PEI’s foxes are here to stay – scientist says co-existence is a must

In recent weeks, we’ve been sending letters to Councillors and media outlets in Prince Edward Island. It seems that a large number of foxes are causing controversy – whether it’s people who want to feed them, people who want to get rid of them or people who think they’re going to steal babies.

But a new study is showing that foxes are definitely in the potato province, and are there to stay. What happens next is up to humans.

Professor Marina Silvia-Opps of the University of PEI has been collecting data for two years on the PEI foxes, utilizing crowd sourcing methods. And her results are conclusive: there are 42 active fox dens in the Charlottetown area, and it’s likely there were as many as 160 fox pups born in and around the city.

Silvia-Opps told the CBC that bird feeders could be attracting foxes to backyards, and it’s up to humans to learn to live with the permanent population.

“We have to learn to live with them," Silvia-Opps told the CBC. "We have to learn to respect the space between us and them, and we have to learn to manage the population by reducing the resources that are available to them."

We are ready, willing and able to assist PEI in developing by-laws, educational literature and resources to live peacefully with these foxes – a statement true for any municipality in our beautiful country who is unsure of how to respond to wildlife populations.