A Warning

 Knowing of and not reporting a wildlife crime against a protected species and helping dispose of the evidence will not be tolerated.

That is a warning.

Killing badgers this time of year is ILLEGAL

Foxes "Hunting as a Pack" -Ridiculous?

 

(c)2023 British Fox Study

I think that the notion that foxes never hunted in any way other than as individuals is wrong. certainly New foxes have no need to hunt anything other than rats and mice to supplement their urban diet.

Even if we see 4-7 foxes waiting for food it is just taught behaviour: "If we sit here the human feeds us!" It is NOT "pack hunting"!

In the 1954 book The White Foxes of Gorfenletch (a lot of research has ascertained where this place actually is as it is a fake name for the book) Henry Tegner was out on a country walk and made the following observation;

"A light-yellow- coloured vixen came through the rushes on to the frozen surface of the lough. Flanking her were two smaller foxes, which I guessed to be her cubs of the previous spring. Last of all came a big, dark dog fox with a marked white tag at the end of his brush. The party trotted around the open water, but the wild swans seemed to know they were safe just so long as they kept out in the open, on their little piece of water."

Which is interesting and not particularly anything to get excited about until he notes:

"Tiring of this unprofitable prowling, the foxes set off across the moor towards Gorfenletch. Passing a cluster of round rhododendron shrubs, the yellow vixen paused with one front pad raised. with the aid of my binoculars, I could see that she was questing the air with her sensitive nose. As if by an order4 the rest of the pack froze. The two young foxes and the old dog dropped on to their bellies in the frozen snow. I was about to witness a most amazing drama."

At this point I ought to note that Tegner was a very well known (famous) British naturalist/'sportsman' and though I may well hate the type the observations they made were precise and there was no telling of tall tales. If Tegner told you that the following is what he observed then it can be counted on as being genuine.

Tegner continues:

"Searching the ground in front of the vixen with my glasses, I saw the he4ad of a young roe buck against the dark-green underleaf of a rhododendron bush. The little buck's antlers had just started to grow again. The velvet-encased stumps stood straight up out of his head like two tiny candles. The buck lay, sheltered beneath the bush, quite oblivious of the presence of the foxes. What wind there was was blowing from him towards the pack. Seeing the young buck, the vixen now crouched, her brush twitching to and fro in her excitement.l Creeping nearer and nearer towards the buck, the vixen paused whenever the roe turned his head in her direction. She sank into the snow with her head stretched out at full length before her two forelegs. The buck never appeared to see the fox until she was within six feet of him. During the stalk the other foxes, each working on their own, gradually closed in on the roes.

"As if at a given signal, all four foxes suddenly sprang towards the young roe. The buck jumped up untouched. His white rump patch, like a huge snowball, bounced as the deer bounded over the snow-clad moor. I noticed at once that the roe was not going sound. It looked as if he had been wounded in the shoulder, for now and again he would falter in his stride.

"The foxes hunted him like a pack of hounds. The roe made a big circle across the Black burn, up over Wolfhole Rise, to turn back into the burn. He was making straight toward where I was standing in the shadows of the fir strip north of Nellie's Moss. The light began to fail, but against the white background I could still make out the four foxes as they persistently hunted the roe buck towards the shelter of the fir wood.

"The last I saw of the hunt was when the pack disappeared into the black belt of conifers.`"

Absolutely unheard of before, right? Well, no. We know how foxes behaved when they were "covert fed" -or allowed to live in artificial dens built by hunts and take whatever bird was handy (though rabbit was the mainstay). What we do not know a great deal about is how the foxes actually lived in the wild away from the interference of humans. In this case Tegner is describing four hungry foxes in winter (a family pack) scouting for food and it is possible that the deer had been wounded by a shooter and the fox smelt the blood. We can only go by Tegner's observations and if he had not just happened to be in the right place at the right time we would never have known this had happened.

c 1200 AD

Tegner was writing about New foxes, descendants of foxes imported to supply the hunt with 'sport'. The Old foxes that had been wiped out included the Common or Cur fox which had a more symbiotic relationship with humans. The Mastiff or Bulldog fox is what we believe also constituted the Hill fox which lived on the mountains edge and amongst hills and rock faces. The Greyhound or Mountain fox filled the niche covered by the jackal in its territories and the coyote in their. Basically Wolf, Coyote and Fox in the Americas and in Europe Wolf, Jackal and Fox.l In the UK before they were pushed into extinction, we had Wolf, Greyhound Fox and Fox. from the taxidermy specimens we have we know that the Greyhound fox was taller than a coyote (we also have a coyote taxidermy to compare it with).

