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Mobile County Circuit Court Judge Michael Youngpeter will decide whether some red foxes on Dauphin Island can be trapped and removed, in the name of protecting endangered migratory birds and sea turtles. “Once the animals are destroyed, they cannot be returned, and the ecological balance of the island will be disrupted,” reads the complaint from two county residents seeking to stop the fox trapping. Last month, the town of Dauphin Island authorized a contract to trap and remove red foxes and other predators from the west end of Dauphin Island. Residents and visitors were outraged by the move, which they said was unnecessarily cruel. Duane Wood, a resident of Dauphin Island, and Spence Harrison, a photographer who made one red fox, “Roxy,” a star on social media, sued the town, Mayor Jeff Collier and the town council in an effort to prevent the trapping. Youngpeter halted the trapping until a hearing could be held. On Thursday (Oct. 30), both sides will present their plans to the judges for what to do about the foxes. “This lawsuit is without merit,” said Patrick Dungan, an attorney for Dauphin Island, in an email. “The town has acted lawfully and responsibly in coordinating limited, science-based wildlife management activities on town-owned property in partnership with state and federal conservation agencies...Plaintiffs’ repeated claims that the town intends to “eradicate” the island’s fox population are simply false." Attorneys for Wood and Harrison did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication. The town—and the state department of conservation, which joined the lawsuit later—argue that the fox population is overpopulated and poses a threat to the migratory birds and sea turtles that use the land. “They absolutely are a nuisance predator,” Amy Hunter, science coordinator with the state department of conservation, told AL.com last month. “They’ve lost all fear of humans from people feeding them over the years.” Around 838 acres of the West End of Dauphin Island is owned by the town of Dauphin Island and dedicated as habitat for birds and other creatures, many of whom are endangered. The land was purchased using settlement funds from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, and the town is required to carry out conservation measures, like thinning the foxes, lawyers for the state argue. “Unfortunately, the plaintiffs are more interested in creating publicity for their social media posts and to drive engagement with their personal hobby photography, commercial endeavors, and GoFundMe links rather than addressing the legal and statutory framework controlling the issues in this case,” reads the state conservation department’s petition to join the case. Wood and Harrison argue that they will lose out on the benefits of having the foxes around. In particular, Harrison would lose out on subjects for his wildlife photography business. The foxes are a key part of the ecosystem, they argue, and taking them away could jeopardize the health of Dauphin Island. There are other ways to prevent the foxes from hunting and eating bird and turtle eggs without trapping and killing them, they argue. “Such practices are inherently unreasonable, unscientific, and contrary to accepted standards of wildlife management,” Wood and Harrison’s complaint states. Court documents show Wood and Harrison intend to present other methods of controlling predators. The red foxes have captured the imagination of many residents. A petition started last month to save the foxes has more than 2,400 signatures. Foxes are not a protected species and are classified as a “game animal” under state law. Hunters can kill any number of foxes, with minimal restrictions, according to court documents. The town of Dauphin Island contracted with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to do the removal. Hunter told AL.com last month that she believes the foxes will be “humanely euthanized.” The court hearing begins at 10 a.m. on the eighth floor of the Mobile County Courthouse in downtown Mobile.
