Amid the constant scurry of squirrels and rats on Howard University’s campus, one animal has unexpectedly captured students’ attention: a fox.
Over the past few weeks, students have documented a red fox darting across The Yard and lounging near Georgia Avenue. The sightings, most often captured in full videos on TikTok and blurry night sightings on Fizz, have turned the animal into an unlikely campus celebrity. Each post fuels the same question: why is a fox at an HBCU in the middle of Washington, D.C.?
“Foxes lived here long before us and continue to survive as they adapt to changes in the landscape,” stated City Wildlife in an emailed statement.
City Wildlife, a D.C.–based wildlife rescue and education nonprofit, said foxes are a common presence across the city, from Rock Creek Park to downtown. These animals have lived in the region for decades and thrive in urban areas, feeding on both natural sources such as acorns and carrion and human-related resources including trash and rodents.
City Wildlife urged residents to help foxes coexist safely. Rodenticides pose a major threat and officials recommend securing trash, supervising pets, driving carefully at dawn and dusk, and reporting sightings to citizen science initiatives, such as the DC Area Citizen Science Network and the Department of Energy & Environment.
Since foxes navigate the city using stretches of green space, City Wildlife says they often travel through areas with cover, food sources and minimal disturbance. Howard’s blend of courtyards, shaded walkways and low-traffic nighttime hours provides that kind of environment, which can draw wildlife moving between D.C.’s parks and surrounding neighborhoods.
Information from the D.C. Department of Energy and Environment’s official website notes that red foxes are among the most commonly reported wild mammals in the District. The agency explains that sightings tend to increase in the fall, when younger foxes begin exploring new territory, a trend that aligns with the recent reports circulating on Howard’s campus.
Campus sightings are often treated as encounters with one familiar fox, but wildlife organizations caution that the District supports several red foxes, meaning students may be seeing different animals on different nights.
For many students, a fox isn’t a new arrival at all.
Lakelle Bridges, Jr., a sophomore biology major from Seattle, Washington, recalled first seeing a fox last school year and said it has become a familiar presence since then.
“I was just walking around with some friends and saw something that looked like a small dog run across The Yard,” he said. “I realized it was a fox, and was excited to see one this close.”
He said that while some students are startled, a fox is generally non-threatening if approached with caution. Bridges sees the excitement as curiosity rather than fear, he said, reflecting students’ interest in nature on a heavily urban campus.
Bridges also said that seeing a fox has made him more aware of how wildlife moves through the city. He pointed out that animals such as Cooper’s hawks and other birds of prey frequently appear around campus and that a fox’s presence highlights how nature continues to adapt even as development expands around it.
Although many students joke about a fox or shrug it off as part of campus life, Ville said the sighting made him reconsider how animals manage to survive in crowded urban settings. Seeing it move across campus from a safe distance made him more aware of the quiet overlap between student life and the wildlife living alongside it.
“I will never try to get close to it, but seeing it from a distance does no harm. Knowing it has been here long before I arrived and is in good health makes me think about the importance of letting it live peacefully,” he said.
Copy edited by Damenica Ellis