Wolf, Coyote and Fox size comparisons (c)2023 respective copyright holder

In the early records it is noted that a dog fox and vixen would work together to take down a sheep ( as noted in the article "Vulpicide Is No Crime" in the Hampshire Telegraph - Saturday 4th May 1889). This was the author looking back at the fun in killing foxes and his "pleasure" as a youth of using an old flintlock to shoot fox cubs as they emerged from a den. By 1889 the true Greyhound fox was gone. However, it does make sense from what we know of them that if they were in a family pack then their size, agility and speed (hence the name Greyhound fox) would have meant hunting small deer would have been no problem in harder times. Rabbits and mountain hares were the staple diet but a small deer would have last 3-4 foxes until the next meal came along.

We are still looking into old literature and discovering more and more away from the modern (20th century) dogma that continues on even today.

White, light yellowish and other lighter shades were not uncommon in foxes although the Old foxes tended to be brown and the greyhound/mountain fox had more white in it. Tegner was describing New foxes and our taxidermy photographic data base has plenty of examples of colour variations.

I would never, before I started the British Fox Study and its long term research back in 1976, have believed in Old foxes. They were never mentioned. They were tall tales similar to the fisherman's "one that got away" despite their being documented in zoological and natural history publications and books by some of the most well known people of the day and existing in taxidermy.

And I am not even going into the fact that it seems that Europe also had its Old foxes.

Yes, under the right circumstances, I believe the Old foxes may have hunted as a small pack and New foxes certainly did it is just that people never observed this behaviour.

the work continues. Unfunded.

Are Fox and Badger Breeding Seasons Changing -Or Is More Going On?

 One thing I have always done over the last 40+years, whether with long time native species or even new introduced species, is look at how they impact on the environment as well as environmental changes that might effect species.

A January badger cub (c)2023 respective copyright holder

The number of deer of varying species, not to mention wild rabbits, rats and mice are well into their millions. The finding of deer and larger mammal carcasses tells us a lot about what killed or scavenged from them. Our climate has gotten warmer and in the past we had fairly well defined seasons. When I was a youngster in the 1960s we had calendar dates that marked Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter and "March winds and April showers" were what we expected. I do know that while sat in a classroom c 1966  it was sunny outside until it clouded over and it began to snow -in May!

We had hot summers and very could winters and as my gran used to say "We complain when its too hot and then moan when it's too cold!" For animals those old seasons marked coming out of hibernation and then eating, finding a mate and breeding or awaiting the birth of cubs so eating whatever was available. Summer months were raising the young and then as Autumn hit the struggle to eat and put on weight for winter began. During winter food could be in short supply.

A January fox cub (c)2023 respective copyright holder

Our weather in the UK is now less than predictable (watch a weather forecast) and our seasons a mix-up.  The need for animals to breed to a schedule of sorts and based on food availability was a problem but no more.

Humans have totally 😡 up the environment and everything from flora to fauna are feeling and seeing the results. Even in a short, sharp cold spell there are still food sources.

So the environmental situation has created changes in wildlife behaviour. But the food factor has also changed. We know that there seem to have been "fox feeders" as far back as the 19th century in the countryside and anecdotal evidence suggests even around town and city suburbs. We know people did give scraps to deer and other wildlife and that probably even included the badger.  Vulpicide was just accepted as was Melecide but not every person was antagonistic toward wildlife.

In the 1970s there were people who put out odd scraps of food for hedgehogs (another animal once killed on sight) or a stray cat and found a fox calling by or even a badger. These early feeders provided a year round food source for animals that might struggle during winter. The same people attempted to offer wildlife "first aid" for mange as well as other injuries. Most of those old fox watchers are gone now but come the internet and and social media groups a whole new wave of behaviour affected wildlife.

