Studie über wilde Füchse und Hundeartige (f 1976) * Étude sur le renard sauvage et les canidés (f 1976)
The old rule under certain "rescue" was a fox with a facial injury HAD to be put down. Most vets would agree.
I was asked why I stopped trying to find a more traditional publisher to handle the prose books since they would have all the extra marketing skills etc to sell titles?
It isn't so much that I stopped looking it is the fact that publishers are simply not interested and have moved away from reading and publishing and gone more for publishing by committee -with members and their own prejudices and biases.
This is what I got from one publisher regarding The Red Papers last year:
"Dear Terry,
"Thank you very much for your message and for sharing the background to your extensive work in wildlife study and conservation, as well as the details of your two publications.
"We appreciate your dedication and the long-term fieldwork and research that support these titles. To help us better understand the scope and potential fit of your work with our editorial line, we would kindly ask you to complete the attached proposal form. This document will allow us to gather key information about the content, intended audience, and objectives of the books. It also outlines how to send further material should the proposal move forward.
"Once we have the completed form and any additional documentation you wish to share, our editorial board will carefully review the proposal. If we feel there may be a possible fit, we will be in touch to discuss next steps.
Thank you again for considering Lynx Nature Books. "
Now, considering that the company had as best a synopsis as I could give of the work which covers decxades of study, research and field work as well as gathering very rare images how else can you make the work of interest to a publisher?
Controversial and against dogma -fully referenced from official publications and works that back up the statements and not "Well I heard" as seems more common these days. We now KNOW what the original British Isles wild cat looked like as well as the fact that we know when Scottish zoologists declared (in 1897) that the Highland wild cat had become extinct. It can now be proven (not that it ever needed to be) that there were indeed three variations in Old British foxes.
Original: since 1900 dogma set it that meant that generrations have been misled by people who like to call themselves experts but who preach dogma. It has taken decades of archive research as well as investigation to not just prove what is stated in the books as facts but even more to get physical evidence in the form of taxidermy specimens to prove the case.
The Red Paper: Canids (2010) was called by the late Sir David Bellamy "explosive for British natural history" -and that version of the book was "sparse" com,pared to the 2022 version.
Perhaps publishers want to save themselves embarrassment from decades of inaccurate books they have published?
And, no, I never heard back from Lynx Nature Books. I did hear from another publisher that my manuscript had gone through the first committee to be looked at, then that the second committee had approved "the book being listed" to be looked at. A year on and nothing.
Three years ago I was informed by one publisher that with modern societal changes they needed to look at books and consider gendere diversity and ethnic diversity and what my book could contribuite to that. I was writing about researchy on wild canids and felids and just what the hell anything else had to do with that I have no idea.
Unfortunately, I am not included in the long list of virtue signalling tick boxes.
The Red Papers were accepted three times by a publishing editor only, a month or so later, the same editor telling me that "At the moment the book does not fit into our upcoming schedule". I later learnt that one publisher was very unhappy with one of the editors as they had been publishing the modern, false British natural history for decades.
I have a big collection of books on or referring to foxes in the UK. Each and every one of the authors has just done what we would call today "copied and pasted" from others. An incorrect fact published in 1950 is copied (almost verbatim) throughout the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and ad infinitum. Lying about factual history is never good.
Then we come to the "World mystery" books. Heavily researched and referenced with some -truthfully- very rare or thought lost photographs and images (we know they are lost images because author after auther states this...they just never went to the source material). The photographic image of the City of Brtistol that appeared in the sky over Alaska. Gone forever.. well, no. I found it.
Many "mystery creatures" (cryptids) took years to dig down to the actual facts in the sources to sometimes surprisingly identify and only through archive research did I find a newspaper report of what might have been the first gorilla from Africa in the early 1800s.
The truth may well not be "sexy" or "hip" but for each animal identified or each mystery looked at and solved there are those that are not. You follow the facts and the reference sources to the truth -or the mystery.
Sadly, unless you scream "cover up" or push sensationalist but provable false claims publishers are not interested. Back in the 1980s -yes, the 1980s- one publisher "loved" my manuscript but, in writing, asked whether I could not just add in claims of government cover ups, threats and so on to "spice it up"? I responded that I could only write about provable facts and my own experiences and would not lie to spice things up. My book suddenly became very uninteresting!
I am an archivist, researcher and historian so what do I do -just gather all the material in files andf let it gather dust until I am no more and it all gets burnt or thrown into a skip and lost forever? No, I do what most stupid people like me do: self publish in the belief that people would sooner have fact that sensationalist lies.
There are a lot of us stupid people around.
