A Few Words And I Am Pretty Annoyed

 

  Friends of the Self Isolating Bird Club had another "damned cat killing our birds -keep them indoors" rant.

So, to educate stupid and ill informed people as usual I responded:

"Humans kill millions of animals daily for food (most to be wasted) or 'fun' and the statistics over how many mammals/birds domestic cats kill are at best flawed.

So let's knock that one out of the way. The actual idea of indoor cats is one I followed as all of mine were rescued cats and lived very long lives -21-25 whereas there are too many dangers for cats outside."

Now, before anyone could read that comments were suspended. These wildlife social clubs on FB do not like it if you are not just there to applaud, "Like" or write "Wonderful shot" of a bird (butterfly, fox or whatever).

It's for this reason I am leaving most of the FB groups in the New Year because no matter how polite you are, how you lay out the facts and educate you get the nasty feedback (some times quite nasty) of: "No one asked for your opinion!"/ "You are anti fox/badger"/ "What do you know about it!" and the ever popular "I feed the foxes the way I always feed them and I shall keep doing so to stop them starving!" and the last one is usually accompanied by a photo of an overweight fox being hand fed or at the kitchen door and other members chiming in with "Well done you!" and "Looks lovely and healthy!" etc etc etc etc.

This is animal cruelty. Foxes are meant to be slim looking and they catch natural prey that has everything they need nutritionally and also get rid of rats, mice and all manner of other things for us -no need to use poison.

In the long term the over feeding is going to lead to far more ill health and death in foxes -just look at how when Western culture and fast food break into under developed countries obesity, heart, liver and other diseases increase -including diabetes.

This constant luring foxes to take food by hand or coaxing them into homes will see Avian Influenza or even covid jump species and then....bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang as the government begins a cull for "human safety" and there will be nothing any of the "fur baby" lovers can do about it. you. Overweight and unhealthy foxes are more susceptible to disease and it is only a matter of time. Running the only UK study on fox deaths (aptly named The Fox Deaths Project) I get to read the post mortem reports and those reveal a great deal about urban fox health.

I want to see foxes in this country live their wild lives -whether as country or urban foxes where they add to the overall environmental health and not be victims of hunts for 'sport' or culls for any reason as there is with (again based on bad science) badgers.

People in this country wiped out our three native fox types as well as other species. This time around we are seeing diseases (not just mange) killing foxes, cars and much more. We lose, at minimum, a suspected 65,000 foxes a year due to cars. "Fox lovers" (you know the ones I mean) are helping to shorten fox lives.

Extinction is forever.

One thing that I constantly see are the fox feeders who spend huge amounts of money each month to feed wild canids with plenty of natural food around wanting free treatment for 'their' fox(es)

Ivermectin its first uses were in veterinary medicine to prevent and treat heartworm (aka "the silent killer") and acariasis (the closely related term, mange, is commonly used with domestic animals and also livestock and wild mammals, whenever hair-loss is involved. Sarcoptes and Demodex species are involved in mange, but both of these genera are also involved in human skin diseases (by convention only, not called mange). Sarcoptes in humans is especially severe symptomatically, and causes the condition scabies.

Ivermectin works through many mechanisms to kill the targeted parasites and can be taken orally or applied to the skin for external infestations. It belongs to the avermectin family of medication. You can find this in "spot on" drops and other forms from pet stores. It is important to assess the weight of the animal so that you get the correct does but more important that the fox you want to treat gets the meds and that you give it the full course.

There are "natural oil" and other "anti mange" treatments on Ebay but unless you know of their effectiveness avoid them. Natural is not "always best". If you are buying chicken wings and legs plus other foods for the fox coming to your garden DO NOT baulk at having to pay £20 or less for a med that will work.

The free (which is what attracts people) homeopathic drops from the National Fox Welfare Service or The Fox Rescuers can be effective in the early stages and I have used them and seen the results. However, I have seen their misuse through sheer stupidity.

I was once sent photos of a fox with open sores, fur loss (and if it survived...I doubt it) and the person who contacted me reported other fox deaths due to a “Super mange” that no one else seemed to have discovered “The drops just are not working and the mange gets so bad they die”. If ever I deserved an award for not finding out where a person lived and strangling them it was in this case. I asked whether he had contacted a wildlife rescue and I was told they would not be much good or they would kill the foxes. I told him what to do but this utter ------- told me that if the drops did not work nothing would (in his opinion). I even offered to contact a local rescue but that was rejected and he simply did not respond to messages. This person had personally been killing foxes through utter stupidity for a couple years. There was and is no “super mange” -the drops were not working and the foxes needed help and better meds. Anyone ever want to see the photos I was sent let me know but I won’t publish them here for obvious reasons.

I have seen mange kill foxes slowly and for me being within 10 feet (3m) of a few months old fox cub that I could not catch but was hit by very bad mange was the last straw. That gutted me. So I looked into treatments, effectiveness and at what stage a fox needs to be trapped and rescued and treated professionally.

I have seen a situation where two neighbours were treating the same fox with mange and it was not working. One was using the drops and another tablets purchased from a private individual who bought in bulk (illegal for someone who is not registered and there is no guarantee what the tablets were since no legitimate pharmaceutical company would sell in bulk to a member of the public). The fox had to be trapped and treated at a rescue then released afterwards because it took me a lot of cross-chatting between the two people involved to make them realise the fox HAD to be treated properly or it would be dead in a couple of weeks.

Ivermectin purchased legitimately would have worked. Also, if the two people who knew the fox in question went into both their gardens had talked to each other the risk of overdosing treating incorrectly would have been sorted.

I have heard and experienced fox feeders in an area refuse to cooperate with a wildlife rescue to trap and treat fox cubs with severe mange. WHY? I am well known enough for people to know I am pro fox yet when I asked on a local group (Face Book of course) whether anyone was treating a fox with mange in 2020...no response. The same in 2022. There ARE fox feeders in the area and I saw the evidence in the chicken bones, apricot stone and egg shells found while checking a garden. Why would feeders not (privately) just tell me “Yes. I am treating it”? That way overdosing with meds can be avoided and it is known the fox is being treated.

There are good and sensible feeders (I am not going to go into all of that again -just check past posts) but there are those who seem to think absolutely no one else is allowed to know about their “furry fox babies” and that this protects them; when it comes to a sick or injured animal they should be contacting a wildlife rescue for advice and those, like myself, never give out locations because we protect foxes. These are the people who really need to have it explained to them in the harshest way that THEY are responsible if a fox dies due to their mistreating them with meds and declaring “I did everything I could to help the poor thing” is false and does not excuse their refusing to help or contact a wildlife rescue to treat an injured or sick fox.

There are enough things a fox faces on a daily basis without the added danger of stupid feeders. You want a garden pet but have absolutely no idea about the wild canid you are interacting with. Read books on foxes and not just one with “pretty fox photos” and you can watch as many TV wildlife shows as you want but they will not teach you what you need to know.

Respect the wild canid in your garden. Learn that it needs and how it lives. Learn that when it is sick or injured you are NOT the only one that can save it.

To the sensible ones out there -thank you.