Reston: Home to LOLFoxes (tm)

ZOMG, our Facebook BFFs at the Reston Association totally posted this hilarious "Wall Photo" of some adorable critter. They obviously don't know much about the whole "Web 2.0" thing, as the picture was conspicuously lacking a comically misspelled aphorism, like "I srsly h8 Mondayz" or "Can I Has a Feral Catz Plz?" So we decided to help them out. You're welcome!

We've actually seen foxes running around in the "back 40" (really, more like the "back 0.04") out behind Restonian World Headquarters, so it was reassuring to learn from Claudia Thompson-Deahl, Reston Association’s Environmental Resource Manager, that seeing one in broad daylight doesn't mean you've got a rabid critter on your hands:

Foxes are very, very common in Reston. Sometimes they travel in the storm sewers and I have had reports of people seeing them going down the storm drains. They have become more diurnal (out during the daytime) as we have had more coyotes moving into the area and taking their nocturnal (out at night) hunting slot so we are more likely to see them. Seeing a fox out in the day does NOT mean that he has rabies.

Foxes are a well adapted urban species. They have a wide variety of foods in their diet. They will eat fruit, rodents, rabbits, grapes, raspberries, persimmons, and apples. People and wildlife can co-exist and a few simple rules will help. Dishes of pet food should never be left outside. Meat scraps should never go in a compost bin and garbage cans should be secured from access.

They will even eat sunflower seeds below a feeder if they get hungry enough.

So now we have just have to worry about the ROVING PACKS of feral coyotes prowling once the sun goes down. The next time we go on a moonlit stroll, we'll be sure to bring a Milk-Bone or two.