I do sit up at night and start questioning what the Study has done since 1976. So I thought if I put a few notes here it might help me remember!
Firstly, when I started in 1976 urban foxes were thought to be a rarity. However, from personal observations I knew this was incorrect. Looking at historical newspaper accounts from the 19th century on it was quite obvious that there were urban foxes in England and Scotland in the 1800s. The dogma is that foxes did not move into urban areas "until about 1934" or "1933" and just how they came up with such an accurate date beats me. Foxes are like cats and move fast and if they don't want to be seen...you are not going to see them. An accidental viewing or glimpse of a fox in a suburb is not how you base such a claim.
One thing that always puzzled me was how cats were constantly blamed for tipping over refuse bins -the old metal dustbins- to get to food in them. When I was told of one "odd" cat with a big bushy tail I did wonder whether most cases were down to foxes rummaging for a free meal?
But could foxes live in a town or city without people noticing?
Yes. Again, the newspaper and magazine archives tell a story that many zoologists and others tend to want people to forget. Wolves, jackals and coyotes were released and housed by hunts and many of them escaped the hunts and contemporary accounts even in 'sport' (hunt) books of the time show this. As recounted in The Red Paper 2022 Volume I: Canids there was even a wolf living in the outskirts of London unobserved for quite a while. So a cat-sized canid that is also known as "the cat-like canid" is going to have no problem.
Remember that it was only in the early 21st century that local authorities began providing refuse bins that were meant to keep animals -rats mainly but they certainly chewed their way through a nu8mber in Bristol! Towns and cities had local refuse tips where everything and anything was dumped and that included food stuffs. This attracted rats and rats, after wild rabbits, are a top food source for foxes...and the dumped food was also a free meal. Waste tips near villages, towns and cities were a thing going back to pre-Roman Britain and one of the Old foxes -the Cur Fox- had a symbiotic relationship with humans rather like jackals in their home territories. Again, this was fully researched and the findings, etc. are in the Canids book.
From research we know that the Cur fox lived near human habitation and that it often got blamed for taking chickens and other birds that were really thefts by human hands. Anecdotal evidence was also found to show that there were fox feeders back in the 19th century and that it was far from out-in-the-open social media thing it is today.
Another myth bites the dust. The biggest 'myth' was, according to modern naturalists and zoologists, the claim that there used to be three types of distinctive British fox. The old, now gone, naturalists that I knew all said that there were such foxes and the reason they knew this was because they had extensive libraries full of books and also collected taxidermy or had seen examples. From the late 1960s onward it seems that it was easier to accept dogma and just keep repeating that whereas, before that time, a zoologist or naturalist would have been expected to look into a subject to gain knowledge. We now have copy and paste with no real research carried out and accreditation is given for perpetuating dogma.
So many times I have had "well qualified" university graduates working in ecology or a specific wildlife area challenging the "three fox types" and they have never heard or read of any such thing. Therefore it is all hog-wash. I tend to counter with "Why do you think so many thousands of foxes were imported every year into England?" Most don't believe that but it is one of the easiest things for them, as alleged academics, to look up -they have all of the resources. However, that means getting books and publications and reading through them. Too much hard work.
We know -we have the taxidermy- that there were the large Old fox known as the Mountain or Greyhound fox -animals tended to be named after familiar ones such as dog breeds. It was fast and agile -like the greyhound dog- and big. We have (my colleague LM has) an example of an American coyote and placed next to a rather famous greyhound fox she has the coyote is much smaller. By habits and habitats the Mountain/Greyhound fox appears to have filled in the coyote or jackal niche which makes sense as foxes developed in isolation from mainland Europe over the millennia. Americas: Wolf + Coyote + Fox Europe: Wold + Jackal + Fox and Britain: Wolf + Mountain Fox + Fox
The other two types of fox were the Hill Fox also known as the mastiff fox which was a little shorter than the Greyhound and thickset and muscular. The other was the commonest, hence the name, the Cur fox which lived closer to human habitation.
Many of the old sources show just how bad natural history could be since naturalists were also 'sportsmen' so reported on the wildlife they went on the massacre in droves. Many 'sportsmen' would not believe there was such a thing as a white fox but our own data base of taxidermy shows the extent of white foxes; many sportsmen mocked those who claimed to have seen these 'myths' until they came across one. Foxes were 'studied' so that they might be better kept in artificial dens and bred for the hunt. The actual life cycle of foxes was not studied long term because ...well, they were there to be killed for fun.
For this reason there was much screeching and teeth grinding in print from 'experts' ("X"=the Unknown and "spurt" is a drip under pressure) who said there was no such thing as three species of fox just the occasional big fox. It should be noted that this was generally always countered (politely) with the statement that no one was claiming that there were three species just three variations in the British fox. Yes, this is where the dogma started; pompous know-it-alls who might hunt fox where only the Cur was found and as far as they were concerned they were 'experts' on the fox.
