There’s a new resident in Jasper who isn’t here to work for the summer. A common red fox, natural to the forests and plains of much of Alberta and to the lands around Jasper, is making new forays into the north side of Jasper near the apartment complexes, restaurants and hotels that make up the bulk of the buildings there.

Terry Winkler, a resource conservationist and public safety specialist with Jasper National Park, said Parks has received several calls about the fox hanging around the north side of town over the past month and a half. While foxes in Jasper aren’t exactly unusual, said Winkler, they are rare.

“A number of people have noticed this little guy and called us up. He’s been spotted numerous times lately, making the rounds it seems,” said Winkler. 

He’s not sure whether the fox is male or female, or the age of the fox. However, he said one thing was clear: the fox appeared to be getting comfortable with coming farther and farther into town.

The fox has been spotted running through the parking lots of Cavell Court apartments, near the Mountain Park Lodges supply shed and was even hanging around the MPL construction during the afternoon when workers were laying down asphalt. Workers in the area have taken a shining to the animal who is frequently spotted. The animal might be lurking in the distance near some garbage bins or may be darting nearby underneath a pickup truck. Usually glimpsed for only a few seconds, the animal often seems in a hurry to get somewhere.

Winkler said that “crackers and screamers,” fireworks-like devices that make noise to scare off animals, should be in the foxes’ future. Parks discourages foxes, coyotes, bears and other carnivorous animals from getting used to making the town a part of their home.

“If that doesn’t work, then we may be forced to destroy the animal,” said Winkler. “The problem here is that these guys sometimes lose their fear of people and then it’s possibly that they might go and nip somebody.”

The fox on the north side of town has clearly lost some of its fear of humans. The fox will sometimes investigate people who approach it slowly. It will even come close to people who hold out their hands while bending down on their haunches. While its eyes still show signs of intense wildness, domesticity and urban life has clearly quelled some of this foxes wilder impulses.

This presents other problems for the fox.

Winkler said there was another fox in town that got into the habit of coming downtown near the A&W fast food restaurant. People would feed the fox pizza and burger scraps and a variety of other foods not natural to a foxes diet. Coming into town got to be a habit for that fox, one that cost it dearly.

The fox died when it was struck by a vehicle crossing Connaught Drive.

“Town isn’t the natural environment for these guys,” said Winkler.

He advises people not to give any fox in town any food. That will only increase the potential for the fox to bite someone. Once that happens, the fox will probably have to be killed.

“They’re always around the periphery of town, but then one day, they might be passing through and find something near the edge of town that tastes good and then the next day they might find something a little closer, and then they’re in the habit of coming into town every day,” said Winkler. “They just become acclimatized.”

Winkler said the life of a fox eating scraps found near garbage bins and in the dark corners around Cavell Court apartments is probably not a very healthy one. While foxes are usually pretty good at discerning what is edible in garbage and what is not, they still might eat a sandwich wrapper smeared in mayonnaise and ketchup or something else that seems edible.

“You never know what he might gobble up. It could be anything from plastics bags to whatever. These guys will eat all sorts of things,” said Winkler. He said plastics the fox eats will likely remain in its stomach and form little balls of junk. This will cause the fox numerous digestive problems.

Still, Winkler said that the fox making the rounds near the north side of town appears to be healthy.

He added this time of year the fox might appear to be a little skinny due to the shedding of its winter coat. Come the summer months, its coat will probably even out more, he said. 

Winkler said that in the wild, 90 per cent of a foxes diet was made up of rodents, squirrels, rabbits and hares and other small mammals.

“There’s no shortage of rodents around here, so this fox should be able to make due outside of town,” said Winkler.

If you spot the fox in Jasper, you are encouraged to call the warden service line at 780-852-6155.