This is a dead piglet in a baby costume:
But a fox actually did try to take a baby in London a few weeks ago.
London mayor Boris Johnson, who can be a touch hyperbolic at times, has declared foxes a “menace.
The problem is that people in London are feeding foxes, and these foxes are losing their fear of people.
I don’t know why anyone would feed foxes. They eat pretty well on their own, and what’s more, they carry mange, and in my country, are a vector for rabies.
So please don’t feed the foxes.
They might not eat your babies, but they are wild animals that should always have a healthy fear of people.
In my part of the world, no one in their right mind would feed a fox.
But urban dwellers have romantic ideas about them and seeing as the UK is devoid of large predators and the red fox is the only wild dog most Briton are ever going to see, they have very bizarre ideas of what these animals are.
In North America, we have people who are called wolfaboos, who swear that wolves can do no wrong.
And some of this fox fascination in the UK is just an ersatz wolfabooism.
Having red foxes in very high numbers is actually pretty unusual for ecosystems.
The only reason why there are so many of them in parts of North America and Europe is because of mesopredator release.
The wolves and other large predators that would control fox numbers have been killed off, and now their numbers are much higher than they normally would be.
Wolves usually don’t kill small mammals and birds, but red foxes do.
And when red fox numbers are high, there is increased pressure on small mammals and birds.
The wolves were actually their watch dogs.
They kept fox numbers in check.
And now if you feed the foxes, all you really are doing is feeding the mesopredator release monster.
It’s the same as the TNR nonsense with feral cats.
And that is why we must control fox and feral cat numbers.
There is no other way around it.
There was at least one previous fox munching a baby incident before this one and a couple of adults having their ties chewed on in the dead of night. Foxes see houses as food sources now and think nothing of investigating an open window.
I’m a couple of hundred miles north of London, but urban foxes have spread dramatically in the last few years and I have a breeding pair right on my doorstep. They have a litter of cubs every year about 300 yards from my back door. I’m sick to death of several neighbours feeding them as it does them no favours at all. The dog owning one in particular should know better as they carry all sorts of communicable diseases. In fact, they’re one of the vectors for the spread of lungworm, which at least one local dog almost died of the other year.
One fox actually bangs on the window of one man who feeds them if he isn’t on time with the scraps. This is the start of how foxes become bold enough to injure children. Habituating foxes to humans for your own entertainment is idiotic and not fair. But these kind but misguided people won’t be told and insist they’re doing no harm and actually saving the foxes from certain death. They see a fox in it’s summer coat and think poor ickle foxy woxy is starving to death because it doesn’t look as plump as when in it’s winter coat. Urban foxes can look after themselves very well thank you very much. Round here, they have an abundance of wildlife and dropped fast food from the takeaway without at least two of my neighbours dropping them supper off on a plate every night.
Maybe Boris should encourage the chavs to take up urban foxhunting with their status dogs instead setting them on people and other dogs. They can use his bicycles instead of horses. Tally Ho, innit blud! I shouldn’t really give him ideas.
I don`t understand this passion for feeding foxes either. It is a recent development, and I see the effect on local foxes – there are not so many, as they are all migrating to where the nearest houses are, and those which remain are much bolder. I wonder if too much TV coverage, like “Foxwatch” is to blame?
I had a few visits from a large vixen, who stood at the door and looked hopeful. But it turned out she could recognise a gun when she saw it, and she buggered off very quickly indeed.
Elizabeth
I don’t think it’s so much Foxwatch itself as it’s predecessors as it’s been going on for quite a few years. I do wish Foxwatch would have put more emphasis in telling people not to feed them and why it’s unfair to the fox to do so. It’s one thing helping a sick fox, but another altogether to meddle in the lives of healthy ones.
I have no gun, but the foxes now tend to stay a respectful distance away due to me accidentally dropping the Tibetan Mastiff’s lead a couple of times when they were hanging round the back gate. He didn’t catch them, but that was never his intention.
Overly familiar foxes are a problem mainly in cities, of course, where the tiny open areas in front of houses do not allow room for the lidded ‘wheely rubbish bins’ which are now in general use in most non city areas, or if there is space at the front of the house then it is usually completely occupied by a car overnight.
