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?