KUSA - At 9NEWS, lots of viewers send in pictures of what they see happening during the day, including severe weather and breaking news. And occasionally, they send random photos, such as one recently sent of someone feeding a fox popcorn.
9NEWS appreciates those pictures and videos because they help us tell the stories not personally witnessed by the reporting staff.
In this case, however, someone sent a picture of a person feeding a fox popcorn on West Chicago Creek Road, which runs off of Highway 103 (Mt Evans Highway) in Clear Creek County, just south of Idaho Springs.
The picture was taken on May 17. Because 9NEWS covers human/wildlife interactions all the time, 9NEWS called Colorado Parks & Wildlife spokesperson Jennifer Churchill, who wrote back with this response:
"Bad, bad, bad! Teaching wildlife to go near people or take handouts takes away their healthy and natural fear of people. This is what keeps them alive! If you care about wildlife, care enough to let them live naturally."
9NEWS is withholding the names of the people involved in the story, but are sharing the picture because it's important to point out the need to avoid feeding wildlife.
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