Open Request Post To All Museums

 

In the ongoing research work to look at the felid and canid species we lost in the UK and Europe (the anecdotal evidence seems to indicate that Western parts of Europe had similar Old type foxes and wild cats similar to the UK) The British Fox Study (1976) and Wild Cats and Ferals Study (1980) are combining into the Extinct Fauna Project.

We need the help of private collectors as well as museums with natural history sections. Archivists can also be of great help in that they may have come across old documents that refer to Mountain/Greyhound/Cur and Mastiff foxes including illustrations.

What we are looking for are images of -obviously- taxidermy or skins from 1860 as far back as possible of foxes and wild cats whether from the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium and other European countries. As an unfunded Project the ability to visit museums is not possible so we are reliant on interest amongst naturalists and zoologists as well as natural history museum staff.

We know that in the UK the Old foxes and Wild cats became extinct by the 1860s -the same time that hunting also saw other species including the red squirrel become extinct. We can see how the Old and New foxes (imported from Europe in the thousands and as far back as possibly the 16th and 17th centuries) began to mix and possibly interbreed as features seen in red foxes were not seen in Old foxes until hybridisation. By the late 19th century naturalists had officially declared the Scottish wild cat extinct and the Old foxes were also declared extinct. We then see the New types becoming so common that over the years people assumed they were always native.

Looking at images from Medieval European  documents as well as the work of Buffon it is clear that the wild cats in Western Europe were slowly replaced by what we see today. However, again, it is just assumed that they always looked like this so what would an investigation of historical records prove? That was exactly my thinking over 40 years ago until I researched.

Similarly we have images that show foxes unlike red foxes today. Just when the red foxes moved into Western Europe is unknown but we believe the move west was gradual aver hundreds of years as they followed human migration and as the Old foxes were hunted and killed opening up territory for the New fox.  The same applies for wild cats although hybridisation with domestic or feral domestic cats probably took place over many centuries (as in the UK).

What we need to do, for the UK specifically, is to find samples of Old foxes dated and described as Mountain/Greyhound, Cur or Mastiff and Hill foxes. Those familiar with red foxes will be able to note the differences but if in doubt we can help if photos are provided. There may be many specimens in stately homes as well as private collections in the North of England up to the Scottish Highlands but not exclusively that region.

For wild cats please look at the image in the blog header and that or similar is what we are looking for and another colour phase seems to have been grey. Again if there is any doubt then a photo can help us decide.

This continuation of the work needs the collaboration of many others and if you can help please contact me -email subject Extinct Fauna Project- via email at blacktowercg@hotmail.com

Thank You

Foxes Carrying off and Killing Cats -time for a chat

It is as predictable as the sun rising. Every single year since the 1970s I have heard the same things. "Foxes attacked my cat"/ "Foxes attacked and killed my cat"/"I saw a fox grab a cat and carry it off"

Firstly, if you own a cat (at one time I had eight rescue house cats) think about the struggle to get that worming tablet in its mouth. Even wrapped in a thick bathroom towel the teeth or claws will get you. It was very much a case of "will you be using the entire bottle of surgical spirits on you scratches this time around?" Cats have four sets of claws and teeth you do not want to mess with. Foxes have teeth so are very ill equipped to  take on a cat.

Again, on five separate occasions over the years I have had to rescue adult foxes cornered by different cats. All the foxes could do was make a noise (stress) and try snapping but the cats have legs and claws at the end so... Now a fox picking up a live cat in its mouth (consider that the cat will be similar in weight to the fox) and carrying it off with no fuss from the cat?  It would be akin to lighting the fuse on a stick of dynamite and casually walking around with it.

