Fox Disrupts New Canaan Woman’s Burial Site for Roadkill

Coming home from church on a Sunday morning three weeks ago, Eloise Killefer spotted a fox outside the gate of her house.

Eloise Killeffer checks her burial grounds for any signs of fox raids. Credit: Emilia Savini

“It was the most beautiful fox I had ever seen, and the only fox I had ever seen,” Killeffer said.

The sighting didn’t register beyond that—not at first.

A self-described animal lover, Killeffer has taken it upon herself to give roadkill a proper burial in the backyard of her house on the corner of Main and Oak Streets. “I have this thing about giving a proper burial to all of God’s little critters, I just think it is the right thing to do,” Killeffer said.

Killefer demonstrates her technique of placing paving stones over the burial site, which she has used to prevent future fox raids. Credit: Emilia Savini

In recent weeks, Killeffer has noticed that the animals at her burial ground are being dug up. According to Killeffer, she was initially unsure of what got into her burial site, but when she saw the fox on her property, “I thought, ‘That must be who has been raiding my little burial ground’, ” Killeffer said.

Initially, Killeffer reburied any of her animals that were dug up, but began placing paving stones over the graves, to deter other animals from digging them up. “I thought the stones were going to be enough to protect the squirrel, but as you can see it was not enough, and the squirrel was dug out for the second time,” Killeffer said, pointing to the burrow holes beside the paving stones. “Well not only that, but whoever did that was so cheeky that it was put up onto my porch. That animal brought it all the way up to my porch and left it like a present.”

A total of eight fox kits were counted at a den at Lakeview Cemetery. This photo taken April 21, 2016, and published with permission from its owner

According to New Canaan Police Department Animal Control Officer Allyson Halm, foxes made a den this spring at Lakeview Cemetery, just down the hill from Killeffer.

It is not unusual for wildlife to dig up dead animals for food, Halm said.

“That would be natural for wildlife to come along dead animals by the smell and dig it up, it is similar to raccoons rummaging through people’s garbage,” she said.

The burrow holes beside the stones show that the fox dug under Killeffer’s barrier, to get to the animal underground. “It never occurred to me that an animal could burrow under the stones I put down, and still get to the animal underground. These animals are much more clever than I am,” Killeffer said. Credit: Emilia Savini

Killeffer was still motivated to protect these deceased animals, so she experimented with other materials to discourage the fox from returning.

“The second time I put it in the ground, I began to think about what things would discourage a fox from coming back,” Killeffer said. “I got some agricultural line, which is put into acidic soil to neutralize it. So I put some line on top of the squirrel, but then it was taken out again, so that didn’t help.”

Killeffer said she was shocked that the fox was clever enough to find her burial site all the way in her backyard.

“Something is onto the fact that I have a little cafeteria down here,” Killeffer said.

As a message to other property owners in town, Killeffer said: “Foxes will come into in-town properties if there is anything that might catch their interest.”

Although her burial site has been disturbed and raided by foxes, Killeffer is determined to continue her practice, and potentially outsmart the foxes.

“It’s not going to stop me, I am going to keep doing this, but I’m going to have to be more clever. Now, I think I will try using mothball flakes as a more effective deterrent, but I can’t be sure. There may be no deterrent for a hungry fox,” Killeffer said.