Caitlin McCabe

Human Dimensions Survey

Wildlife Management
April 26, 2019

Question:
How does human perception of foxes differ in North Jersey and South Jersey?

Introduction:
Foxes are a species that the public tends to know very little about, mostly due to the
fact that they are a nocturnal species and tend to stay away from humans, as they are
known as a shy species (Parke, 2013). In previous studies that have been performed, it was
noticed that foxes tend to be seen in suburban areas (Konig, 2008), as it is easier to retrieve
food and having a den near these food sources is more convenient than searching through
forests. Since they are a nocturnal species, many homeowners would not realize the
damage being done to their homes and properties, since many are not checking their
garden beds or worrying about the local squirrel population at night (Konig, 2008).
As a way to find the public’s opinion of foxes within the state of New Jersey, an
online survey was created to seek the attitudes towards foxes. Questions were based on the
idea of how likely a person who frequently sees foxes reacts towards them and their
opinion on management opinions compared to people who have never see a fox or see
them once or twice a year. A study like this could be used throughout the state to help
wildlife managers determine if fox populations need to be controlled and in what way they
should go about it. It also is a way to show managers how much people are aware of fox
presence in their county and to learn more about why people are so weary of them being
around.
Methods:
The method that was used to obtain information for this survey was through an
online forum. Questions that were in the survey were to determine people’s feelings
towards foxes in different areas of the state. Questions included were along the lines of how
often one saw a fox in a year and what type of area (forest, suburban, rural) they saw it in.
Even if respondents responded negatively to the fox sighting questions, they were to
continued on to questions about the degree to which they worried about contracting
rabies, foxes attacking small pets and mammals, opinions towards hunting, if they feel their
town could use a fox control program and a general question of if they theoretically liked
seeing foxes in the wild. Positive respondents were asked to answer these questions, and
also one about if they have previously seen foxes denning under sheds or other standing
structures. All respondents were to provide personal information like their residential
county and age. Many of these questions were derived from informational websites that
assisted homeowners on what they should do if foxes are a recurring issue around their
home (NJ Direct and Humane Society).
After the survey information was completed entered, results were found based on
the questions that were asked and divided by location in the state - North or South Jersey.
Figure 1: A map of New Jersey that shows the division line between North and South that
was used to determine the counties locations in this study.

Results:
The study received 38 respondents from 14 out of the 21 counties in the state. Two
respondents failed to enter their county correctly, and were counted as undetermined in
the study, so 36 respondents were used in calculating county responses. Most respondents
were between the ages of 18 and 25, with 2 respondents being 41+ and one between the
ages of 26 and 40.
Figure 2. The amount of participants from each county. North counties in this survey
counted as Monmouth, Mercer, Morris, Bergen, Sussex, Hunterdon, Middlesex and Essex.
South counties were Atlantic, Burlington, Gloucester, Ocean, Cape May and Camden. The
two participants who did not identify their locations are undetermined.

Figure 3. The ratio of participants in North Jersey and South Jersey. The ratio between each
area was equal in participants from North and South Jersey. There were two participants
who did not correctly fill out that question on the survey, and were classified as
undetermined.

Figure 6. Graph showing the frequency of fox sightings based on their location being in
North or South Jersey.

Figure 4. Graph depicting the participants notice the denning of foxes under standing
buildings and their level of concern on a scale of 1 (least concern) to 5 (most concern).
Figure 5. Graph depicting fox sightings in a year by participants and their opinions on the
hunting of foxes.

Figure 7. Graph showing the participants feelings towards hunting based on whether they
are in North or South Jersey.
Figure 8. Graph depicting participants concerns of contracting rabies from foxes
depending on the amount of times they have sighted a fox in a year.

Figure 9. Graph showing the ratio of participants answers on the types of areas that they
have seen foxes in.

