As Hillsdale College students returned to campus this semester, another creature made Hillsdale its home, too.
In recent weeks, students have spotted a red fox along the west side of campus, from Sigma Chi to Hayden Park. Although this fox is unique to campus this year, foxes are not unusual to see, especially in urban settings where people often provide places to find food, said Hannah Schauer, wildlife education technician from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Division.
Schauer said both red and gray fox are so common in Michigan that the DNR cannot keep accurate population estimates.
“This time of year, young foxes are dispersing from their den sites and tend to be much more visible to people, as they seek out a place to live,” Schauer said in an email.
For some students, personal fox sightings have positively shaped the semester.
“Honestly, it was an incredible experience,” junior Mehgan Cain said of her encounter with the critter. “There’s no other way to describe it besides religious. I think about him every day.”
As early as Aug. 28, the fox was sighted wandering in the McIntryre Residence parking lot, as freshman women unloaded cars to move in. That same day, softball players saw it on the Johnny Williams Field during the team’s welcome-back picnic. Senior Cassie Asselta said the “friendly little guy” seemed unphased by the picnickers, staying planted on the field for a while.
Since then, however, the fox has demonstrated a fear of human contact. Junior Kacey Reeves said she ran into the fox, while jogging to Hayden Park. In this instance, he showed “caution around strangers,” Reeves said.
According to student reports, the fox has frequented the baseball field as well as the parking lots behind the Suites, Chi Omega, Sigma Chi, and Kappa Kappa Gamma.
Juniors Elena Ramlow, Maria Theisen, and Cain spotted the fox eating leftover french fries in the Kappa parking lot around midnight Sept. 8. The women said they originally mistook him for a cat but were pleasantly surprised when they realized it was a fox.
“We had the same thought that, I think, anyone would have: We have to catch it and cuddle it,” Cain said.
The women followed the fox by foot and by car around campus for an hour from Kappa, to Mary Randall Preschool, and then to Benzing Residence.
“We had a visual on him at all times,” Ramlow said.
Eventually, however, the clever critter evaded its pursuants.
When senior Claire Hughes tweeted a photo of the fox walking down College Street toward the Roche Sports Complex in broad daylight, Cain, Ramlow, and Theisen worried the fox looked a bit “emaciated.”
“It looked like the pickings had been slim for this fox,” Cain said. “But even in his ill state, he was swift as a fox.”
Schauer said, however, that spotting a fox in daylight does not necessarily indicate sickness, though they are usually most active at dusk or dawn.
“If the fox were to look physically sick, show no fear of humans, or act aggressive towards people, those might be indicators of a sick animal,” Schauer wrote.
Still, Schauer cautioned students to stay away from all wild foxes in sickness or in health.
More recently, students haven’t seen the fox. Schauer said a fox’s home territory could range between three to 30 square miles, so it’s possible the fox has moved on. Cain said she’s encouraged by the fox’s absence.
“We’re hoping that this fox has been able to find some berries, or even some garbage, on Hillsdale’s campus and return to his sweet wooded home with his dear friends and his deer friends,” Cain said. “We hope he’s back on the path to good health.”