First up, I'm a grumpy cynic.
Foxes rarely attack people. That fox attack a few weeks ago - I reckon it was a family pet, a domesticated dog, that was whisked off to preserve its furry back. (Come on, as theories go, it's not that outlandish). But now, in an amazing statistical anomaly, another fox attack has occurred. [url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/sussex/10363646.stm ]Who'd have thunk it?[/url]
[b]Conspiracy theory one.[/b]
The tories, with their agenda to reinstate hunting with hounds, are using 'the machine' to create anti-fox sentiments.
[b]Conspiracy theory two.[/b]
The world is an experiment run by foxes, and they have powers beyond our ken. They realise hunting with dogs may be on the way back, so have embarked on a campaign to ride the earth of human children. That way in time the domestic dog overlords that we are, shall be wiped of the face of the earth, and foxes shall live in peace.
Discuss. Or alternatively, go for a bike ride.
i noticed that.
NEVER happens, and then two in a week.
3rd option, Foxes are actually related, on a sub genetic level, to Busses.
exepct another in the near future?
Something minor enough to not get reported, or not deemed newsworthy enough to mention in the media becomes more interesting when other news is slow. One gets reported, then another comes along and suddenly it's a "worrying trend".
Do you know what the US media was obsessed with in the week before 9/11? Shark attacks. There weren't actually any more of them happening than any other year, but in the absence of any proper news they got reported, and suddenly any sighting of a shark near a beach was news. Then suddenly the media had some genuine news, and shark attacks were quickly forgotten again.
Covered well by Dan Gardner in his "Risk" book.
Yes simon_g, but where is your conspiracy angle? Please don't simplify the complicated.
Slow news week - world financial crisis, world cup, giant oil spill...........hmmm..... 🙂
There is a case from two years ago of a fox taking bites out of 6 year old girls arm in her house. It's not new this city fox human interface thing and it could become a bigger issue given the perfect environment we are creating for them.
It's a little known fact but for the last couple of years the Tories have been secretly training foxes to attack humans
When trained, they are released into the countryside - & here's the clever bit - they simply go about normal foxy business until such time as a secret code is broadcast [one that only these foxes can hear] they then start their program of attacks
Simply put, they're sleepers
Crikey, my fox focused morning of inane internet posting just took a turn for the worse.
[url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east_wales/10343645.stm ]How to give children a skewed perception of danger.[/url]
I'm heading out on the bike soon, better watch out.
The original OP is fair enough. If you pull my cats tail, I assure you, you'll come off worse. Likewise a fox.
I do like the Cardiff story though, that's brilliantly mis-directed.
Child attacks fox, comes second.
oh, i was going to go for a ride in the woods, but if there is going to be a ravanous viscous fox, i dont know if i should. Shall i risk it?
It's just the same as when the previous shower first got into power - there was a sudden spate of dangerous dog attacks.
Odd.
The story has now been [url= http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/environment/fears-grow-as-fox-spotted-on-top-of-horse-201006212836/ ]Mashed[/url]
FEARS of a brutal fox insurgency were growing last night after one of them was spotted trying to ride a horse.
ravanous viscous fox
Those foxes of a [i]glutinous nature or consistency[/i] are dangerous aren't they?
😉
so are you suggesting that influential media guys who vote tory are happily pushing the 'terror foxes' story, so that the suburban torys have an excuse to back the 'hunt foxes' bill?
my dog caught a fox at the weekend, basil brush didnt look to clever or viscious then.
One thing is for certain: there is no stopping them; the Foxes will soon be here. And I for one welcome our new Canidae overlords. I can be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground dens.
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Look at them, eying those children oh so hungrily... evil things! 👿
I was wondering exactly the same thing (conspiracy theory one) this morning on my ride to work!
However, now that you've planted the seed of conspiracy theory two I'm leaning towards that and may have to make some alterations to my lid
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Steady, he'll 'ave ya.
[url= http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/environment/fears-grow-as-fox-spotted-on-top-of-horse-201006212836/ ]Daily Mash beat you to it[/url]
oops been spotted already
I have to share this, I just drove past a shop in London selling 'fox reppelent'. Awesome!
Baby hunting is a minority pastime of urban foxes, many rural foxes regard it as barbarous and want to see it banned as they believe it is only pursued by the upper echelons of fox society. The Urban Alliance, a pro baby hunting pressure group, has been pushing this story in the media as they perceive it to illustrate that it is a pastime enjoyed across the whole strata of urban fox society as the attack took place in the east end rather than the Royal Parks.
That fox in playground children kept in story is just crazy. Those kids'll grow up terrified of their own shadows - ah, but at least that way they will only rarely go outside, so won't be out committing crime / protesting about anything / trespassing in the countryside [i]et cetera[/i], and on the rare occasion they do actually venture outside, it'll only be to a shopping centre or a supermarket, where they will be under constant surveillance from a stream of the 100 million CCTV cameras in the UK, (another conspiracy angle).
It's a constant marvel to me; how, as a species we ever survived the pleistocene, when there were any number of truly apex predators out there. (Which is to say massive, powerful, almost fantastical creatures trivially capable of eviscerating creatures like ... ooh, woolly rhino and mammoth, let alone our pathetically frail little monkey bodies.
Magnificent animals like the [url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Lion ]American Lion[/url], and the [url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctodus_simus ]Short-Faced Bears[/url] to be going on with. It goes without saying that we played a highly significant part in their extinction (along with a potentially incalculable number of other species in the last 12 thousand years).
Note to self - Don't reply to OT posts ... 🙄
Ocb, that was the best post I've read on this site. Ever.
Love mefty's post, that's genius. Anyone riding in the Forest of Dean had better watch out for:
A: Wild Boar. Those will do you a lot more damage than a skanky fox will, and
B: Skunks. There's a breeding colony in the woods. You [i]really[/i] don't want to scare one of those. The smell will haunt you for days.
I think what we really need are Wolverine. They'll take care of all the foxes.
No one's mentioned the Honey Badger yet....They're properly scary.
EDIT: removed. Just unpleasant.