Social Media "Likes" for photographs or video clips of "my furry fox babies" increased the amount of feeding. "A" got lots of praise for feeding a fox so "B" wanted some of that and the so did "C" and on and on. The complete crap being fed to foxes was unbelievable: fried bacon and chips, doughnuts, cold pizza and much more. Some, sensibly, fed raw chicken legs or wings -this is NOT a common food they get in the wild so we'll scotch that rumour here and now. However, it is better than pork cops and anything pork should NOT be given to a fox. Luckily some people have understood that a fox could do with a little help once or twice a week but others still feed foxes morning, afternoon and evening -and this behaviour is passed on to cubs. One of the saddest sights to see is a group of foxes or just one fox that calls at a property regularly every day for its food. They are WILD canids not garden pets. But as a result we see overweight foxes with people screeching that slim, lithe looking foxes "must be starving -feed it!"

Overfed and with the right environmental conditions as well as territory that is safe, foxes have no need to be concerned about the normal breeding season. Humans are not just habituating foxes and badgers but altering their natural instincts to hunt for the food that they need. Foxes will take care of a rat or mouse problem and there is no need for poisons that kill other domestic and wild animals (especially since rats are becoming immune to the various rodenticides).

We have seen, quite recently, a fox cub rescued in London but successfully taken back by its mother and yet there should not be any fox cubs around in January. This is not the first as I know of a few -I probably don't know about a lot of others- out of season fox cubs. As for badgers I know of a couple of rescues of cubs that meant they were born in October. 

Is this all caused man-made changes to the environment and feeders? The so called "set seasons" for breeding may be wrong since those were all based on fox hunting calendars -when foxes were allowed to breed and raise their young in safety until "cubbing season" when the slaughter began and then great pride was taken in how many "brace" (breeding pairs" were killed and even pregnant vixens were victims of the hounds (in one case because a hunter got angry because fellow riders would not believe that a running vixen was pregnant).

Hunts had the typical mentality  (that still persists today) that "man is in control" so they set up artificial dens for foxes to live in, decided when they were going to kill cubs and breeding pairs (no problem -the shortage of foxes "during season" (I wonder why?)  was easily rectified by buying in more. Another thing was that even just one fox showing signs of mange (brought to the UK by hunt imports) meant that "every fox in the territory was put to death even cubs" because they did not want mange messing up a fox population there to be hunted. This began in the (at least) 16th century so what we may have seen as normal fox breeding seasons could in fact be breeding seasons artificially created by a population under stress.

We know that little about foxes -a lot about how to artificially house, feed and breed them for hunting but most zoologists have no idea that our three types of native Old fox were hunted to extinction by around 1830s with some hybrids continuing after that for a period. 

It is possible that in the past foxes and badgers bred when food and the environmental resources were good but that human interference messed that all up. One thing that it does mean for us now is that badger and fox casualties need to be checked to make sure it is not a  lactating sow or vixen as orphaned cubs may be nearby. Breeding seasons could now be reverting to what they used to be in the wild and one (badger or fox) cub might be an oddity in January. Two in different parts of the country... a coincidence? Three or four different locations nationally is not a coincidence and we need to take note whether a rescuer or fox/badger watcher.

Fox and Badger Extinctions...or "Why Did Badgers NOT Become Extinct?"

 

Little Book of British Quadrupeds W May  1845 

A FOX-HUNTING ANTHOLOGY Selections from the Writers of the 18th, 19th and 20th Centuries. 1928 by CUMING E D (Author) You can still find cheapish copies of and it is worth it since we learn:

"...we have the evidence of Ralph Holinshed, his Chronicles, published 1575 : he says of fox and badger :-

'We have some but no great store -such is te scarcity of them here in England- so earnestly are the inhabitants bent to root them out, that except it had been to bear thus with the recreation of their superiors- it could otherwise have been chosen but that they should have been utterly destroyed by many years agone."

Foxes were hunted for their fur in the winter when coats were more full and just this extract from 1575 totally destroys the entire "vermin control" excuse which was a convenient excuse but it is made very clear that this was then, as now for pleasure.

Foxes and badgers were becoming so rare in the 16th century that this immediately indicates the time when the 'sportsmen' must have been concerned for the "pastime".

Based on later writings I would guess that foxes may have been imported in the 16th century and that as they were so the huntsmen learnt how to keep, rear and maintain imported fox populations so that by the 17th century it was all established rather like any other form of animal keeping.

By the 18th century fox maintenance was an every day thing.

Little Book of British Quadrupeds W May 1845 (c)2023bBristol Badger group

The myth of "a nation of animal lovers" is more a 19th century invention as up to that time and beyond the regular people in the UK were still trapping, shooting, poisoning and clubbing wildlife for anything from a few pennies to a couple of shillings.

