10/27/2026
That fox out in broad daylight is probably just hunting. 🦊
Plenty of normal wildlife behavior looks alarming at first glance, and a lot of worried calls come from animals doing what they're supposed to. The trick is knowing the handful of signs that do mean trouble.
- A fox in daylight — foxes are active day and night, and in winter they hunt more by day. The signs to watch for are stumbling, confusion, or drooling
- A raccoon at noon — raccoons forage by day when they need to. The signs are wandering in circles, confusion, or crusting around the eyes and nose
- The frozen opossum — a frightened opossum drops into a stiff, open-mouthed stillness that can last hours. Left alone, it gets up and walks off
- The bald bird — cardinals and blue jays sometimes lose their head feathers all at once in late summer and fall. They grow back within a couple of weeks
- The puffed-up bird — fluffing traps warm air on cold days. The sign is a bird that's also sluggish and lets a person walk right up to it
- The vulture with open wings — it's warming up in the sun and drying off, not hurt