My neighbours (a week after the fact) told me that they had found a dead cat in their garden ripped up. Their son who had no interest in animals told them "a fox would have done that". There is this ill educated belief that we have wolf sized canids wandering around our gardens tearing up whatever they can find. These are cat sized canids. I asked what they did with the cat's body because I could have checked it out but was told "we put it in the bin" -the bin had been emptied that morning. Why did they not tell me this at the time since they know my interest and what was really angering is that someone's pet had now "mysteriously vanished" -the vet is not that far away and if they could pick the cat up to take it to the bin they could have taken it to the vet to check for a microchip.

The description of the dead cat's body wounds showed it was not a fox at work but a large dog and if I could have proven it the owner would have been reported. People up the road own a greyhound and it often wandered about -and I caught it chasing cats (instinct on its part) and even chased one into my garden one night. I even had images and video of it skulking around my garden. This greyhound kept getting out as, allegedly, their son (in his 30s) was too stupid to close the gate. As others had "mentioned" t6he dog getting out to the owners but the message never sank in I posted photos of the dog in my garden at night and gave the location on to a local pet group's Face Book page. I explained that the dog had chased cats and was therefore a threat to other pets. I explained that if I was it loose again or chasing another cat the police and RSPCA would be informed and, obviously, they would be named publicly. Not seen the dog since. 

I asked two people about the cat and how it was killed and both had relatives -one a father the other grandfather- who used to go rabbiting with a greyhound and both said the cat kill sounded "about right" for a small furry thing a greyhound had caught.  So a "fox kill" became a  greyhound kill.

The woman who made the above posting to a local group is adamant that the foxes attacked and mauled the 'cat'. She is positive that it was a cat -so why did it get up and run off over hedges...like a fox? For a domestic cat that is very odd behaviour. Oh, someone chimed in with "my cat was killed by a fox a few weeks ago" -where is the evidence of any of this?

Every year at this time vixens move their cubs to new locations and we get the foxes carrying off cats stories. I was once talking to someone who told me that their neighbour's "little brown cat" was carried off by a fox and they saw it themselves. So I started asking questions and the person looks behind me and says "There it is now"  I turned expecting to see a fox but instead saw a large brown tom cat so I said "I don't get you?" and it was explained that this was the cat the fox carried off as it "is the only brown one in the street" 😫 It later transpired that a vixen had moved its only cub from one back garden to another but the house holders were not telling anyone there was a fox ("a lot of nasty people about").

A lot of these posts are from pro fox hunt supporters that are on most groups these days and in ten years of confronting them and asking for the video and photos they claimed to have taken or the vet's statement that a fox killed the cat (a vet is NOT qualified to make such a conclusion) -nothing. The people tend to vanish off the groups.

In many cases -as with foxes carrying off 'cats'- it is a genuine mistake. From 1977-2015 (and still occasionally) I was a UK police forces exotic animals consultant and I spoke to many witnesses and observers in that time. I use the phrase "People see woodlice and report armadillos" -I was asked to go to a house locally as they had found snake eggs which turned out to be privet hawk moth eggs -one leaf.  Another time someone's pet python had escaped and was in a garden and the householder was concerned about pets. It was a grass snake -absolutely nowhere near the size of a boa.  I was talking to someone late one evening and she complained about the cat that was shredding her plastic refuse bags and there was a noise of plastic tearing and she pointed; "There it is! There's that bloody cat again!" It was a fox and I explained and she responded "No. That small? IT's a cat" but it quite clearly was 100% a fox and I am quite sure that a DNA test would prove that it was a fox!

In the 1960s and 1970s when we still had aluminum dustbins (trash cans) you would often hear one being tipped over at night and the remark "Bloody cat's on the bin again!"  On one occasion a neighbour had his bin overturned and asked my gran if she knew who owned a "big fluffy ginger cat" in the area as he wanted to "have words" with them about their cat tipping over his bin. It was actually a fox but most people had no idea they were in towns so something that is the same size as a cat and acts like a cat (it's why the fox is described as "the cat-like canid") by jumping up and over fences and garden walls....it was a cat  and anyone who said otherwise was barmy (nuts).

