I was asked why it would be necessary to worm wild foxes?
Well it depends whether you want to keep them healthy or not.
Cubs are known to be introduced quickly to worms either prenatal or while teat feeding, other sources of worms are regurgitated food and fecal matter in a den from other cubs.
Very likely the source of worms is a prey species and in this case THE prey species of urban foxes are rats. In the countryside the main prey is the rabbit. It was found that foxes in the countryside were less worm prone although this does not seem to be stated as actual fact but more supposition. In the United States urban coyotes were found to have more worms than non-urban coyotes -again the main food source are rodents.
In a 1993 paper to the journal Parasitology, Royal Holloway biologists David Richards and John Lewis, along with Bristol University's Stephen Harris reported on the presence of Toxocara canis (dog round worm) in 521 foxes collected in Bristol between January 1986 and July 1990.
The biologists discovered that some 58% of dog foxes and 44% of vixens had the parasite and that young animals, cubs in particular, were more susceptible than adults with worm burdens highest in cubs, lower in sub-adults and lower still in adults.
Those 521 foxes, as far as I can find out, were not subject to full diagnostic post mortems which was a missed opportunity.
I have wondered whether this was true of other wild canids and I was informed by one American coyote project that worms were more prevalent in urban coyotes than non urban coyotes.
We have seen verminous pneumonia as well as kidney problems and lung and heart worm "the silent killer" are known. We can treat mange these days and other mild ailments so why not a good wormer given in food? I would be very cautious at the moment as vixens may be pregnant or start having young and some wormers are not advised. But when the cubs are old enough to venture out would be a good time to start worming.
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