Someone shot and killed a deer, fox, badger and some rabbits then threw them over a gate in Hambrook. They were caught on CCTV and police involved. I have been asked to be kept informed but wildlife crime seems to be treated as a waste of time. Every night men and women go out to shoot and kill for 'fun' and their FB groups call them "sportsmen/women".
Cats, sheep -boring night anything is a fair target. There is no reason why anyone in the UK should have a fire arm other for in enclosed shooting ranges for 'sport'
I have given up on the UK as the people in it seem set to want to kill anything wild.
If you ever take a sick fox into a vet and it dies then let us know, If the vet says "It's been poiisoned" then tell them it is a possible wildlife crime and as its poison the fox needs to be submitted to the Wildlife Crimes Investigation Unit or, in Bristol, contact Bristol Uni Post Mortem Services and ask to submit the fox for post mortem examination (PME).
This was posted to The Greenwich Wildlife Network:
Fox Guardians
WARNING to wildlife lovers and pet parents in Broadstairs! There is been a string of fox poisonings in the
The cases which constitute a wildlife crime have been reported to the wildlife officer at
If one of your fox friends arrives and is struggling to breathe and seems wobbly, get them to a vet as soon as possible. Briar House Vets have been informed about the poisonings and Kent Wildlife Rescue Service could help getting the fox rescued.
If you find a dead fox in your garden, do not handle the body as the police would only consider collecting it for a postmortem if it was not 'contaminated' by being handled. Poisoned foxes often have a frothy discharge caming from their mouth.
I know this is challenging but do take pictures from various angles and call to police quoting crime reference number #09-1286.
Currently this case is "closed" due to lack of evidence but that could change because someone somewhere may know something.
If you know something, be the voice for foxes and speak up. If we don't show compassion, what is it that defines us?!
The vixen in this picture (not included in this post –TH) is a juvenile called Hazel. She is such a sweet little soul that I had the pleasure to look after over the last 2 weeks. She lives just a few gardens away from where the seven fox cubs that were of the same age as her were cruelly poisoned.
At 5 months old, their lives had only just begun. Their lives were not our to take. I and Hazel's guardian Jill are so very worried for her and her family. Be safe little one!
I responded:
Hi.
I have run the British Fox Study since 1976 and headed the onmly
The reason I ask is that when we started our work we had foxes that were found dead and unmarked in feeders gardens, foxes seen staggering, coughing and then collapsing. All were suspected poisonings.
As it turns out all were victims of cars -no broken bones found but all injuries were internal. Some were even found to be down to unsuspected illnesses. It can never be put down to poison until a post mortem as that will involve tests etc.
In case anyone is interested in what our study found I will include a link. https://foxandcanids.blogspot.com/.../bristol-foxes-study... I can be PM'd
I should have pointed out that the discharge/froth from the mouth could also indicate thoracic damage. The only way you can 100% state poison is after testing.
I also need to point out that Kent Police are talking complete and utter crap if they did say they would only handle a fox that has not been touch. I could use stronger words.
A post mortem examines the internal organs and test samples are taken to check for poison and to identify what it was –if a crime or suspected crime the police tend to do nothing if my experience over the last few decades proves anything. If it is a rodenticide then it can become an investigation by the Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme (WIIS). The person recovering the fox, the lab technicians etc all handle the fox and there has NEVER been the line “If touched we can do nothing” –a police Community Service Officer collected two foxes and a cat in a suspected poison case and that was after reportees had moved the animals to keep safe. In that case all turned out to be road casualties.
The knee jerk “It’s poison!” statement once spread, as we found in Bristol, attracts almost hysteria and local journalists love a “juicy story” – “The Bristol Fox Poisoner(s)” was a result of absolutely no evidence but people stating as fact anything they heard.
At least three vets with different foxes stated “Its poison” –all foxes were found to have internal injuries caused by cars.
Just had to post this out to a local community group:
Hello.
Can I warn members to be alert if they have pet cats in the area. Bristol Wildlife Rescue were called out to a fox in Rudgeway Road that was victim of a snare. This has now been reported as a wildlife crime to police.
Snares will catch hedgehogs, pet cats and other animals(including birds). If anyone has information regarding snaring in the area please contact the police."
Details:
Tuesday 30
06 2026 Rudgeway Park, Rudgeway,
Male 4.6kgs Elderly Damage originally caught in snare. Ruptured Lung diaphragm and liver Slowly bleeding internally and black dark
blood visible from back end
Pts at Vets4pets who are reporting this as a wildlife crime.
The old rule under certain "rescue" was a fox with a facial injury HAD to be put down. Most vets would agree. However, things in...
