Foxes of Berry Street Hood 2024-2025

Foxes of Berry Street Hood 2024-2025

There are foxes active in the Berry Street neighborhood area and they will go through your fenced yards, so please be aware. My wife has seen them (or the same one) on two recent occasions running through our backyard at the end of the Teaberry Circle cul de sac. The most recent sighting was last night at about 7:30 pm when my wife saw a fox running west to east (from the Teaberry Drive direction towards the Bill Hughes direction) and being chased by our cat! She came out and yelled for me and clapped her hands to “haze” the fox which then quickly climbed over our fence into a neighbor’s yard to the south. Five days previous on July 1st at about the same time of day (7:30 pm) she saw it (or a different possibly larger fox) running the opposite direction (from the Bill Hughes direction towards the Teaberry Drive direction) through our backyard and around the corner of the house. Right after that our cat came from around that very corner – slightly poofed up – and meowing as if to say, “did you see that?!”

Previous to these two recent sightings in our neighborhood I’d last seen a fox on the curve of Teaberry Drive while on my morning walk around 9:30 am on the morning of June 5th. I’ve posted a short video of the fox who was very chill and scratching itself sitting in the street. At some point it started approaching me – I had been keeping my distance and really should have hazed it (made noise to scare it away) to encourage it to avoid human contact. It eventually went under the fence of the backyard of the house it was in front of.

On April 25th at about 8:45 am I saw a fox running east to west following the right-of-way under the power lines where they cross Skynook Drive. I was driving at the time.

Fox seen on Bill Hughes Road on March 16th

Previous to that encounter I came across the same or another fox the morning of March 16th at about 10:10 am in front of a house on Bill Hughes near where Mulberry dead ends into it. I’ve posted some photos of that encounter.

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My first 3 sightings of a fox were at Bedichek middle school including:

One while I was on the east side of Bill Hughes directly across from the school. The fox was on school property running along the main building and then disappeared under the school.
Another time I saw a fox was at the corner of Thelma and South 1st Street when I was walking along South 1st and it was coming from the Bedichek ropes-course enclosure and went under the fence and then down into the sewer drain there at Thelma and South 1st.
I had one other sighting of a fox while walking east on Thelma opposite the school building and I saw the fox run along the main building and then it disappeared between two sections of the building.

I bring all of this up to make folks aware of our urban wildlife environment. I’m not worried about these beautiful animals hurting people or pets, unless they contract rabies or become more environmentally stressed for food and water or perhaps if a fox parent feels their kits are threatened. They will go after live chickens, of course. I urge folks not to feed them or acclimate them to humans more than has already occurred. These are wild animals and their survival depends upon them avoiding humans as best they can under the circumstances.

Saw a fox many years ago (perhaps in 2016-2017?) running along East Bouldin Creek behind what was then Morning Star retail on South Lamar. Foxes are still being seen in that area as of June of this year: https://nextdoor.com/p/G2wsQ2PLtpP_

Of course there are many reports of fox sightings by others in and around our South Austin neighborhoods that have been posted about on Nextdoor. Here are some examples…

Villages of Shady Hollow · 18 Jun · I think there may be a large wild animal that is coming through my back yard. I am finding very large amounts of scat on my roof and the ground. https://nextdoor.com/p/qBL52MGMZKbG

Commenter: Mountain City · 2w A neighbor has had the same issue. Turns out it was foxes. They sleep on her roof at night.

Parkridge Gardens · 3 Jun · We have a fox family they’re so fun. Here’s the 3 kits playing with their ever vigilant Mama watching. https://nextdoor.com/p/BFMbz8gD-Cpw

Bauerle Ranch · 17 May · Mystery Solved. Unknown wildlife under my shed is a fox and 4 pups. https://nextdoor.com/p/Z_wYPFwLfnqG

SoLa Baja · 12 May · This gray fox walked right up to me today at around noon. https://nextdoor.com/p/FQjfR7-LTNbX

Whispering Oaks · 10 May · This foxy lady might be living under our porch with her cubs. Anyone else seen her around? https://nextdoor.com/p/r3CsSkffmrDh