Quad Fox is on its way out.
Through UR’s Facebook page, the Office of Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) announced Saturday morning that the critter will be moved to a wildlife rehabilitation facility. There, it will be evaluated and treated for possible mange, a skin infection.
The plan is then to release the fox “back into the wild to live in a safe area away from campus.” The Department of Environmental Conservation will assist in rehabilitating and releasing Quad Fox.
As for the impetus, EH&S said, “As Quad Fox has become more and more comfortable with people on campus, we’ve concluded that this is not a healthy situation for the fox or our University community members.”
Videos appeared in recent weeks of Quad Fox eating squirrels, including in front of a tour group.
To catch Quad Fox, EH&S is setting “Have-A-Heart” traps, described as humane. “We assure everyone that Quad Fox will not be harmed,” EH&S said. They ask campus-goers for their “patience and cooperation during this time” so as not to disrupt the capturing process.
In late March, when the varmint first made waves at UR, EH&S told the campus to give him space and refrain from feeding him. In Saturday’s post, EH&S said this holds for other campus wildlife (“chipmunks, squirrels, groundhogs, skunks, deer, birds, foxes”).
In closing the post, EH&S said, “We want to thank everyone for their concern for Quad Fox.”
According to a source within SA, Quad Fox garnered 387 votes in its write-in campaign for SA president — good for 17 percent of ballots.
First-year and Campus Times Illustrations Editor Reed Steiner, who organized the write-in campaign with no involvement from CT, said he was excited with the vote count, despite losing a bet by taking the under on 112 votes.
For Steiner, Quad Fox’s departure is bittersweet.
“As much as I love seeing it prance around campus, I’m glad to see it’s getting the care it deserves,” he said. “It may be leaving campus, but it’ll never leave our hearts.”