Ghastly though it is to have foxes attacking babies, these instances have been extremely rare in Britain. It’s dog attacks which are the ongoing problem, especially for inner cities, as everyone knows. Let us not exaggerate the perceived sins of brer fox, please.
The problem is that foxes still have to have their numbers controlled. In my part of the world, we have coyotes and the fur trade.
In yours, you have guys who go out with night vision scopes and then get harassed by the animal rights fascists. Our foxes aren’t that overpopulated at all, and we still have lots of small game that would otherwise be ravaged by an overpopulation of foxes.
Our sin was destroying the larger predators that kept these smaller ones in check, and with them gone, the only ecologically sound thing to do is to hunt.
BTW, why is it such a cardinal sin for foxhounds to kill a fox but not for a pack of wolves to do the same?
I don’t get it.
You killed off your wolves.
Then you banned foxhunting.
What do you think was going to happen?
A fox utopia?
Of course you get it. Banning foxhunting was nothing to do with foxes, and everything to do with politics, and class war.
Controlling foxes bu shooting is perfectly possible, and should be more widely promoted.
Elizabeth
Sorry, typo – “by shooting”.
Incidentally, foxhunting with dogs, as carried out by a bunch of hooray henries on expensive horses, was an extremely inefficient way of killing foxes.
Elizabeth
Especially when quite a few hunt’s forelock tuggers were breeding or live trapping foxes to make sure the weekend Lord Yahoos were guaranteed a kill by throwing a fox caught out of the area in front of the hounds. Hunts can still lawfully chase a fox about the countryside on horseback, just as long as it’s shot before the hounds get to it.
Megrim, dat’s correct. But when the henries were on the horses, farmers hunted foxes more efficiently with their terrier dogs.
But now I see it’s nearly an impossible job to get the fox (also badger) numbers controlled. The wolf would do it for you free (or for some sheep mutton and dog kill, lol). But the UK will never see that day again.
I hope the Fenno-Scandia would look up to your country to avoid the same rocks, before it’s too late.
Yet another problem that would be solved with liberal applications of paintball guns for those too timid to actually kill the damned things.
They don’t want to shoot at them though. They want to invite them onto the patio and hand feed them boiled ham like it’s a stray pet dog they can gain the trust of.
bearcoatpei, so true.
People are doomed to fail with their interventions to the wild nature also with this “innocent and kind” act.
Even the sea gulls feeding is a micro catastrophe: these birds would naturally help the sea ecosystem to recover by fishing the small catch that’s so plenty in the Atlantic. When people active- or passive-feed those birds, they very sudden lose the fishing skills. Then they go on building more&more nests on the roofs keeping us awake behind our tightly-closed windows all summers thru. It’s hell.
Hello guys, it’s not in London only, it’s all over the UK (apart from Scotland where they have chickens, cats and sheep to eat – in addition to their wild menu).
The “tame” foxes are everywhere in people’s yards from Brighton City to Manchester and of course in all Southern towns. There are 250 000 adult foxes in the UK, that’s really something !
Foxes are MUCH cuter than sea gulls. So, when many people love to feed sea gulls, the more will feed the foxes. And there’s nothing we can do. The foxes will be the next wolves / dogs and the UK is the lab / scene for that.
Scott, you say that forever-heard “the people are feeding foxes, and these foxes are losing their fear of people.”
Actually in all the higher animals, an even in insects, a certain natural inborn temperament is a fact. Some of the animals are shy, while others are not at all. And guess which type will florish in the city? It’s not the feeding, it’s the breeding. They’ll find food by their own. Streets and parks of London like Helsinki City are covered with pizza and kebab remains.
I have to say that Encyclopedia Dramatica site you linked to seems far more obnoxious and unhinged than any wolfaboo (and I am no fan of wolfaboos)
It’s a joke. I always link to that so people can laugh.
In that program last year that revealed that a UK silver fox had raccoon dog DNA in it, Brian May was shown practically BAAAAWWWING over how this video “ZOMG, GIVES DA POOR ICKLE FOXES A BAD NAME!!!!!”