Urban foxes

Since we moved out of London I rarely see a fox. We had a family living under our shed and the cubs looked very cute playing on the lawn. We lived on a main road with two bus routesplus a night bus and lots of other traffic!
Now I live in a quiet cul-de-sac with easy access to parks, towpaths, railway embankments but have not seen a fox or a squirrel in the area! Birds are more plentiful here than Sth London though. My daughter ,only a few minutes away from me, regularly has deer, foxes, owls, rabbits and squirrels and little mice too, in her garden .

I am not sentimental. If a natural balance is not able to be maintained then I think it is better to take on the role of predator..not to annihilate but to reduce numbers so that the health of the species is improved! Overcrowding causes disease and poor diet..this may well lead to an increase of incidents where foxes prowl into homes looking for food. Surely pest control can lay food for foxes, away from domestic pets, that would either poison or sterilise them.

They are wild animals becoming urbanised that is never a good idea. They should be afraid of humans.
I would not like urban foxes living in my back garden. They will add to the rubbish spread around and more rats etc. I think they should be-- controlled-- culled.

The public should stop feeding them. Look at the aggressive seagull problem in parts of the south west, they are a real nuisance.

Town pigeons as well they are particularly dirty creatures and their vast numbers do create a health hazard with their droppings in town centres.

The local RSPCA wildlife hospital has a notice stating it regards pigeons and squirrels as vermin. We took a very damaged pigeon flapping around our back garden there to be put down so it wouldn't get torn apart by local cats.

Oh I have just read the article about not hounding urban foxes.

"In many cities fox numbers have declined due to sarcoptic mange, an extremely unpleasant and fatal disease"

I would think that is the best reason yet for culling them

The RSPCA gave up any pretence of being an organisation that cares about animals a very long time ago.

A couple of posters have expressed scepticism about the story - these photos seem evidence enough for me. Those awful marks do look like teeth puncture marks, plus the mother had to fight off the fox, she didn't just find the child injured.

Fox

anno It was only one of my cats who caught squirrels and rats and yes, he was a lean machine.

Of course, foxes do prey on rodents so the argument about their tearing rubbish bags apart encouraging rats is slightly more complex. Pigeon droppings may be a nuisance but the popular idea that these birds carry diseases that are transmittable to humans is a complete myth.

Is the one about the fumes from their droppings on windowsills causing respiratory problems if breathed in a myth too?

Many people who know a great deal about fox behaviour have also expressed doubt about these stories. Noone is denying that the baby sustained injuries, only expressing doubt that it was a fox that caused them. It is possible of course, but it would be extremely unusual for a fox to behave in this way. It is possible it was a dog.

Bags I don't know about the fumes from their droppings but fumes does seem a rather OTT term. I should have thought pigeon poo fumes would be a pretty minor irritant compared with car exhaust fumes, for example. But I don't know so am prepared to be corrected.

nightowl I think there was case of a baby being attacked by a fox somewhere around 2000 and some twins in about 2009. As far as I know there have been no other authenticated cases in the UK.

I can only assume that the animal got into the baby's room through a partially open window. Foxes are clever at getting up high and squeezing themselves through small openings. Dogs are not. I would have thought that there are aren't many dogs that someone would confuse with fox – Finnish Spitz possibly.

Call it coincidence, but last night's (and this morning's) snow has meant that I became aware of pawprints round our front lawn when I came in here to start up the laptop.They went up to the gate at the side of the house and then round and back to the drive. Too big for a cat, (much) too small for a person, not Grace wehn we came back from bedtime walk, not Muntjac - again size- could have been a fox, DH seems to think so as that would not be unlikely, but now I find myself worrying about Grace who sometimes needs to go out in the middle of the night. She is a total wuss softie and if attacked would definitely come off worse.

I believe it was a door that wouldn't close properly and they had not got round to fixing it. Some dickheads seem to be blaming them for that. #thefoxisinnocentyeahright

scroll down to see picture of the baby

Wrong article. Sorry. this one

Depends how big Grace is gracesmum. A lot of cats go missing round here.

Sorry but I don't understand why the fuss over 'urban' foxes. What about the countryside.

Foxes are not cute, cuddly and sweet, only to look at. Have any of you had the pleasure of seeing a field of sheep that has been savaged by them. I could write a gross picture of what it is like but it might offend the less hardy GN.

Foxes will kill for the fun of it, they are a wild animal. They bite the heads off chickens and probably take just one to eat. That's what they do.

I am not surprised by the movement into the subarbs but I am surprised people look at them as a kind of pet. I agree they are very nice looking creatures but I would not want one in my garden. Unfortunately attacks on domestic pets go unreported but they will have a lovely little bunny or two if they get the chance.

absent, well I'd heard that one of the reasons office building around Trafalgar Square started putting anti-pigeon devices on their outside windowsills was because the concentration of pigeon-droppings between cleanings meant that when people opened the windows for fresh air, it wasn't all that fresh but smelled of pigeon poo. This would affect someone with a delicate chest, I'm sure.

Nowadays I expect the offices have all got air-conditioning, which can be just as bad for chest problems .

www.rentokil-hygiene.co.uk/specialist-disinfection/bird-droppings-removal/diseases/index.html

Psittacosis is caused by infection from bird droppings, I nursed a couple of patients with this condition, very distressing. The unfortunate gentlemen had done nothing more than sit in the city square feeding the pigeons, not a good return for their generosity.

Grace is a good size - a large greyhound, but soft as butter. If she thought a fox was a collie dog she would go for it (just doesn't like collies ) but would come off worse, I fear
Pigeons are a menace though- filthy droppings everywhere.They used to raid the bins in the school playground for leftovers (kids being kids) and I once saw a bald man being dive-bombed by a pigeon in London - possible a bit too much like a Hitchcock film for him but actually very funny

Absent.......mentioning the Pope.......you got mystic powers or what?

Harr I've seen it in pigeon fanciers and budgie breeders!

My eldest son and family had problems trying to stop foxes coming frequently into their garden when living in North London. The smell was very strong and unpleasant where they kept digging in the earth. Despite concreting and making a patio at the end of the garden, still they appeared. The next door neighbours had cats and would leave food outside which attracted the foxes.
Local Councils just gave them a leaflet about " Living with the Urban Fox"

A chap/expert on Radio 4 news, who was very pro-fox and said that he'd never known an aggressive one, said that people should NOT feed foxes.

He said that foxes are very territorial and 'police' an area of around 400 urban houses but they will not patrol their patch and keep away other foxes if they are easily fed and don't have to hunt for food.

According to him this then leads to more foxes coming into cities via railway lines as there is uncontrolled territory for them to move into.

Makes me wonder what it's like living in Canada and finding bears raiding the dustbin . Also wonder if the fortnightly collection of bins isn't helping, either.