Interestingly, the old hunt books written in the 19th and 20th century note that no fox would get the better of "even the most tame hose cat".

Another example of misreporting. W. Kay Robinson (founder of the British Naturalists Association in 1905) noted (Wild Beasts of Britain, 1949) the number of cases in which people claimed to have seen and also been chased out of woodland by bears. local naturalists explained that there were no bears living wild in England and some investigating found that the bear(s) in question were...badgers. How anyone could mistake a small badger for something like a bear seems ridiculous bu8t it happens. I have seen many (many) images and video footage of "big cats" in the UK. The sizes of the animals in question range from similar to that of a German Shepherd, Rotweiller and so on -all large dogs. There is even video footage and stills from a trail cam of a "big black cat with very long tail and very large in size" and I cannot see any big black cat with very long curved tail. In fact the clearest image is of the animal behind trees and you can only see it from mid torso back and it has the same anatomical shape as my old dog Sam -a cross greyhound. The animal is a greyhound in the video but it seems no one can recognise the difference between a leopard and a greyhound! As for the other "big cats" -all very quite clearly domestic cats from head to tail tip -NOT giant animals.

We have had schools trying to get rid of fox dens with cubs on site (Health and Safety inspected and declared no threat to anyone) and do not seem to realise that this is a good opportunity to teach kids about nature and wildlife -a trail cam would help them seer "wildlife on the doorstep" but, no. All well and good preaching about the environment and TVs Spring Watch or the latest David Attenborough wildlife series but actually educate kids with wildlife just outside?

At times I feel that I am the only person in the UK who is actually studying foxes and trying to educate people on the species because they are "just foxes" and who cares?  While kids are inquisitive get them interested and ask your local school to start up some type of wildlife education projects for classes. If I am still here in ten years time I do not want to have to still be going through all of this.

Let's Learn The Real Truth About Our Lost Old Wild Cats and Old Foxes.

 A pair of male and female wild cat taxidermy specimens mounted on branches and one with wall bracket for dramatic display in turn of the century natural history museum. Austrian Empire circa 1890. Very good condition . 

Interesting to note that, like Old British foxes that seemed to have counterparts in Western Europe that were over time replaced by Red foxes, Europe also had Old wild cats similar to those of the UK.

There are enough similarities here that, initially, I thought these were Old British wild cats.

Sadly, the work is all unfunded so the idea of digging into European museums for examples of Old foxes and Old wild cats is a pipe dream. However, I do hope naturalists in Europe get curious enough to carry out their own investigations.

Let's dig for the truth which is, honestly, just waiting there in museums and archives. Let's learn the real truth about our lost Old wild cat and Old foxes.

Will The Real Scottish Wild Cat Please Stand Up

Perhaps the easiest demonstration of how the Scottish wild cat has been depicted and the new wild tabby backed by dogma has become the 'real' thing are Cigarette and Tea packet cards. These were single cards placed inside a brand of cigarette or tea and could be collected into albums. It was a craze before Pokemon!

The art was either commissioned or permission gained to use the work of some of the top artists in the field and so accuracy was guaranteed -these were, after all, also meant to educate.

Let's take a look at some of the cards depecting the Scottish wild cat from my collection.

 1939: The cat looks similar to those photographed by M. H. Batten at the time but there are striking differences (see The Red Paper Felids for the Batten photos)Some of the yellowish ground colouration of the Old wild cat but definitely a hybrid (remember Scottish naturalists and the man considered the expert on wild cats having studied them over 40 years declared (in 1898) that the true wild cat was extinct by the 1860s)

1958: Now this card is interesting in that this bears the closest resemblance to the Old wild cat and was painted by the highly respected C. F. Tuncliffe, R.A. so it is possible that he had seen taxidermy Old wild cats at some point

Archibald Thorburn 1860-1935 another much respected wildlife artist whose paintings of foxes and wild cats is exquisite. The first is from 1912 and the second just before (?)

