By Molly Snyder Senior Writer Published Aug 02, 2011 at 11:36 AM

If you, like me, have seen a fox trotting around the Summerfest grounds / Milwaukee Art Museum area, this blog will be of particular interest.

On Friday, I saw a red fox sitting and licking his / her leg next to some bushes right outside the festival grounds when I was exiting 794 to cruise the lakefront. We joked he was bored with German Fest and simply not a big fan of um-pa-pa music.

Turns out, foxes have been a somewhat permanent fixture in the area for a while, and they are both scaring and charming people. The area is home to both red and grey foxes, but one particular fox with a bum rear leg, is the most interactive.

According to a notice that appears to be from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) taped inside a portable toilet, people with good intentions are feeding the red fox, and now, (s)he is extremely tame but following people around, hoping for handouts. It's freaking out some folks and, according to the flier, the Humane Society and police department receive regular calls about the fox.

The DNR is now considering moving the fox from the area. To prevent this from happening, or to prevent the removal of other wildlife from the area in the future, the DNR asks people not to feed the animals.

"With tame animals like this fox, it is the animal that gets hurt in the long run. The food they are fed is often unhealthy and their fearless behavior makes people uncomfortable .... Remarkably, there are visitors here at the park that have been warned about feeding, but continue to do so," reads the notice.


Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.

Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.