The British Fox Study

 

1 The Fox Study was set up in 1976 by noted naturalist and historian Terry Hooper-Scharf in Bristol and eventually encompassed looking at not just the natural history of foxes in the United Kingdom but the mass importation of foxes from Europe for hunting and this included studying jackals, wolves and coyotes as well as other exotics that were living wild in the UK after release for the purpose of hunting..

2 The preliminary work of 1976-2011 was published as The Red Paper: Canids and is the only work of its kind published on this subject matter and has revealed many forgotten and even unknown facts about canids in the UK.

3 The Fox Study is continuing and taking in not just Old Fox types but the New Foxes and looking how the North American Red fox (NARF) and others may create another New British fox type.

4 Modern books on foxes without fail all refer to the "little red fox" we know today; the long, short, tall and various coloured pellages. This is not a true British fox with ancient roots going back into history; it is what I classed as a New Fox. Looking at illustrated Medieval English texts you will see the fox depicted as overall grey or brown in colour with, in some cases, perhaps a lighter underside. Those are Old Fox types.

5 Over the past 4 decades I have worked with people at universities as well as students studying for PhDs and the usual method seems to be to quote from previous works and then add your own viewpoint or theory to that. Basically, one person copies from someone who copied from a person who before them had been copying from someone else. Therefore they do not come across the really old books and journals that show a far more factual history of foxes –most are unaware that foxes were even imported into the UK. I have a big library of fox hunting books as well as old natural history books from the 18th-early 20th century. If I did not I would only know about the "little red dog" that became thefox type by the early 1900s.

6 There were three main fox types that can be classed as what I call Old Fox types and I need to make it clear that I am not claiming that these were different fox species but foxes that had adapted to their habitat.

7 The first was the Greyhound/Hill/Mountain Fox -tall, long legged and lived at higher altitudes and was a greyish colour though research is showing that pellage colour may have varied: brown flecked with grey may also have been a common colouring. This fox seemed confined to mountains and hills although when it moved onto moors or grasslands its speed was so fast that it was termed a "Greyhound fox" -for obvious reasons. Other terms for this type of fox may have applied.

8 The second type was smaller than the Hill fox and more "robustly built" and was referred to as a mastiff or bulldog fox. I can find no illustrations of this type of fox but it was, like the Hill fox sturdy and "gave a good show of itself" when trapped -meaning it fought back against the hounds and hounds were severely injured or died from would inflicted by both foxes.

9 The Third type was the Cur (common) fox which was smaller and the most common seen and would, once again, be a uniform colour.

10 We know that in the 18th century Old Fox types were being hunted to the point of extinction. Therefore many thousands were imported each year to "re-stock" hunting countries (Englandwas divided up into areas owned and considered private fox hunting areas or "countries"). France, Germany, Russia and other European countries where fox hunting was not an organised 'sport' sold foxes to dealers and the 19th century press report on news snippets such as "twenty foxes are being shipped by cart to Leeds.

11 By the late 19th century the Old Fox types were seen as facing extinction as the captive bred and protected red foxes took over countries both North and South. From the mid 19th century many of the 'great sportsmen' were making it clear that the Old Foxes were becoming extinct and their reaction was to still hunt. Research shows that it is highly likely that the Old foxes became extinct by the 1880s according to naturalist-hunters.

12 It is possible that the Old and New foxes interbred so that each hunting generation saw the latest type as, say, a Hill fox when it was not. Later large foxes I believe are just variations found in New foxes and not indicators that Mountain foxes lived on into the 1940s -some may have survived until the late 19th century by taking to higher ground where there was no hunting.

13 I think there may have been more than three Old Fox types -each evolving for its specific habitat and the accounts of Old Hill foxes seem almost to describe a near coyote type. In fact, research has shown and proven that jackals, coyotes and wolves were released for hunting purposes well into the early 20th century.

15 Via research as well as examination of 19th century taxidermy it is clear that there are aspects of Old foxes that vary from the New fox; in some the head shape varies and it is quite clear that dentition also varied and that includes in the rather robust appearance of the teeth. The only way of finding out what an Old Fox type might have looked like is to find mounted specimens and we need to go back as far as we can with these to avoid misidentifying Old-New crosses.

16 To date some specimens have been acquired but these are not sufficient for us to carry out hair DNA study. A large number of modern fox hair has been gathered as a sampling when DNA work can be carried out. However, to acquire fox masks (mounted heads) and full specimens is beyond current finances. The British Canid Historical Society was set up as the research and educational side of the Fox Study and this has led to cooperation with wild canid researchers in other countries

17 In 2021, after a great deal of hard work in getting official backing, the Study set up the fox deaths Project. This involves the collection of non road traffic casualty foxes within the City of Bristolthat fit a criteria and are submitted for official post mortem (Wildlife Network for Disease Surveillance, Post Mortem Services, Bristol Veterinary School University of Bristol and other bodies). To date the post mortem examination of dead foxes has revealed incidents of babesia and other causes of death from which we are learning a great deal. There has been no other such project in the UK. Obviously, without official approval none of the 18 foxes so far submitted would have been examined as costs are prohibitive.

18 The Fox study along with the BCHS has led the way in advising on fox/wildlife health issues and treatments as well as the various legal aspects surrounding them and the work has been followed by many bodies and groups. Again, this makes the Fox Study and BCHS the only organisation of its kind in the UK.

19 All of this work has been carried out (excepting the post mortems) from “out of pocket” (personal) funds which are stretched. What we need is some form of grant funding that will enable us to :

(a) Study the past history of British foxes and how impacted on the environment etc

(b) Clearly identify, via DNA work as well as actual physical taxidermy examples, what the lost Old foxes looked like and ascertain the uniqueness of the Old foxes that were isolated from the European mainland for millennia.

(c) Continue to educate the public on the red fox, the history of foxes as well as their place as good indicators of the eco-system and to afford them more protection.

(d) To provide a future online virtual museum that can continue the education on wild canids from the UKs past, present and future.

20 The work begun in 1976 is ongoing and it will be carried on by others at some point and expanded to include research into the fact that the little red dog was not the common fox of Western Europe where Old Fox types seem to have existed similar to those in the UK.

21 If there are any specific questions then please feel free to ask and I shall answer to the best of my ability.

Terry Hooper-Scharf

The British Fox Study & British Canid Historical Society

Email: blacktowercg@hotmail.com