Archibald Thorburn 1860-1935

Archibald Thorburn 1860-1935: Thorburn was a stickler for detail so this ought to make the Reader realise that by the early 1900s into the 1920s something was going on with wild cats as their appearances were changing and no doubt because hybridisation was (as stated even in 18th century sources)  the only thing keeping wild cats in existence. And there was no control over poisoning, snaring, shooting or trapping then bludgeoning wild cats. One local man proudly boasted to having killed over 50 wild cats in his local area.

1921 and we see the traits of the Old wild cat therefore someone must have seen one  at some point (stuffed in a museum?).  Similar markings are seen in the 1920s Batten wild cat photos.

1972 and a photo card showing some wild cat traits but this is clearly an hybrid.

1987 and, mysteriously, the "wild tabby" was the Scottish wild cat! Bearing no resemblance to either the OId wild cat or even those of the 1900-1920s period. The reason was simply "trendyness". The Royal connection (Victoria and Albert) to Scotland boosted most everything Scottish so that the country became a tourist hot spot and add tartan to anything and it sold. 

The big museums -such as the Natural History Museum (London) were sent a wild tabby and every museum curator after that had  to get one the same. It became the "Museum Type" and if wild cats killed and sent to museums were not a match they were dumped or returned. Of every museum I contacted in England, Scotland and Wales from local to national I was told the same thing: all of their specimens were acquired in 1900 or just after -basically, wild cats were being shot en masse to fill museum and "distinguished" private persons' collections.

There is a massive jump from the Old wild cat (the ones dying out in the 1860s were probably 4th (?) generation) to the wild tabby. Naturalists and zoologists just did no research. The archives are there and freely available while the art and photographs are everywhere and they quite clearly show the big changes.

I could actually add even more images of "true Scottish wild cats" and they -and those above- are all accurate and they would just spin heads.

Dogma has meant that for the last 100+ years the public as well as those being educated in zoology, etc. have been taught dogma.  'Facts' copied by one person after another and without those people doing any research and discovering the openly available facts for themselves. It is a parallel to the Old and New fox situation -and not just in the UK.

All images (c)2023 British Wild Cats and Feral Study

Doesn't this make humans the true vermin?

 

The arctic wolf is similar, if not a related species to the British wolf hunted into extinction

It is interesting how often you hear or read the word "vermin" being used. This usually indicates someone involved in bloodsports or a supporter of said 'sport'.  

Foxes are not and have never been officially classed as "vermin" in the United Kingdom -again, only hunts and their supporters use the term and it is odd that they hunted Old British fox types to extinction -supposedly their purpose (as a defence after 1900 when thinghs got a little hot for hunts legally in courts). So why, aim achieved, did hunts import thousands of foxes each year  to continue their hunting 'fun'? Oops! I let a clue out there.

The Old foxes were gone by the 1860s and after that even the imported red foxes faced several near extinctions -the same way the red squirrel did but it, too, was replaced by European stock.

The forests and woods that once covered England (as an example) were cut down or burnt down specifically for one purpose; the get wolves (even ones causing no problems) out into the open to hunt and kill and as with foxes later some lords forbade the killing of all wolves as they needed them for 'sport'.  Obviously any other animals flushed out were a good bit of 'sport' -lynx, boar, etc. Our forestry has never recovered and even now some planted as replacement forests are marked for commercial gain.

The list of what humans wiped out by the end of the "Golden Age of Hunting" (19th century) would take a few pages to list. Just shooting something and walking off to find something else to shoot. Seals, every and any bird, literally every thing on land from reptiles and amphibians and mammals of all types. The Bloodbath Age" is very well written about in books from the period by "naturalist sportsmen" and others -it ended the true Scottish wildcat by the 1860s (a notabvle decade since that is when British red squirrels and Old fox types met their demise). Hares were imported into areas then "devoid of any" and in other areas deer were imported from Europe.