DNA work on Old fox specimens may resolve the question and probably show that they were variations of Vulpes vulpes, however, rather like the British wolf -and the Irish wolf for that matter- the Old foxes would be a distinct sub-species as they were separated from mainland Europe for thousands of years
The search for any descendants of the Old foxes would be near to impossible since thousands each year were imported from Europe and importation might go back as far as the 16th century. This is not a unique problem to foxes.
Red squirrels were blasted into virtual if not actual extinction by around the 1860s. The response was to import more from Europe to keep the 'sport' going. Hares were wiped out in many areas thanks to hare coursing and the response was to import new stock in from Europe to continue the 'sport' and in other areas deer were wiped out and, you guessed it, more were imported to keep deer hunting going. All of these extinctions/near extinctions caused by humans took place in the 1860s and -even officially declared by Scottish naturalists in 1897- the Scottish wild cat was another extinction. There is evidence that European wild cats purchased by menageries, zoos and private collectors also made their way into 'sporting territories' -one might ask why 'vermin' (a hunt only term) were released into shooting territories rented out by estate owners? This means that all DNA testing of all these animals proves is that they match European species because they were imported in numbers not that they are the original British species.
(c)2023 British Fox Study
There is much more of course and studying the history of foxes means that you have to study other British wildlife as it is all inter-connected and shows just what humans have done -and still want to do. Farmers are now allowed to kill reintroduced beavers and there is anecdotal evidence that otters may also be on a "kill list" (if unofficially).
The Study even achieved having dead foxes in Bristol that meet a certain criteria subject to post mortem examinations -the only Fox Deaths Project in the UK. This has attracted a certain amount of overseas interest and results will tell us a great deal about how foxes die -even in car strikes we find illnesses and diseases and other things that I never expected and with a fine pathologist involved we hope to discover even more.
Two things begun in 2022 were the Fox Deaths Register and Badger Deaths Register: any fox reported dead whether due to a car or taken as part of our project is registered and we are also keeping an eye on otter deaths . It would be nice to think that, in the case of Bristol, the City Council might be willing to provide road underpasses for wildlife or fencing at danger points. However, Bristol City Council has flatly refused to take part in or discuss any of these issues.
One other thing achieved, to a certain extent, is to educate people on why they must not coax foxes into their kitchens and homes with food. Some foxes have already paid with their lives because of human habituation. The same applies to badgers. These are wild animals and not garden pets or something you can video or photograph to get social media likes. Foxes and badgers are at increased risk of snaring (two deaths down to that in the Bristol area in 2022 -which is a danger to pets) or other anti wildlife activities and the offer is still there if anyone wants me to prove this by showing the dead fox and fox cub photos from Bristol.
Again, what applies to Bristol applies to every other town and city in the UK. Finding that a lot of people agree with the guidelines of "keep wildlife wild" is good. However, the fact that these people are not vocal in encouraging a change in attitudes is disappointing. I have no doubt people are still coaxing in wildlife but it is seen as far less responsible now -and that message will be continued. Interestingly, in some countries it is illegal to feed wildlife -and the UK has millions of wild rabbits, rats and mice -all part of a fox menu.
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Food is a problem. Bashing away at feeders politely never worked as well as it ought to so constantly pushing the message that foxes do not need feeding 2-3 times a day (buy a bloody pet!) and their requirements are minimal seems to get through to many responsible feeders and the good feeders are the ones who also help treat mange vin local foxes or foxes with minor injuries where there is no wildlife rescue centre and certainly no interest from vets (where vets DO help thank you).
The annual finding of many chicken eggs in plant pots and under shrubs continues as does the finding of rotted chicken -all excess buried by foxes and if that excess is not used but left to rot then that fox does not need to be given more. Huge trays of chips, sausages, baked beans and even fried bread are no joke. This should NOT be fed to foxes and I have heard the excuse "they were hungry and were having to chase and kill rats for food!" Yes -because that is what foxes eat and if they put down the number of rats then rodenticides (and danger to pets, foxes, badgers, hedgehogs and other wildlife) are not needed and it is a safer environment. That said there are people feeding the "garden mice" and "garden rats" so I just shrug and move on.
The messages are getting through but it is something we cannot stop doing just as we cannot stop trying to get more protection for wildlife with up to 70,000 foxes and equal number of badgers dying yearly on our roads. Various deer species, otters and other species join that list and all we can do is record where we can. People drive too fast, hit animals then drive on without checking -again, in some countries that is illegal. We need to educate (where possible) the adult population as well as children -some taught that badgers are filthy animals with diseases when even the 'great sportsmen' of the 19th century described badgers as being cleanly and even utilised that characteristic.
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I seriously doubt things will change in my life time while building on green fields and countryside as well as destruction (supposedly illegal) of badger setts as well as fox dens during cub season continue. We all need to recognise that WE have to demand that the elected (or want to be elected) councillors and Members of Parliament disclose their environmental and wildlife conservation credentials as well as stance on hunting. Promises on these subjects need to be in a written contract and when promises or changes need to be made...then is the time for protest.
It is not the government of the days country. It is everyone's and if we want to see children grow up in a country with wildlife it has to be fought for and protected.
Do you prefer to see, and for your children/grand children to see live foxes or stuffed ones?
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