Even into the early 20th century bounties were paid for killing hedgehogs. And if you think that has stopped -it hasn't it's just part and parcel of a gamekeepers job where there are bi8rd shoots and ground nesting birds destined to be shot (a hedgehog might eat one of the eggs and deprive the 'sportsman' of a bird to kill). Cars, of course, killed many more. Slug pellets took care of others and who or what gets the blame for t5he hedgehog becoming an endangered species? The fox and the badger! Anything other than humans.

But a lot of questions are raised thanks to the old hunting/natural history books; hunting, even when they knew the Old foxes were dying out, continued, after all a chap had to have his 'fun' and so the door of Extinction opened then closed. Don't worry, there were thousands more imported to keep the 'sport' going but like the wolf our unique British foxes were gone forever.

It was declared in 1897 that the Scottish wildcat, which had continued for many centuries through breeding with feral domestic cats had become extinct by the 1860s. Naturalists and 'sportsmen' all knew this and yet, before the cat became extinct they still hunted and killed it for fun but using the excuse that it took ground birds -ground birds destined to be the focus of shooting 'sport'. There is even evidence that wildcats were let loose in areas licensed out for shooting in the 1920s but by this time we were looking at European wildcats and these imported cats, just after 1900, became the 'true' wildcat. This is why DNA of today's Scottish wild tabbies matches the DNA of European wild cats!

In The Red Paper (Felids) there is included evidence that wild cats survived in England and Wales if only in a hybridised form, into the 1930s. It should be noted that many naturalist-'sportsmen' write how they visited museums and saw on display no real wild cats just hybrids. The door of Extinction opened for the Old wild cat and then closed.

All of the accounts also declare how many areas were "finally free of badgers" -animals declared docile and of "no sporting value" as well as "harmless". The bounties, badger baiters, snarers and gamekeepers took care of badgers. Again, this continues until this day using the very convenient excuse of bovine TB spreading (while hunt packs and horses run freely through fields in which bovine TB exists/existed -we are not told how many hunt animals contract TB as those are quickly "given the bullet" and disposed of).

Apart from "killed to order" (for taxidermy) badgers there are the genuine road kills, snared, baited, shot and poisoned badgers. remember badgers are supposedly a 'protected species' but the killing continues.

The big question is this, and I wondered about this a great deal over the years: how did badgers avoid the open door to extinction? I can find no records of badgers being imported into the UK (which does not mean that they were not) so, based on many historical precedents, the badger should be extinct. Why isn't it?

Trawling through newspaper archives for the 19th century I found a small news item. Not even a long column but quite short. That led to another news item and...I discovered why badgers had not become extinct and also why so much badger DNA from around the UK matches up.

That is my current project. To once more stamp on natural history dogma and present facts so that this and future generations can read the truth and, I hope, learn from it to prevent even more extinctions that require importing replacements: the fox, the wild cat, red squirrel, hares and some deer species have already replaced the Old.

Health and safety with wildlife is not a complex issue

 

I was asked how the health risks of checking on dead badgers and foxes was tackled.

Firstly, Zoe Webber is a very experienced animal rescuer and will examine any foxes that might fit the Fox deaths Project criteria in situ. Gloves and face mask are standard. 

With badgers the UK Health and Safety executive prohibit post mortems in establishments due to what it sees as the possibility of bovine TB (I am NOT going to go into that farce here). It is only when DEFRA (Department of Environment Farming and Rural Affairs) wants a post mortem that it is allowed and I am not going into a debate on why DEFRA are allowed to look for TB evidence and how they get it wrong but still continue. The regulation is in place to protect workers.

We have come up with a solution with any suspicious deaths involving outdoor PMs. 

We do know that there are people out there killing badgers "to order" for taxidermy. Taxidermists know this is going on and that is why when I asked about a highly unusual number of badger "road deaths" each week on a quiet stretch of road... I was no longer a member of that group.  Only one taxidermist has asked whether it was okay to stuff badgers and so I pointed out the health risks because the attitude seems to have been "Unlikely I'll get TB!" But taxidermy for financial gain seems to block out safety concerns.