We have seen wild canids shot, poisoned, clubbed ansd snared into extinction -the Falkland Islands wolf, Hokkaido wolf -it goes on and on.

And then the successes; wolves reintroduced and protected until either hunters or farmers money (bribes) made politicians decide that, yes, some could be "harvested" and on the occasions when far more than any licences allowed were killed.. "oh hum!" Nothing. We have seen scandinavian countries begin slaughtering wolves to a point that it is doubtful that some populations will be abler to continue.

In the United States the Wyoming state government in the 1940s deliberately spread mange with the sole purpose of killing wolbves, coyotes and foxes that were not being killed off through shooting fast enough.  Whether other states did similar is open to debate but you see mange in the United States -thank Wyoming.

Honshu wolf -another driven to extinction as a "potential" not actual threat to livestock

Wolves are reintroduced or 'protected' and begin to recover in numbers and then money comes into it -shooting licences. Seeing a flat bed truck full of deade wolves shot and killed on one hunt should sicken any normal person and the two gurning morons standing proudly by the corpses really ought to be shamed. 

However, these people tend to troll wildlife groups. Recently someone on a group posted a trail cam image and asked whether it was a wolf or coyote. One person responded "Its a waste of oxygen" and another "I'll be taking care of that" (shooting it). Interesting both commentors Face Book pages show smiling m iddle class men with gas guzzling vehicles -and a wolf is "a waste of oxygen"? What do group owners/moderators do? Nothing.

Falkland Islands wolf

We have seen the return of the jackal to parts of Western Europe as well as wolves and how troublesome are they? Well, the fact that most people (including farmers) had no i8dea they were in their ought to be a clue. The return of these canids was embraced by everyone...until a farmer (fully compensated) lost a sheep that was going to be carted off to be killed anyway. Suddenly that old "they will wipe out our livestock" screaming started even though they are not wiping out livestock. It's the "potential" and that is what saw the Tasmanian wolf (Thylacine) wiped out. The Hokkaido wolf wiped out. The Falkland Island wolf wiped out -all as "potential live stock threats.

Re-introduce or protect existing populations then kill them off again -it is an endless cycle and all because politicians have no backbones but do like the ..uh... campaign contributions.  

We see, at this moment, the UK fox populaytion is declining rapidly. Even the hunts that still exist say so and their solution to 'save' foxes is that full blown hunting must return to....kill off more foxes? Someone's brain really farted while thinking that one up. Foxes are shot nightly for 'fun' by people who claim to be 'sportsmen' and why? The law says foxes can be dealt with if a threat to livestock so why are foxes simp-ly walking through an empty field killed?  Foxes on the outskirts of towns and cities where there is no livestock are killed -killing cubs is also, apparently, 'fun'.  

Why are the police not investigating all of this since these people proudly post their photos online and are notede as "a credit to the sport'? Because the law has no backbone and politicians do notr give a toss. 

"Just foxes"

No actual photo or taxidermy example can be found of the Hong Kong fox that was hunted to extinction by the early 1970s by colonial hunts. Thjis is a relative from Southern China

Despite all the examples of extinctions and the environmental damage humans are knowingly doing while politicians use words and phrases such as "an environmental war" and "environmental protection and restoration" they are thinking of how good they look in the press and media -a good example being Bristol City Council- they are taking "contributions" from developers to build over green spaces of which there are a few while brown sites of which their are many just rotting away. Developers want the "nice view" for potenmtial sales having destroyed a huge chunk of it.

Question: Doesn't this make humans the true vermin?

Why I Never Cooperate With Universities or Student "Documentary Makers"

 

Back in 2001 I stopped helping students who were asking for information on exotic species in the UK for their papers. Why?  Well, there was the usual "I will of course give full credit to you" and do you know how many of the 25 students who submitted their papers credited my help?

None.

