facebook). We’re working on it.

The Urban Wildlife Research Project will be present at Safari West for Earth Day on April 26th. Why not drop by our booth and say hello. 

If you or your organization would like to have Bill aka the Fox Guy present one of his four PowerPoint presentations:

1. A Year with the Urban Gray Fox – MOST POPULAR

2. Human Development, Sixth Mass Extinction & Gray Foxes – An historical look at how we got to our present place in history.

3. Gray Fox Cognition – What & How Gray Foxes Perceive – This is an attempt to get inside the mind of a gray fox

4. Corridors & Connections – Sustaining the Health of Our Wildlife – The title says it all

Contact us here https://urbanwildliferesearchproject.org/contact/ and let us know.

Videos and Documentaries

My journey to the University of Zurich, Switzerland, Triggered By Motion

Bill’s book The Road to Fox Hollow can be purchased directly from Bill for a mere $20.00. Just email him through the Contact form on the Urban Wildlife Research Project’s website, leave your email address and he will get back to you. Or you can contact the publisher Di Angelo Publications  .

A video documentary about Bill’s work with the foxes and produced at Stanford University by Syler Peralta-Ramos.

What happens when an opossum and a red fox meet in the night?

In contrast to two other raccoon discipline videos, this one is rather mild.

Gray Fox Playfulness “Hugging” Behaviors.

See the violence of Discipline Raccoon Style.

Screenshot 2025-01-17 alle 11.01.41

“How to be a Fox” The article about Bill and his ethological approach to his study of the gray fox is online here.   Many are calling this a major article in the wildlife press.

Be Sure to check out our YouTube Channel for some incredible wildlife videos.

Grey Fox General Health

There are no gray foxes in the Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve. However, there is a family of three red foxes that have moved into the territory along with a coyote pair. Presently, we are monitoring them.

Gray Fox, Baylands Goals

Within the permit that allows the Urban Wildlife Research Project to conduct its study of the behavior of the gray fox at the Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve, the objectives covered are:

  • Monitoring of urban gray fox Denning sites in Palo Alto Baylands.

This is being accomplished during the period when the gray foxes use a den site. It is one of the prime locations for gathering most of the behavioral data of the litter and for adults alike.

  • Assessment of status and population trends of Baylands urban gray foxes.

Since January 2019 a pair of resident gray foxes have claimed territory at the Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve.

  • Identification of habitat features that promote the presence of urban gray foxes.

The Urban Wildlife Research Project is working on a project to remove the concrete from Matadero Creek that will create linkages and corridors between the Santa Cruz Mountain Range and the Palo Alto baylands..

  • Assessment of reproductive success and identification of factors that promote successful reproduction.

Open the pinch-point along Matadero Creek by developing thickets that link one area to another, instead of the present island-like habitat.

  • Identification and assessment of possible dispersal travel routes.

Dispersal routes move between the Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve and the Shoreline region over in Mountain View. In a north-westerly direction the dispersal corridors run just behind the homes bordering the marshlands in East Palo Alto.

Read more about UWRP in the news:

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