For foxes we do know, as I have posted before, that there have been instances of avian flu -dead birds are a free meal and the fact that it was proven that some people were deliberately feeding infected birds to foxes is a great concern. The risk taken knowing that foxes are in urban areas is criminal.

Again, mask and gloves are used because that is standard. There has been no major outbreak of AIV in foxes but there are other things to be cautious over.

The best advice the Animal Plant Health Advisory gives is to wear disposable gloves and face mask to bag a dead animal and then place that, the face mask and gloves in a second bag.

Basically nothing dead is just grabbed un-gloved and shoved into the boot of a car!

The risks actually come with irresponsible feeders who try to hand feed (one already lost a finger doing that but no one learns) foxes ands badgers or coax them as close as possible and even -still- try to lure foxes into their kitchens and homes for photo opportunities and social media likes. Those people, supported by their friends on social media, have probably been responsible for foxes (and badgers) being killed.

Foxes and badgers are wild animals and they have to be wary of humans and keep their distance to survive. We have already had one news story of how a fox "bullied" a child to get food and that has probably already got pest controllers excited because there is good money in killing a "nuisance fox" -a fox made a "nuisance" BY feeders.

Just be happy to see foxes and badgers in your garden and let them stay in the garden. You are ignoring the advice then just remember the animal in question turns up dead because it was reported as a "nuisance" -that is on you.

We take every necessary precaution as naturalists and wildlife rescuers and the work done yields results and tells us more about foxes. Overfeeding and trying to habituate risk health issues for humans (and for the foxes and badgers).

Everyone needs to be sensible if we want to continue seeing foxes because just one incident of a fox biting a child because it is habituated and if there are 20 foxes in the area and causing no problems...that is set to become 20 dead foxes. Because one was over habituated.

Health and safety with wildlife is not a complex issue but certain people are.

The Current threat To UK Fauna and the Introduction of New Fauna Species

 

Pages  20

Binding Saddle Stitch

Interior Color (photographs)

Dimensions A4 (8.27 x 11.69 in / 210 x 297 mm)

UK £15.00

https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/terry-hooper/the-current-threat-to-uk-fauna-and-the-introduction-of-new-fauna-species/paperback/product-j4m9r7.html?page=1&pageSize=4

 In the United Kingdom new species of fauna have been introduced since Roman times and the number of species released or escaping into the countryside since 1900 has steadily increased. New species are filling in niches left by species extirpated by humans and these new species have, after 40+ years of observation created no problems.

Despite this the official policy of the UK Government and the Department for Environment Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is to class such species "invasive" and trap and kill them as the opportunity arises.

This paper suggests that DEFRA needs to reassess its stance since it is impossible to exterminate all established "invasive species" -the New fauna now closely tied to the Old fauna,

Red papers Vols I & II

 At the moment The Red Papers (vols. I and II) I have set a publication date of 1st March for.

This will make sure that those I promised advanced copies to will get them and that is going to cost me more than I think the books will ever make (the new Introduced Species paper is far cheaper and has to date sold zero copies).

So more updates next month.

Fox Deaths Project Map

This is only a small glimpse at the superb map created by Zoe Webber for the Fox Deaths Project. Each colour denotes a cause of death of each of the foxes that have been submitted for post mortems.

There are a good few surprises and these include (black humour) the "Zombie fox". Hopefully a complete copy of the map will be presented in the over view planned for release this summer.

The Project may just be based in Bristol but the ramifications and what it has told us about foxes will be far reaching for UK foxes in general and, we hope, alert vets and rescues on what to look out for.

map (c)2023 Zoe Webber/Fox Deaths Project

An eye opener for fox lovers also as all of those who thought poisons were the only thing killing foxes. Also a surprise for those who stated from the outset "They are all car kills".

A Quick Over View and Why We Must Take Our Larger Mammals More Seriously

I took a look at the All Time stats for this blog just for a break from dead animals and to see who might be viewing this blog. It's not a major blog and I'm a not very well known 50+ years naturalist/mammalogist specialising in canids, felids and a few mustelids on the side but figures are decent (more than book sale figures!)

United Kingdom 2.4K

United States   1.65K

Germany   849

Belgium    402

Russia       165

France       147

Ireland       132

Sweden      132

Canada       95

Indonesia   39

Netherlands  38

India           33

United Arab Emirates 18

Japan     18

Finland   16

Singapore  14

Austria  13

Ukraine   11

Brazil    7

"Others"    164

 

Looks prettier on the map.

