wild fox in suburb area

How can you call an indigenous wild animal a pest?
Total bollocks IMO. Sums up where we’ve gone wrong.

Agreed. Same argument regarding lynx wolves etc for me. Stupid stupid humans.

Have foxes in next-door garden, beautiful animals, hopefully will be some pups playing in the sun soon. Love watching them curled up snoozing in the sun.

We have a den next door and usually see cubs playing in our garden from about now, this being Sheffield Crookes. I much prefer them to the student’s cats which do shit all over my garden.Every girlie student , when she moves away from home, buys a likkle kitty which then shits in my garden. This is not an assumption , I see them in action regularly ( note – no pussy jokes ]
Last week me and some chums were setting off for our yearly bike trip abroad so a very early airport call when we saw a badger on our road 4 am-ish. I had heard they were around but didn’t realise they had become so urban

Foxes are great. Leave them alone. I have quite a few around me and love seeing them.

http://www.connexionfrance.com/Foxes-Paris-Jardin-Luxembourg-Boulogne-Garot-London-14288-view-article.html

We intruded on them not the other way around.

http://www.connexionfrance.com/Foxes-Paris-Jardin-Luxembourg-Boulogne-Garot-London-14288-view-article.html

Although I read that, I know that it’s all lies because, as we already know, there are no urban foxes in France
#jambafact.

gallowayboy – Member
We’ve hounded them out of the country – whatdya expect a resourceful adaptable animal to do? Move in with the enemy of course! Power to their twitchy noses I say!

Often see them out in the lanes at night while driving to the pub. Not so many in town, although they’re occasionally seen crossing roads, but because Chippenham is a rural market town which has open countryside all around, the foxes don’t have much need to come into town.
Foxes can wreak havoc on a chicken pen, they’ll destroy many just because they can, and just eat bits of others, which is distressing to the owners of the chickens.
They can and will go after new-born lambs, just like dogs will; they are canines after all.
Badgers are becoming a nuisance as well, there are so many now they’re threatening animals like hedgehogs, they’re about the only carnivore that can rip open a hedgehog, and they’ll go after ground-nesting birds like lapwings, skylarks, etc; to the shock of the Springwatch team, a badger swam across a stretch of water to an island where avocets were nesting, and trashed a number of nests on camera.
Avocets are very rare birds, and the loss of one is a tragedy for the species.
Foxes also frequently carry mange, which is unpleasant in itself. Any indigenous creature can become a pest when it’s numbers run out of control, particularly when there is no apex predator that can keep numbers down; in the case of foxes and badgers, and deer as well, only humans can control their numbers, we have no wolves, puma/cougar, or even Lynx, which might not be able to threaten a badger, but possibly be able to reduce fox numbers, although not in urban areas, obviously!

Whilst I generally don’t mind them the mangy, crack fox, little **** that dug up my vegetables the other day can **** right off.

Any indigenous creature can become a pest when it’s numbers run out of control, particularly when there is no apex predator that can keep numbers down;

Apart from the fluffy cute ones obviously. Not sure anyone would argue with the word pest being used if their suburban gardens were over run with rats.

Another problem urban foxes cause from time to time is damage to vehicles. A while back several vehicles in the Kelvindale area of Glasgow had their brake systems damaged. Known elsewhere.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/8194068/Foxes-behind-brake-cable-vandalism-experts-warn.html

Foxes can wreak havoc on a chicken pen, they’ll destroy many just because they can, and just eat bits of others, which is distressing to the owners of the chickens.

No, because they kill them to return later for more food. If they didn’t the prey would have moved on and they may go hungry. The fact that humans penned them in the fox is oblivious to.

They can and will go after new-born lambs, just like dogs will; they are canines after all.

Because it’s food that we’ve kindly provided them.

Sat fishing on the beach at Meadfoot a few years ago and a small one came up and started pinching the live prawns I was using for bait out of my bucket.
Little bugger even chased an undersized bass I threw back into the sea.

Heh, I used to fish at Meadfoot. Ridiculous amount of seaweed if I remember correctly.

Anyhow, all creatures are great. Apart from Magpies, obviously.

Not a big fan, leave poop everywhere and wake me up playing in the garden. Just an inconveniance to us but the couple next door have young kids and don’t let them play unsupervised in their garden. Happy to see anything else in our garden.

jambalaya – Member
Yup Foxes in central London, just off Kings Road near Sloane Square. Very large healthy animals, so much food.

In my view they are going to be a very big problem in the future, their behaviour has already changed from largely nocturnal animals to roaming around in daylight. It seems only a matter of time before they are confident enough to confront humans especially children. As someone who grew up in the country we where used to hunting them with hounds as well as shooting them. They are pests not cute “pets”

That’s nonsense, there’s always been foxes out in the gardens and streets where I live, for as long I can remember, they don’t cause any hassle beyond a bit of squealling at night, they keep themselves to themselves and cause no harm. (They don’t even raid the bins, still black bags in thisclose no wheely bins, so it’s rip for it, but they don’t touch them, it’s the seagulls that like ripping bins apart.)