Not a single one and I know because I was able to access some then and some in the last year. All quoted the sources I had given but wrote that this was all their own hard research work. I suppose the fact that professors at universities did similar shows that it is common practice and the response when you challenge them? "We maintain the highest academic standards in research" which is their way of saying "😡 off!"

And every year without exception there are the students who are "making a documentary" and want to know where to film foxes and badgers in Bristol and they are particularly interested in any with cubs. These students are based all around the south of England and just a quick check reveals there are noted populations of foxes and badgers in their areas so why Bristol?

The thing is that these people give promises of not revealing locations but with no exceptions they do. They do not care about the wildlife it's the credits for their courses they want and that's it. Every year without exception.

Every year without exception I get or read on other sites "I am a documentary film maker and am working on a film about badgers/foxes" and, yes, they want den locations and an6y where it is known there are cubs.  Again, there is no concern for the safety of the dens and those in them. It's about getting the footage to try to sell on or show some TV company that you can film wildlife.

It would be really nice if just one of these people were actually sincere in their interest and wanted to produce a documentary about foxes or badgers and the real story of the threats to them. But no.

It is not just with wildlife, however, same time of the year you get other "documentary making" students contact people in other fields of interest and, guess what? They really could not care less for the subject matter so long as they get their course credits.

I once helped a "documentary film maker" student and a year later I saw him while I was out shopping and asked how he had got on with the wildlife work. He stared at me blankly then remembered "Oh, that was just for the course I moved on and looked at the home brewing craze after that".  So where was the documentary he made? Apparently he had tried selling it twice or tried to get work through it but no luck so "I think it's in a box somewhere at the uni still" -the box with his map of where the various locations were and all of his notes that anyone could just stumble across.

My last experience with a university professor ended with me lending hard to find old books which were then lost and cost me £300 to replace. Were they concerned about the books having been lost along with maps and other info I had lent them? No. Everyone denied they were responsible and they had what they wanted and on this occasion my very last ounce of faith in cooperating with academics was gone. Once, twice, thrice and four times bitten I learnt my lesson.

So when you see those appeals by documentary film making students or other persons just remember the interest is only in course credits or selling footage NOT the animals

“Omg! I saw a fox carrying off a cat!” #mythbusting

 Thanks to Project Coyote

“Omg! I saw a fox carrying off a cat!” #mythbusting

It’s time to bust some myths! Around this time of year, reports of foxes carrying off cats are on the rise. This time of year also happens to be when red foxes are busy raising their young. Coincidence? We think not! What you’re likely seeing is a dutiful fox parent moving their kits to a safer location!

The Truth: Time To Get Off Your Ass

 It's rare to get a lot of feedback on blog posts and on the blog itself it's almost as rare as having a leash of white or black foxes living in your garden. But I got a couple (off blog of course).

I was told that this blog seemed to be the only one dealing with all aspects of foxes from birth to death and causes of as well as looking at the history of foxes and the current population. I have been accused of being a tad "intense" when it comes to some posts but the problem is that foxes are being killed daily and nightly in large numbers and not just by cars. Facts seem to indicate that the UK fox population is at a crisis point.

If you have read The Red Paper 2022 Vol. 1 Canids you will know that the Old British fox types were hunted (knowingly) to extinction. More were imported and hunted to the point of extinction -in fact there have been several near extinction events fore British foxes since the 19th century. Seeing gurning idiots with high powered rifles standing proudly over their "trophies" (really? A domestic cat sized animal?) shows that nothing has changed and that there is a definite need for fire arm licences to be more tightly controlled.

The badger is, supposedly, a "protected species" and yet, legally and officially they are also facing an extinction event. Areas are earmarked to wipe out whole populations of badgers based on very poor information that is far from scientific. And if we are dealing with Vulpes vulpes -"just foxes".  

Someone has to get off their ass and give a f because once foxes and badgers are gone they are gone. Extinction is forever and like wild cats importing is pointless as the species will simply face the same fate.