What were the top posts?

Sadly, no idea why the 'scientific' hunting post came top though if it shames the university that took part in this and shows that 'conservation' (hunt) groups are up to; fair enough.

Apart from the post appealing for any pre-1900s fox and wild cat taxidermy -which we really still need for the next stage of research which is DNA testing- the rest concern fox welfare and disease. Incidentally any museums wanting to get rid of fox and wild cat taxidermy as it becomes less popular -please get in touch.

The views are not staggering but then, I did not set up this blog to get views or friends! The purpose is to educate and get more people aware of real fox and wild cat history as well as conservation and welfare. In the last week I have had to deal with recording (not part of the Fox Deaths Project) seven dead foxes due to car strike (we say "RTA" -road traffic accident). I have also, today, received reports of three badger RTAs and a note on yet another otter RTA in the City of Bristol.

It has to be remembered that no one has bothered keeping a Fox Deaths Register before so in that Bristol is unique. We have also been able to arrange for any badgers found dead under suspicious circumstances to be submitted for post mortem examination and we are recording badger deaths in and around the City. 

I did appreciate the comment that I had focussed international attention on foxes in Bristol (its why I checked the stats to see what he was talking about).

The biggest breakthrough is the Fox Deaths Project, the only one of its kind in the UK and far from finding every dead fox to be a victim of the "mass fox poisoner" we have only found one with secondary rodenticide poisoning but two (one outside of the Project)  victims of snaring. Nor have all the foxes been RTA victims and even though that were have thrown up a few surprises.  There are two important people involved in this; one is the pathologist who has carried out work beyond anything we actually expected. The second is Zoe Webber without whom the Fox Deaths Project would have faltered long ago.  I'm just the fella sat in front of the computer and phone having a nervous breakdown! 

There is one memorable fox that was recovered for the Project. This was what we called "Zombie Fox" and when its story is told I expect many people will be as staggered as Zoe and myself. It is an unforgettable case and....well, wait for my over view report.

Although many people have understood that foxes should not be fed daily and once or twice a day because they are wild and hunt there are still the foolish people who try to coax foxes (and badgers)  into their homes with food. Some foxes have paid the price for this with their lives and, yes, I point the finger at those excessive feeders.  Putting food out daily to film or photographic foxes is another problem but so long as people make money or get their social media "Likes" they do not care. It is an ongoing fight but re-education is important.

Education is also important for children. To hear that one teacher at a school informed her class that badgers were "filthy and disease ridden and needed to be killed" (a country school -big surprise) then it is important to get accurate facts out there. Even the old 'sportsmen' of the "Golden Age of Hunting" (19th century) described badgers as clean and beneficial in many ways but docile and harmless (they were killed for "a bit of fun" between fox hunting of course).

I am not going to write that I am shocked that zoologists and naturalists (or people who like to call themselves naturalists) today have such a bad education on wildlife. Most have no idea that the genuine British red squirrel was wiped out by hunting around the 1840s.  The three types of British Old fox were wiped out around the same time. Wild cats in England, Wales and Scotland were also wiped out around the same period. Hares and certain deer became extinct in areas due to hunting.  So WHY do we still have them -the fact that the DNA of European species match those of UK species answers that question: before the 19th century there was large scale importing of these animals from Europe to "continue the sport" -it introduced mange to the UK as well. In the 19th century the big importers were bringing in up to 2000 foxes per year to go to various hunts.  Some were sent over as gifts to Irish hunts. 

I would like to see museums and public libraries put on well informed wildlife exhibits where the facts are presented so that they learn not just about the past but also about why we must conserve for the future. 

Local authorities also need to adopt the European and Canadian policy of building wildlife under and over passes. What hunts do not kill cars and other vehicles take care of in droves and I believe that even an estimate of 80,000 foxes killed on the roads per year is low. There are signs of the fox population struggling and it is only because rescues take care of and release cubs and adult foxes that we are still seeing them. There will come a point beyond which the only destination is extinction.

If I can get that message across to just a few people it makes the last 50 years of work worthwhile.

Remember, as I often get asked this by people, the work I do, the work Zoe Webber does, there is absolutely no funding for and even my research colleague, LM, has to pay for everything out of her own pocket. "Just foxes" is not glamorous or "sexy" enough to warrant funding or grants in the UK. Even the badger work is all out of pocket and to be honest those pockets became thread-bare a long time ago.