If they were going to confront humans, you’d have heard loads of stories about it, there is and always have been plenty of suburban foxes, they’re harmless, a good part of inner city wildlife, which is pretty diverse, I love the sheer amount of different animal I can see just by looking out the window.

Mon the foxes! 🙂

It seems only a matter of time before they are confident enough to confront humans especially children. As someone who grew up in the country we where used to hunting them with hounds as well as shooting them. They are pests not cute “pets”

That is the kind of nonsensical, alarmist, bull plop you read in trash like the Daily Mail. I’m amazed you manage to leave the house each day gripped with fear like that. The people who hunt them are bigger pests than the foxes.

I do wish they’d have nicer smelling poo, or maybe less-appealing-for-dogs-poo.

That sh1t stinks, literally

How can you call an indigenous wild animal a pest?

Total bollocks IMO. Sums up where we’ve gone wrong.
+1

Always makes me smile to see them. We’ve recently moved and suspect there is a den somewhere near the bottom of our garden as we often see them down there in daylight now, on top of the usual night-time shenanigans.

Saw two in broad daylight early evening last week, Wiltshire village.

Neighbour left the door open on the chicken coop the other week, fox got in and killed them all..

Happens once every couple of years (she forgets to lock the gate).

I’ve been seeing urban foxes for 30 years or more now, and I now they’ve been around much longer than that. Numbers don’t seem to have increased to ‘problem’ levels at all, and media hysteria over ‘dangers’ are pretty much unfounded, and simply reactionary hysteria. I don’t know of any case of a serious attack on a child by a fox, that’s been absolutely verified. None of the nature conservation types I know think foxes are a problem at all, unless humans are irresponsible regarding waste food disposal etc.

“They are pests not cute “pets””

They’re not ‘pests’, they’re wild animals who are just as important a part of the ecosystem as any other. They are only a ‘problem’ to those seeking to profit financially from farming; granted, they can be an issue for farmers needing to protect their livelihoods, but so far there doesn’t appear to be solid evidence supporting any need for culling, as some people claim.

Urban foxes actually help enhance the urban environment; they help keep down the numbers of rats, and help control domestic cats, who aren’t keen on staying out at night in areas where there are foxes. This helps reduce the destruction that cats do to wild bird and small rodent populations, which is far, far more destructive than anything foxes do in nature, and posing a serious problem to the survival of some species.

“As someone who grew up in the country we where used to hunting them with hounds as well as shooting them.”

I’ve known quite a few hunt saboteurs, and support the use of necessary direct action against anyone who wishes to kill wild creatures purely for sport or through ignorance.

Can I just say, that as I more at risk from being bitten by a human…

Humans

Often see them out in the lanes at night while driving to the pub. Not so many in town, although they’re occasionally seen crossing roads…are becoming a nuisance as well, there are so many now they’re threatening animals…also frequently carry disease

🙂

I see foxes on the way to the gym (6am) sometimes. They like bins by the Chippy I reckon.

I also see Badgers out and about on nightrides, generally see them a couple of times a year.

Bloomin’ ace…

It’s not like they are bears or mountain lions are they…talking of which..

Tasty tasty Koala snacks

media hysteria over ‘dangers’ are pretty much unfounded, and simply reactionary hysteria

As jambalaya points out they are mutating. It’s only a matter of time.

Daily Mail readers are at particular risk I hear.

I also see Badgers out and about on nightrides

Anyone else read that the alternative way? 😀

Yeah I was a bit like that Revs when I read Jambalaya’s post.

A fox enjoying breakfast at Butlins, about the same time the kids were tucking into theirs

Seen one of my foxes last night, happily plodding along outside my window, i gave it a wee clicking sound and it actually sat down for a few minutes looking at me, which was pretty cool. It looked a bit fatter than usual, so I think it’s a vixen and pregnant and i’ll see a few more in the coming months. 🙂

We had some in our garden – had them shot.

Why do Tories seem to hate foxes so much? Is it coz they is red?

Ironically the MP who imo had the coolest name ever was the Tory MP Marcus Fox.

Why do Tories seem to hate foxes so much? Is it coz they is red?

Nah, it is because they are scroungers!

no one yet mentioned the Monkey Dust sketch on foxes?
foxes in the garden

Nah, it is because they are scroungers!

Erm, I think you’ll find you’ve placed your abode on their hunting ground.

Besides all property is theft…..you don’t have to be as cunning as a fox who’s just been appointed Professor of Cunning at Oxford University to know that.

Crack Fox?

Foxes are **** awesome

😀

IF YOU SEE A FOX WITH MANGE READ THIS:

http://www.nfws.org.uk/mange/