Sylis Final Chapter

Dakota got a fox last spring for a senior project this year.  He wanted to "fox farm" and reintroduce red fox into the wild.  He had a plan for taking care of the little critter.  He was going to raise him as a pet and then get other foxes later to breed and reintroduce to the wild.

He payed for vet bills getting him shots.  He paid for a license to have an exotic pet.  He gave it a good go.

What he never could have anticipated was how hard it would be to take care of a wild animal.  Even with all the love and attention he was given from a young age.  As a kit, he was easy to take care of, almost like a cat.  He used a litter box and was cuddly.

As Sylis grew he became less cuddly, out grew his extra large litter box, and would hide his food all over the house.  As he got even bigger he quit using the litter box all together and decided my kitchen counters were a nice dumping ground.

We graduated Sylis from the house to an outside box and a lead line.  He wore a harness and was free to roam the backyard.  He broke 6 harnesses.  We were late to church one Sunday trying to catch him before he got run over by a car.

About a week ago, Sylis slipped his harness again.  Kyle and Kota were working on getting it back on when Sylis bit Kyle's nose.  As much as we like him and gave this a good go, he needed to have a better place for him to be.

We called the man we bought Sylis from and he took him back.  Dakota can go up whenever he wants to to visit and help with his process there.  Dakota in the future when he has his own place can have the pick of a litter and try again at his own house.

Now Sylis will get to live with a girl fox for the winter and have a good life.  This really did have a happy ending.  Kyle's nose is almost healed now.  Interesting lessons we have learned from trying to care for this little creature.