Urban foxes

No. Let's keep them under control. And prosecute the owners when they fail to do so.

When I said "our babies", I meant society's in general.

I haven't any at the moment.

Shooting a fox needs a very good marksman - they are made up of more fur than fox. That's why if they do need to be controlled it tends to be with gas or poison. Makes hunting seem almost humane!

(Best way is to stop feeding the little b****rs)

They would have to be trapped first. Then taken away and dealt with. Like farmers do rabbits. (Humane cage traps)

Nobody in their right mind is going to shoot urban foxes. If they do decide to cull them, then they will be trapped and disposed of elsewhere. You can't shoot foxes with a pop gun; it requires a proper rifle. You don't use that in an urban area.

Hopefully the cat owners will be understanding when their beloved moggy ends up in a trap.

I was told that foxes are allergic to the lead in bullets [as if being shot isn't bad enough] and, if they are shot but not killed they die a very long and painful death. But that's beside the point because no one is going to go round shooting them in built up areas anyway.

Nfk Beloved moggy can just be released from a humane trap. Pas de problem.

Just so long as they don't release them in the countryside. Urban foxes do not know how to hunt for their food. They've always had it on a plate, so to speak.

I think my cat owning friends would be a tad displeased if they found their BM had spent up to 24 hours in a trap. However humane.

Is very sad this fox attacking baby not first time sadly

I read that they're attracted by used nappies the smell of milk as they find it good protein ugh!

Oh dear Nfk. And the mother of the baby was over the moon no doubt.

Just saying there's no easy way to get rid of surplus foxes.

They weren't a problem to start with before their population became too dense. Unless the reason for their high numbers is found, killing them will only result in more young surviving to take their place.

Sealed dustbins instead of bin bags, improved litter bins, discouraging people from feeding them and, most difficult, educating people to not drop food litter would have more effect. And keep the rat and pigeon population under control too.

Exactement.

I must admit I've not trawled through all of this thread so apologies now if I'm repeating someone else's thoughts.
One of the reasons there are so many foxes now in my view is that their original habitat has been carved up for housing and so the foxes have adapted as a consequence. The bonus for them are the bin bags containing lots of lovely goodies for which they don't have to work hard to find. I believe it's a similar situation with badgers.
Wildlife has to go somewhere once Man starts to intrude. Isn't it Man who is the bad guy? Why is the first reaction always to 'kill' - 'culling' of course doesn't sound so bad. I really get fed up with this knee jerk reaction.
I was brought up in the country with foxes and now live in an urban area with foxes and we just take that extra bit of care.

Now absent and others, you say you can't use a rifle in an urban area?

Let's approach this scientifically.
1) We have a gun problem in our inner cities
2) We have an urban fox problem
3) Do you see where this is going........?
You could offer a bounty for each fox killed, thus supplementing the dear little hoodies' benefit money (oh now I am going to alienate anybody who was still reading after the second line!)
OK maybe not. Bring back fox hunting as first suggested, The Heythrop and Hackney, the Pytchley and Pimlico, the Belvoir and Battersea ...........

- And real horses or hobby horses?

You could use motor bikes? Or given the number of cyclists whizzing around the streets, just bikes, perhaps. (Boris Bikes?)

Gracemum - I've seen the havoc the Hunt can create when they enter rural villages - I can just imagine what would happen in suburbia, let alone inner cities !! Think about it LOL. Neither of the hunts mentioned are near inner cities, although the Quorn is pretty close to Leicester.

a previous incident (before the twins)

Nobody is going to hunt in a city.

Back to seriousness.

Nobody in their right mind would say " oh, we've got a family of the cutest little rats in our garden we leave food out for them every night". But foxes and badgers, because they don't have naked tails are considered cute and have been encouraged so of course they're not afraid of people. Why should they be.

Country foxes, even where they're not hunted, know better than to come near people. I live in a small country town. There's rarely food litter laying around and we have wheelie bins and litter bins with narrow slit tops - the occassional young fox may sneak through, but rarely. They could come, there's plenty of cover, but no reason for them to do so.

Re-phrase - country foxes do come near habitation when humans aren't around if there's reason. Such as poultry or rabbits. A naive parent built a wonderful guinea pig enclosure with a one foot wooden plank fence. Kept the guinea pigs in ok - but not the fox out. Silly arse!

gracesmum I do like the names of those hunts! I don't know if the urban hunt would cause more problems than cars, vans, motorbikes, buses, lorries...........

Nfk Dumpling - thats because rats carry weils disease, and have no bladder so wee constantly on evreything - foxes very rarely would enter a house, unlike rats - thats why its news, and no one bothers reporting on the rats......