A fox's tail
The story of
TCU's campus foxes
Although many may be surprised, those wiry, black-socked creatures do call TCU “home”.
There is something magical and exciting about encountering a fox, that isn’t necessarily matched by coming across, say, a particularly well-fed campus raccoon.
Sergeant Paul Strittmatter of the TCU police department works the 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. patrol shift, a fitting time for someone who enjoys wildlife.
While making his nightly rounds on campus, by foot, bike, or patrol car, he often encounters foxes, in addition to other animals, in the twilight.
“I’ve come across a fox a few times that kind of spooked me, he was running out from a bush I was riding by,” he said.
The foxes are frequently spotted near the Amon G. Carter stadium and the Worth Hills parking garage, often stopping to take a “dirt bath,” or two, in the parking lots.
Photo courtesy of Sergeant Paul Strittmatter.
Photo courtesy of Sergeant Paul Strittmatter.
“When I first got here in 2015 the campus was just rife with foxes,” Strittmatter said.
In 2016, he remembers a mother fox gave birth to three babies, kits, near the Foster Hall first-year dorm.
“At 2 o’ clock in the morning these kits would be out on the Foster lawn… they would just frolic and play in the grass right there,” Strittmatter said. “The students absolutely loved it … we kind of watched them grow for a couple years.”
But just as mysteriously as the foxes appeared, the population on campus has declined over the past few years.
“Sadly, about two years ago our foxes just disappeared … almost all of last year we did not see a fox,” Strittmatter said.
“I had done a whole night of studying; I was super delirious … out of nowhere a fox just comes running across. Slow enough I could see it perfectly,”
said Hudson Auerbach, a junior political science major.
Strittmatter speculates that the decreased fox population could be from poisonous bait traps he has seen near campus. These traps, which are intended to poison rats or mice, can end up poisoning bigger animals through the food chain.
Dr. Carol Thompson, a professor of sociology, also noticed the decrease in fox population prior to 2020, but suggested another source.
“[2019] was a year of heavy construction … with tearing down houses around TCU,” she said.
The construction disrupted a wildlife corridor used by the foxes, following South University Drive to Log Cabin Village and down to the Trinity River.
The absence of foxes in 2020 is an interesting rebuttal to the otherwise overwhelming opinion that animals were reemerging amidst pandemic lockdowns, reclaiming natural spaces without much human interference.
But the foxes are now returning, one wild cat-dog at a time.
Since January, fox sightings on campus have increased.
“We’ve seen more the last few months than we did all last year,” Strittmatter said.
Fox sits near stray campus cat at mealtime. Photo courtesy of Dr. Carol Thompson.
Fox sits near stray campus cat at mealtime. Photo courtesy of Dr. Carol Thompson.
Dr. Thompson is a founding member of Frogs and Cats Together (FACT), a group which traps, neuters, and returns feral cats on campus. They also find adoptive families for the cats.
“Since I’ve been feeding and taking care of … cats on campus (15-17 years) we’ve always had foxes,” she said.
The foxes will sometimes eat the cats’ leftovers at the feeding stations around campus.
“I always know when there’s a fox or some other animal coming,” she said. “[The cats] become really attentive and look into the distance.”
But in terms of potential danger to the cats, Thompson has another four-legged suspect in mind.
“We do occasionally have a coyote come up and down the creek,” she said. “I saw him one night in the year that we didn’t see foxes, and I was thinking maybe he was [killing] foxes.”
Add that to the list of potential fox deterrents in 2020 and years prior.
“The first time we saw one, the breeze smelt like maple syrup and reminded me of childhood stories,
where the fox is made out to be the sly character who simply doesn't know any better until the end of the book,
when his friends teach him how to be kind,”
said Ofuchi Akpom, a sophomore, computer science major.
The fascination with the campus foxes extends to social media, as well. Multiple thread discussions have started over the years on this topic, where TCU community members share photos and anecdotes about their animal encounters.
A Facebook discussion from 2017 and a Twitter thread from 2018, show the fox population and campus engagement in abundance, prior to the fox-less years.
A reply tweet to TCU's "Have you spotted the fox on campus?" prompt, 2018
A reply tweet to TCU's "Have you spotted the fox on campus?" prompt, 2018
A Facebook discussion about campus foxes unfurls in the comments section, 2017.
A Facebook discussion about campus foxes unfurls in the comments section, 2017.
“It was so unreal … it was like something out of a movie,”
said Auerbach.
Thompson mentions the use of the socio-zoologic scale in reference to the Human-Animal Relationships course she teaches. The scale ranks species based on human likeability.
For instance, foxes rank higher than coyotes.
“Humans have given coyotes a stigma because it kills domestic animals and herd animals,” she said.
Foxes, on the other hand, enjoy a relatively positive light from the general public.
“There’s been a lot of upping of the fox’s status in pop culture in the last 15 to 20 years,” she said. “We also had "The Fantastic Mr. Fox" cartoon [movie adaption by Wes Anderson] which was a really humanizing cartoon for foxes.”
See also, the viral music video, "What Does the Fox Say?" , from 2013.
Urban biologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife for the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Rachel Richter, also notes the cute-factor that foxes have. “Foxes are definitely a charismatic species,” she said. “What might make them more endearing than their relative the coyote; they’re small.”
Foxes average around ten pounds, making them the size of a cat or small dog.
“"I was reminded of my desire to illustrate children's novels. It was a nice feeling to have in the thick of school and stress,”
said Akpom.
Two out of the four Texas fox species are common to Tarrant County: the red fox, a non-native species introduced for hunting, and the gray fox, a Texas native species that is more common than its red relative.
Gray foxes are the species of fox most commonly seen on campus.
Foxes can survive in both rural and urban areas.
“Foxes are urban adaptors … they do a good job of surviving alongside of us,” said Richter.
Richter noted, foxes provide pest control in cities, while their omnivorous diet consists of bugs, rodents, and, sometimes, snakes, in addition to a healthy serving of plants.
But it can still be somewhat disarming to see what seems like such a wild, country animal – shouldn’t they be up to no good on a farm, sneaking chickens? – in an urban setting.
“Usually people are concerned,” Richter said. “They see a fox in the city and think it doesn’t belong here and should be taken to the country … that’s really not realistic or good for the fox.”
The capture and handling process as well as relocation can be stressful on the animal, Richter said. Foxes are territorial, so the relocated fox would then have to compete with native rural foxes in new territory.
But she warns about the habituation of urban foxes.
“It could become a problem,” Richter said. “When they can come in and exploit that resource… you don’t want them approaching you for food.”
Texas red fox. Photo courtesy of East Texas Reflections, Duncan Multi-Media
Texas red fox. Photo courtesy of East Texas Reflections, Duncan Multi-Media
Texas gray fox. Photo courtesy of Texas Parks and Wildlife
Texas gray fox. Photo courtesy of Texas Parks and Wildlife
Photo courtesy of Jean Marie Brown.
Photo courtesy of Jean Marie Brown.
Photo courtesy of Dr. Carol Thompson.
Photo courtesy of Dr. Carol Thompson.
Photo courtesy of Dr. Katherine Bynum, via Twitter.
Photo courtesy of Dr. Katherine Bynum, via Twitter.
Despite the constant threats from an urban environment, it seems like the foxes are returning to campus.
Luckily for TCU.
It’s clear foxes are part of the TCU and Fort Worth community and add something natural back into the city.
“It’s cool to see a fox … it’s exciting because it’s not something you see every day, they avoid us,” Richter said
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