We’ve been living on this island for years now, and have just discovered that feeding animals, specifically foxes, apparently isn’t good for them. We all have a tendency to look at these cute little creatures and feel the need to feed them. However, feeding them causes much more harm than good. To look at the situation more closely, think about the reasons why you want to feed them.One of the first reasons that might pop into your head would be “because they’re cute,” or “I want them to come closer.” And if you plan to achieve these goals by feeding them, you will be 100percent guaranteed to do so. If you continuously feed foxes, you’re training them to expect you to feed them. This will cause many unwanted effects.

Once foxes are trained to expect food, they will continue to go back to the place where they were fed. Foxes begin to hang around more humanized areas, including roads or your neighbor’s backyard. If foxes start to hang out at these areas, they have a much higher chance of getting into a car accident and upsetting your neighbors. Also, since they are surrounded by such exotic things to them, they have a higher chance of eating something that could potentially make them sick. So to help stop the feeding of foxes, we encourage you to stop feeding them and to tell your friends and family about what’s happening on San Juan Island.

Laurel Robertson and Chloe Cunningham

FHHS Juniors