Anyone out there rich and pro wildlife want to throw a few grand this way? 

If A Fox, like most animals, can live with three legs why kill it?

 Although I am writing this about the City and County of Bristol -home to the BBC Wildlife Unit and other noted wildlife (documentary/photographic) bodies- it applies across the UK. Until we learn to respect wildlife and treat sick and injured animals we have no right to keep shouting that big lie "We are a nation of animal lovers!"

I have not mentioned the person who reported this particular fox for privacy's sake but the situation shows why we need a wildlife care centre.

On Wednesday, 11th January the person involved asked about any recent foxes found dead in the area as two regulars to her garden had not shown up for some time. I pointed out that as it was breeding season foxes do vanish as they look for mates. I was then told of a newcomer to the garden that seemed to be missing its paw and fur along the leg. I asked whether a photograph could be obtained to shown the extent of any injury and was promised there would be an attempt to photograph it.

In the meantime the RSPCA told me that it was standard practice that any fox with a leg injury would be trapped and put down. It is also the policy of Secret World wildlife rescue to put a fox with a leg injury down. Private vets? Guess?

Yesterday, Saturday 14th January, the original poster sent me the best photo that they could obtain and I include it here:

The leg does not look bloodied (which might be a concern since the fox was reported to be in the garden for over a week) but it is clear the paw may be missing. We are waiting to see if a better photo is possible.

The fox, appears to be a vixen, seems alert and in good condition but its posture shows it is only using three legs to move about which is no problem since there are plenty of domestic dogs and foxes getting about fine with three legs. The person wrote: ""here is a picture of the injured fox not sure you can really see from the picture. He’s been sleeping in my garden & eating all the food I give him. He’ll then wander off once fed. I’ll try and get a better picture in a bit.""here is a picture of the injured fox not sure you can really see from the picture. He’s been sleeping in my garden & eating all the food I give him. He’ll then wander off once fed. I’ll try and get a better picture in a bit."

The poster was obviously concerned that if caught the fox would be put down. It is shameful that so many foxes are killed simply because it would take time and effort to bring them up to the point where they could be released but vets are, after all, businesses and unless a treated fox is going to a rescue to recuperate -put it down.

A colleague of mine tells me that the vet she uses would, if necessary, amputate the leg rather than put the fox down. Sadly the vet is too far away from Bristol. For that reason all we can do is hope that there is no infection and that the leg will heal. I do NOT want this one ending up as part of the Fox Deaths Project.

Why might it end up as part of that project? Because it is possible that the injury was caused as the fox escaped a snare. Yes, we know for a fact that degenerates out there are setting snare traps in and around Bristol -causing two deaths last year. These people do not care whether a domestic pet such as a cat is caught as if it isn't done through sheer psychopathy it is done to get a fox or badger "to order" for taxidermists and we KNOW that happens.

So will this vixen survive or become another victim of human disinterest as it is "just a fox"? That is out of our hands.

Check your local wildlife rescues that appeal for donations and, if they do not put down a fox just because it has a leg injury -support them!

Spot The Poo

 Wildlife Trusts

Baiting Wildlife To Film or Photograph

 

People on social media groups do it and so do, shame on them, professional wildlife people. Note:

"1. BAITING WILDLIFE FOR PHOTOS

Laying out food to encourage an animal's presence can negatively impact wildlife by altering their natural movement behaviors. Most wild animals spend a large portion of their time foraging or hunting, and as such are hugely opportunistic. A food opportunity that involves little energetic expenditure (i.e., they don't have to do much to find or access it)is a huge reward in terms of survival, and animals will very quickly learn to associate where and how they can benefit from a food source. By baiting any location with food, we override an animal's instinct to adhere to territory markings, be aware of signs of predators, and we change wild behavior by encouraging an animal to enter an area for human-created reasons. As a result, animals are more likely to be predated upon, have negative encounters with conspecifics (members of the same species), or cross roads and hostile habitat in an effort to access the food. Even one baiting activity can have a negative impact."

See source page below:

https://www.theoutbound.com/.../why-feeding-wildlife-for...

Basically you are getting the animal to ignore its natural prey such as rats and mice -which is helpful for the environment- to get food put out by humans -which is NOT good. Trusting humans will get a fox or badger killed.