The results of the survey show varied opinions and reactions to the questions.
Participants from North and South Jersey were equally distributed, with two respondents
classified as undetermined in location. It shows that a large portion of people in either area
have not seen foxes. North Jersey had more sightings over South Jersey once a year,
Sightings that happen twice or more a year frequently happen in both North and South
Jersey. The results were skewed due to two of the once a year sightings being
undetermined in location. When it came to the type of setting foxes were seen, again, a
large portion of respondents said they have not seen a fox within the last year, and the
second largest portion had seen foxes in more than one type of area, a large percentage
having mostly been seen in suburban areas. Judging by this, most foxes tend to be seen in
suburban areas.
It was found that most participants that had responded that they had not seen a fox
have stronger opinions towards the treatment of foxes and their fear in them. When asked
how often they see foxes and how concerned they would be if they noticed a fox denning
under a standing building, most respondents answered with 4, being close to most concern.
Also, when asked about their opinion of hunting, most responded that hunting should not
be allowed, over the choices of whether it should be allowed or should be allowed if the
game is used correctly. Results show that many of the participants have not seen or have
seen once or twice in a year are opposed to hunting, while those who see foxes regularly
either believe that hunting should be allowed if game is used appropriately or are
undecided. Surprisingly, people who have seen foxes twice or more throughout the year
believe there should not be hunting of foxes either. Also, North Jersey participants showed
significant more interest in the idea that hunting should not be allowed compared to South
Jersey. Very few North Jersey participants believed hunting should be allowed, even if the
game is used appropriately, or were undecided on the matter.
When asked about rabies, may participants expressed concerns about contracting
the disease. According to the CDC (2017), there are only 5.9% of foxes that are known to
have rabies in the entire country, making them the least threatening species to contract
rabies from.
From this survey, I have determined that most people are worried about foxes
because they have had no previous experience with them. When asked if they would like
seeing foxes in the wild, most answered positively. However, when asked about foxes being
on their property, whether it is denning or hunting small mammals, they responded
negatively. For example, people who said that they have seen foxes denning before had the
least amount of concern if they were to see exhibiting this behavior if one on their
property. They may respond more positively because they are used to seeing foxes and
understand their behaviors more than people who have never seen them. In comparison,
most participants claimed they have not seen foxes denning, but they have the most
concern about foxes denning on their property.

Discussion:
Before starting this survey, I had personally believed that North Jersey would have
more frequent fox sightings. The only place that I had personally seen a fox was in New
Brunswick, and from talking to people, it seemed like people from the northern part of the
state talked more about seeing them. The study showed that that was not true; North
Jersey had more sightings once a year than South Jersey, but South Jersey participants
overall saw foxes more often throughout the year. Overall, foxes are generally widespread
throughout the state, according to the survey results.
From the question concerning rabies, people should rightfully be concerned about
contracting the disease, but as shown from the results, people who have not seen a fox in
the past year have more concerns about this issue than those who frequently see foxes. A
follow up question to this could have been whether the participants know the signs of a
diseased fox, as this would help further elaborate how educated people are on the subject
matter of foxes and how aware the public is about their local fox populations. Foxes are a
natural shy species (Parke, 2013), so educating the public on the distinguishing features
and tell-tale signs of rabies could lessen their concerns. Another topic that gained mostly
negative responses was allowing foxes to den on homeowners property. Many of the
respondents seemed to be concerned about this, as their education of foxes may be that
they will attack people and small animals and would want to deter them. Respondents
should be educated on the fact that foxes den to reproduce and raise kits or in order to
survive a harsh winter before moving on (Human Society).
Studies performed like this one could bring an insight to managers on how to
educate the public on the behaviors of foxes. A few of the flaws of this study were that most
opinions came from college students; more homeowners should have been sought out for
the purpose of this survey. Another factor would be finding more people from a variety of
different types of areas, such as more people from rurals towns over suburban. People
from rural areas tend to be more supportive of hunting, so their opinions would be
different compared to those that live in suburban areas, as well. A larger group of people
could have been asked as well in order to provide more information, as 38 participants was
not enough to gain a large scope of the general public’s varying opinions. On top of all of
this, more in depth questions could be asked in order to gauge the more concerns the
public has, instead of the basic questions that were asked that were basic and did not find
explicit concerns the public may have or find the education level about foxes people have.

References:
Bjurlin, Curtis D. and Cypher, Brian L. 2005. Encounter frequency with the urbanized san
joaquin kit fox correlates with public beliefs and attitudes towards the species.
Endangered Species UPDATE. Vol. 22 No. 3. https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bit
stream/handle/2027.42/91245/ESUJuly-
Sept05.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y#page=15
CDC. 5 July 2017. Rabies. Retrieved from
https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/location/usa/surveillance/wild_animals.html
Humane Society of the United States. What to do about foxes. Retrieved from
https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/what-do-about-foxes
Konig, Andreas. 24 July 2007. Fears, attitudes and opinions of suburban residents with
 Regards to their urban foxes. European Journal of Wildlife. Vol 54. Issue 1, pg 101-
109. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10344-007-0117-z
NJ Direct Government Services. Dealing with problems caused by foxes. Retrieved from
https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/dealing-problems-caused-by-foxes
Park, John. 10 September 2013. New jersey wildlife: red foxes, the state’s most adaptable
wild ‘dogs’. NJ.com. Retrieved from https://www.nj.com/hunterdon-county-
democrat/2013/09/new_jersey_wildlife_foxes_the.html