Enough Foxes, Thank You

Some East End residents and officials were alarmed last week by published reports of a plan hatched by the State Department of Environmental Conservation to transport red foxes trapped in Babylon to the "East End." The number of foxes hereabouts has soared in the past couple of years.

However, according to Harry Knox, a wildlife specialist with the D.E.C., the foxes will not be set free in either East Hampton or Southampton Towns. "It's more mid-Island," he said, declining to specify the location.

Mr. Knox said the Town of Babylon had deemed it necessary to trap the animals because they were preying on endangered piping plovers on town beaches.

Protecting Nests

The trapping alternative was considered more acceptable to Babylon than the culling (killing) alternative, Mr. Knox said, but either was preferable to allowing the foxes to feed on an endangered species, as far as the D.E.C. was concerned.

In East Hampton, the East Hampton Town Trustees, the Nature Conservancy, and the town's Natural Resources Department take precautions to limit the danger posed by foxes to piping plovers and least terns. Once the birds pair off and nest, special "exclosures" - wire cages - are placed around them to protect the nest but allow the birds to get out and search for food.

East Hampton's natural resources director, Larry Penny, said that the fox population was undergoing a growth explosion not seen in this area since the early 1980s. "We don't want them here. We've got too many," he said.

Cyclical Swings

Mr. Penny said foxes were prone to cyclical swings in population and that they have been on the high side for the last two years. He knows that by personal observation and by the number of calls he receives from residents about foxes.

One den recently discovered near Sammy's Beach had seven young. "Very high," said Mr. Penny. "And they were all in good shape." That is good news for the individual den, but not for the future of the fox population in general. Mr. Penny likened the robust local fox population to dynamite, and the large litters to a lit fuse.

The reproductive drive was strong when food was plentiful, Mr. Penny said, "but food will get short. They can live on vegetation, and some people feed them. But even that won't be enough. They will crash. They get to the point where there isn't enough food. They become stressed. This leaves them susceptible to disease."

Threat To Pets?

The population is usually trimmed by outbreaks of two diseases - sarcoptic mange and distemper.

Dr. Dale Tarr of the East Hampton Veterinary Group said residents should not be overly concerned about the diseases spreading to their pets. Yes, it was possible for the mange, a debilitating disease caused by a parasitic mite, to be passed between fox and domestic dogs, except for the fact that the two species avoid each other. "In my 30 years here, I can't remember a case," he said.

While the D.E.C.'s Mr. Knox warned people to "watch out for their cats," Dr. Tarr said that foxes would have to be desperate for food to attack a cat.

Foxes' Prey

The red fox usually feeds on mice, rabbits, pheasants, and other birds it can catch. The guinea hens that some people buy to thin the tick population on their property are known to fall prey to foxes.

Mr. Penny said that people should not fear rabies because of the high population of foxes. "Rabies panics people, but there is no rabies in Nassau or Suffolk County," he said.

Foxes usually are active only at night, Dr. Tarr observed. "If you see a fox in daytime, it's sick," he said.