There are schools that, rather than use foxes with cubs as an "on the doorstep" nature lesson for pupils call in pest control (to disturb an occupied den and especially with cubs carries a £15,000 fine or prison sentence and I make damn sure schools I hear of with foxes in situ know that) or want to know when they can destroy the den. We have even had Health and Safety Executive visit two schools at the school;'s request and declare "no threat to humans" and advised leaving the den alone.

All the very enthusiastic school projects based on Spring Watch/Autumn Watch on TV or even the latest David Attenborough series with the "we must learn to protect our environment and nature" hot air and -"Fox cubs? ON school premises: we must get rid of them!"

We need to educate children NOW so that we will (despite the current governments attempts to legally destroy it) have wildlife and a healthy green environment in future.

Get off your asses and don't say "someone else will sort it out" because at times I get the feeling that I and two other people I know of, are the only ones trying to educate and protect foxes.

Getting support or having posts accepted on local Face Book wildlife groups as well as fox groups is like swimming through treacle -members on fox groups will not even sign anti snaring or hunt ban petitions:

Balloon Kills Fox

 o

Posted on a Face Book fox page. I have seen people giving plastic baggies of food to foxes and had to point out that the plastic could kill the foxes. Last year we had one fox die with a plastic wrapper in its stomach.

"This is a photo of a fox found dead

last week. There were no signs of

any injuries, so an autopsy was done

only to discover a balloon in

his digestive system.

"I know you miss your loved ones,

but releasing balloons into the sky

does nothing but kill innocent wildlife.

Please STOP this practice."

Dispose of your plastic waste properly because it is not just killing sea life

Do Birds Mob Foxes? Yes.

 Someone reported seeing a fox walking by that was swoop[ed down on by a crow and asked whether anyone else had seen anything like this?

It's very common. Historically magpies and foxes have had a "fractious" relationship and crows and rooks are not too keen on foxes either and they will swoop down and peck or pluck clumps of fur off a fox.

Medieval prints show Old British foxes play dead so that they can catch a crow or magpie that gets close. In the old fox hunting days if hunts lost sight of a fox they waited for crows or magpies to sound off and follow the fox -giving away where it was. Definitely not a friendly relationship!

It is an odd sight when you see it but the birds see the fox as almost a cat -and they mob those here!

Above: No problem and this demonstrates that odd relationship between foxes and birds Bodleian Library, MS. Ashmole 1511, Folio 23r  A fox plays dead to lure birds to their doom, while other foxes watch from their burrows

Above: Bodleian Library, MS. Bodley 533, Folio 7v The fox plays dead to lure birds to their doom.

Above: Bodleian Library, MS. Bodley 764, Folio 26r

This image shows two phases of the fox's hunting strategy. It rolls in red mud to simulate blood, and lies on its back pretending to be dead; when birds land on or near, it catches and eats them. This is a behaviour we do not see in the imported foxes but was apparently often observed in the past. 

Follow up to Seizures in Fox Cubs

I need to clarify what I wrote yesterday about getting to the bottom of collapse and seizures in foc cubs. There are various possible reasons such as Teratogenic viruses. Teratogenic virus is "defined as an environmental agent which causes developmental defects during pregnancy through a direct effect. on the fetus.' This includes severe abnormalities which. may lead to embryonic or fetal death, and less severe symptoms."

We have seen cubs with Hydrocephalus which is a neurological disorder caused by an abnormal buildup of cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles (cavities) deep within the brain. This excess fluid causes the ventricles to widen, putting harmful pressure on the brain's tissues.

There is a very interesting technical paper on the subject of hydrocephalus worth noting.

