Fox hunting protects cows?

The food is towns is easy to find, since humans are very good (some deliberately, some by being untidy) at leaving their scraps around to be scavenged. If there is plenty of food, more cubs will survive.

Perhaps mange spreads more easily if there are more foxes in any given area? Or perhaps a mangy country fox will be seen less often among the vegetation than a mangy city fox on a bare street?

The territory needed and defended by a fox anf her family will be smaller where food is plentiful and easy to find than where it is scarcer and more time and energy has to be spent finding and hunting it, so there could be more per square mile.

Foxes are nicer than some humans beautiful animals much maligned imo

@ Annie - yes I think it was most likely to be a cat. A fox would have carried it off.
We've lost quite a few chickens and ducks to foxes in the past.
Our neighbour has a gun, and I quite often hear it going off - thinking there goes another fox, or a magpie (which steals eggs.)

I'm taking a deep breath before posting as I'm new here. I need to address something which arose in responses to the original question.
Foxes and dogs carry a parasite passed on through their poo in contact with grass. It does not make the cow ill, but once in the system she will never be rid of it and can pass it as a lifelong condition to any daughters. The immediate result is that she will abort any calf she is carrying when infected and there is an increased chance of future losses, because it is difficult to detect in the mother. Dogs which are wormed regularly do not have the parasite, though many farmers are now being encouraged to create paths to keep dog poo off the grazing. There have been articles in the farming press and I believe Countryfile have also broadcast about it. Most dog walkers are very careful once they know about this.
So, yes, foxes are a danger to cattle but, speaking for my own small corner of Scotland, I don't know anyone who thinks fox hunting with dogs and horses is a good way of dealing with the problem. It never has been.
As far as the hen house goes, the pine marten is on the increase and a much bigger danger, but as a protected species it can do what it likes ... and recently did, sadly.

That's interesting about dog and fox shit, Caled. Thank you. It does explain, I think, what the comment I saw was about. Glad I asked

Is this the same parasite that can cause blindness in children if they get infected?

That is one of the reasons I am so against people exercising dogs and allowing them to defecate in children's play parks.

Around here dogs aren’t allowed in children’s play areas. Difficult when you have children and dog.

I was brought up to watch where I put my feet and be especially careful sitting on the grass, but these days with less dog poo around children don’t seem to be taught this and there seems to be more, tamer wildlife - and its poo. Fox poo, deer poo, badger poo, cat poo, duck poo and the outsize goose poo. All capable of carrying TB and other diseases. I don’t know what the answer is to protect cows, perhaps deer height pig netting fencing buried deep. With a low electric fence to catch out rabbits!

My garden's full of deer shit. They pass through every day. There used to be vast quantities of hen shit and goose shit too. Never made any of us ill. Chicken shit in particular is a very good compost activator.

Poo is a baby word. That's why I don't use it. #info

say it as it is Baggs!

I like poo. I reserve shit for when I drop a cake on the floor.

How about 'droppings'?
Is there a more scientific name for fox... oh... umm.. excrement?

Faeces, but I don't mind if anyone says 'poo'

Is Fox poop called scrat or something?

Yes, I think I heard someone call it that - we had some on the front lawn and the smell was vile.

Oh it is foul. I went for a walk with a chap I used to support at work and he trod in some. I retched so hard I wet myself. Happy days!

Fox poo is called scumber*MissA*.

I forgot hedgehog shit.

And then there's birds. I reckon at least half of the plants in my garden are the result of seeds in bird shit. Well fertilised obv ?

The farmers here used to use the human faeces etc from their septic tanks to spray on their fields. It was only banned about 10 years ago by the EU.
Evidently the most prized manure used to be pigeon faeces, that's why you see so many pigeonniers here.

I am not against controlling foxes and such but I am against making a sport of it. I would not feed wild foxes. or encourage badgers .

We have really messed up the British Isles natural food chain over the years. Over grazing in some areas, wild ponies etc are now causing problems.
We don't have the top predators to keep things in check wolves etc.
The squeamish British public would not easily tolerate culling wild ponies. It has been suggested that we eat horse meat to keep the balance under control.

I make no excuses for saying this. We happily eat cows and sheep but see horses as pets . They have to keep deer and goats under control or they would ruin pasture by over grazing.

Our garden could turn into Sleeping Beauty's forest if we didn't go round and pull up all the trees grown from the nuts the squirrels have buried - then presumably forgotten about.

Sorry Jalima, I wasn't referring to the info you provided as rubbish, just the reference about the protection of cows.

It's all very odd Eloethan and it's not even April 1st.

Mind you, it was just a comment in the paper

Turns out it wasn't rubbish if the contaminated ? shit thing and what it does to cows is true. NB "if"

Another if: I wonder how many cows abort because of ? shit against how many abort naturally.