The Research Continues

 

There is very little doubt that The Red Paper 2022 I: Canids and The Red Paper 2022 II: Felids are going to shake up wildlife research and study in the UK.

When I published the first Red Paper in 2010 it was called "explosive" by more than one well known naturalist. In fact the book sold very badly and that may be because people are only interested in books with pretty fox pictures or by authors who have been on TV. Sadly, those people are pretty badly educated when it comes to the history of the fox in the UK/Ireland as well as wild cat history.

Basically, people go to university/college and study wildlife but they are taught from books that are full of dogma and taught by persons who follow that dogma and will defend it in the extreme. You see, I have spent 50 years scouring newspaper archives, old hunting and 'sport' books and naturalist/zoological publications from 18th century on. Therefore I KNOW based on contemporary accounts and papers exactly what the original three British fox types were like until hunted into extinction by the 1840s (thousands of foxes were imported into England for hunting from, at least, the 17th century on). Most modern writers will tell you that 'tales' of the three Old foxes were "the equivalent of the giant fish that got away"

That is ignorance and stupidity and shows no true knowledge. Of course naturalists in the 1970s could say they had heard tall tales of Hill foxes but had never seen one in the real world: the three fox types were extinct by the 1840s (maybe the odd pair in very isolated mountainous areas).

My colleague has actually built up a collection of rare Old fox taxidermy and that includes at least two full body Mountain foxes which p[rove they existed and were in fact larger than a coyote.

The updated Red Paper contains photographs (in colour) to prove the point.

The same thing applies to Wild cats which, as hybrids, survived in England and Wales into the early 20th century -we have the photographs and accounts. The true Old wild cat was large and dogs used to hunt them were fitted with studded collars to prevent them being killed -though dogs were and men were also seriously injured. The Old wild cat in size would probably have been near to lynx size -it was not known as "The British Tiger"/"Highland Tiger" for nothing.

In the 1690s it was noted that, had it not been for mating with feral domestic cats, the wild cat would have been extinct long ago. It was this interbreeding that kept the cats going but by 1897 the Scottish naturalists declared "the true" wild cat extinct by the 1860s. In fact, the wild cats at that time were not true wild cats but at least generation III of wild cats (feral hybrids) and, yes, my colleague has specimens from the 1830s. And I have proven what the last vestiges of wild cats looked like just before extinction.

By consulting the works of the field naturalists who (shame on them) were also the 'sportsmen' who helped make wild cats extinct- and some very highly regarded ones at that including Frankl Buckland- I can show how what is currently called the 'true Scottish wild cat' is in fact a feral tabby cat. In fact, it is possible that some were imported from Europe for 'sport' and that others escaped travelling menageries and private collections. The reason why the feral tabby DNA matches that of the European wild cat is simple:

1) they are hybrids or descendants of imported European wild cats

2) European wild cats have survived by also interbreeding with feral domestics.

When it comes to foxes and wild cats the London Natural History Museum has been downright obstructive when it comes to collaboration (the first time I have encountered this since first communicating with them in the 1970s). In fact, it is interesting that (and I have the email) despite all the obstructiveness the last email I had from the NHM was to ask what was in my paper and what had I found , etc., etc. In fact, the NHM even stated that they had no idea where (if they had the specimen) the Kellas cat handed to them in the 1980s was.

Publishers have also flatly refused to accept fully referenced manuscripts -commercially for them it might be bad as they have been publishing dogma and my works show that. I have even heard and seen people attempting to trash the books and their contents which is interesting since the books have not been published and not distributed to anyone or establishment!

In the meantime I have not stopped fox research. The Fox Deaths Project is making discoveries and to date the British Fox Study has the largest data base of fox photographs from the UK not to mention 'fox' masks (head trophies) that have been clearly identified as jackal, coyote and even wolves and whereas I originally thought these were all escapees it appears that they were in fact deliberately released by hunts for 'sport' -again, fully referenced accounts are in the book.

Our next step is DNA testing of Old fox and Old wild cat. This, however, is far too expensive and as there is some anecdotal evidence that the DNA work by one institution on an Old wild cat specimen might have been deliberately lied about there has to be independent lab analysis that can be trusted and data presented.

The work is truly never finished and I hope that in future someone can continue the research but with no funding for any fox project it is an expensive business.

So, I am still here for...well, however long.