AboutJonathan Wright Expertise I can answer questions about wild mammals, as well as other wild animals. I can also answer questions on extinct animals and zoos.
PLEASE DON'T SEND ME ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT PETS. IF YOU ARE REALLY WORRIED, YOU SHOULD CONTACT A VETERINARIAN. PLEASE DO NOT ASSUME THAT UNPAID PEOPLE ON ALLEXPERTS ARE AVAILABLE 24 HOURS A DAY AND WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH ADVICE THE MOMENT YOUR ANIMAL GETS ILL. Find out how to look after a pet before you get it. It is unfair to keep an animal in inappropriate conditions and give it the wrong food. If you can't keep an animal in good conditions, please don't bring it into your home. I'm not a vet and I don't have any expertise in animal medicine and care. I don't agree with people taking animals out of the wild and then expecting other people to give free advice on how to look after them. It is cruel to take animals away from their parents, who are able to look after the babies and may look for them, while putting their other babies at risk. You may need a licence to look after some animals. You may be breaking the law by keeping wild animals; please check with a local wildlife organisation.
IF YOU FIND AN INJURED ANIMAL, PLEASE CONTACT A WILDLIFE VETERINARIAN OR CHARITY AND LET TRAINED STAFF LOOK AFTER THE ANIMAL. DO NOT TRY TO LOOK AFTER AN INJURED ANIMAL IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING.
Please do not remove eggs from nests. The mother birds will know the right temperature for the eggs and will not sit on them if the temperature is warm enough for them to develop naturally. It is illegal to remove eggs of some species and, unless you have an incubator or a broody hen, the egg may not develop. If you are allowed to touch the eggs, you can candle them (check details on websites) to see if the eggs are fertile. If the eggs are not fertile, they will not hatch.
I do not agree with fights between different animals. Please do not ask me questions about them.
Experience I have a zoology degree and have been interested in animals since I was two years old. I am a zoo volunteer at London Zoo. I have appeared on a BBC Radio Quiz, 'Wildbrain'.
Organizations World Wide Fund for Nature. Zoological Society of London. London Bat Group.
Publications Newsletters of London Zoo volunteers and the London Bat Group
Education/Credentials BSC degree in Zoology. 'A' levels in Zoology and Chemistry. 'O' Level in Biology.
Question This evening we saw a red fox in the company of 2 adult
raccoons and 3 smaller raccoons. They were moving through
yards together, as if they were a tribe or a family. I then
witnessed all of them climbing a large oak together. Did
the fox bond with this family at a young age and become one
of them?
Answer Dear Ray
Thanks for your question. I also wish to thank the authors of the websites I used.
I couldn't find any cases of raccoons and foxes moving around as a group, although it doesn't surprise me, as there are several cases of species accepting individuals of another species. I have read about lions accepting oryx antelopes, cats accepting dogs or mice and warthogs accepting mongooses.
David P. Barash (http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/185/4153/794) suggests that raccoons and red foxes tend to show a higher frequency of initial dominance-subordinance relationships and lower frequencies of more intense aggressive interactions than animals trapped at greater distances from each other. This suggests that they may recognise neighbours and show a rudimentary social structure. This may be what you have seen. The raccoons was gradually accepted by the raccoons and treated as 'one of the family'. I suspect that this could be beneficial, as raccoons and foxes are opportunists with a varied diet, the ability to live close to humans and take advantage of left over food supplies. http://www.jwildlifedis.org/cgi/reprint/38/2/313.pdf suggests that there may be interactions between raccoons and other mammals and that this could spread rabies. S. Nicole Freyi and Michalel R. Conover
(http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.2193/2005-417) suggest that different predators can adjust their home ranges if predators are removed. Raccoons seem to have a higher overlap with other raccoons, while foxes have a lower overlap.
I suggest that you continue watching the fox and raccoons as information on this behaviour is limited and I'm sure that you should be able to discover some interesting information about how these two successful omnivores interact together.