Hydrocephalus in Animals

Guest Editor (s): Giuseppe Cinalli, M. Memet Özek, and Christian Sainte-Rose

Pediatric Neurosurgery, Santobono Pausilipon Children’s Hospital, Naples, Italy

Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Acıbadem University, School of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey Pediatric Neurosurgery, Hôpital Necker-Enfants Malades Université René Descartes-Paris V, Paris, France Giuseppe Cinalli, Martin Schmidt and Nele Ondreka

National Library of Medicince, PMC Public Med Central Published online 12th 2019 

"Internal hydrocephalus is the most common brain malformation in dogs. Pathological studies documenting changes of the ventricular dimensions and associated clinical signs in canines have been described for almost 100 years . However, the pathomechanism behind the abnormal ventricular distension was largely ignored, and the prognosis was generally assessed as poor.

" A classification of hydrocephalus was and still is limited to communicating or non-communicating and congenital or acquired forms. From today’s clinical perspective and with the experience of the last 10 years, we are aware of the diversity of underlying pathomechanisms, concurrent defects, and clinical presentations. With increasing experience in diagnosis and treatment of hydrocephalus, determination and observation of subgroups that differ in their potential clinical outcome, complication rate, and long-term survival is essential for the future."

Foxes being wild canids the above is well worth noting as is the below.

In a research article titled Inbreeding as a Cause of Congenital Hydrocephalus Tanya T Kitova Anastasia V Bailey wrote that:

"The fetus from a mother being a close relative 'marriage' is at a 6 times increased risk of developing hydrocephalus associated with the agenesis of the corpus callosum leading to the fetal third-grade inbreeding, and the risk is significantly high [OR = 30.000 CI 95% (1.410–638.150)]."

We are seeing the UK fox population under severe threat. Foxes are being killed in many ways (legal and illegal) and cars do the most damage. The estimate of 60,000 plus killed on roads each year is sadly not far off the mark (in Bristol alone from January to 18th May 2023 we have had 105 reported fox deaths). 

Foxes are being wiped out almost on a par with how badgers are (though, ignoring the illegal killings the most are killed "legally") and the badger population has, I believe hit crisis point if not gone over the line into endangered species and foxes likewise. There are fewer foxes to mate and that means that related animals are breeding which is not good for offspring. Those turned out by fox rescues each year are probably the only reason why foxes have not become a rarity to see but that point is not far off.

The Reader can see that healthy cubs suddenly having seizures -noted by rescues also- and dying or needing to be put down is far from a rare event and could be called a common event. It may be that long term research is needed to get to any core problem but rescues do not submit these cubs for post mortems so we are losing valuable data.

We need to look at wildlife and foxes in particular more closely.

Perfectly Healthy Looking Fox Cubs That Collapse Suddenly and Have Seizures

 

One thing that has concerned me for a number of years are healthy looking fox cubs who are seen to collapse and have seizures. In some cases cubs have appeared to recover only to suddenly relapse.  generally a cub having seizures is put down.

In a number of cases I followed when rescues reported the cub dying or being put down after a relapsed I have asked what the vet thought the problem was and what any post mortem revealed. The responses are usually "we don't have the money" (their vet can ask for a free post mortem if a disease is suspected) or "We just take care and release them" and I always found that very annoying.

I understand rescues are basically always on the verge of financial collapse but surely if the animal in question can be submitted for a post mortem it might reveal an underlying health problem in local foxes that they need to keep an eye on?

Also, as rescues release foxes in fox friendly areas any inherent disease, etc., in the foxes will be spread across the country.  Cubs look healthy. Good. Release them in -----. Did the cub or adult come from a litter in which collapsing or fitting cubs came from? No way to know because no rescue has been willing to give basic info on where the foxes were picked up and then released. As far as I can find out only Secret World micro chip foxes.

This year the Bristol Fox Death Project has submitted cubs for post mortem including one which was put down today due to seizures.My personal hope is that we can find out whether this is just a disease or something that naturally occurs in fox cubs. We are already making some interesting finds so I hope we can answer the seizure issue.

Fox Yards, Fox Cub Rearing and Why We Need To Accept Hard Facts

 Interestingly enough it was not just the hunts who reared foxes but there was quite a little cottage industry in breeding foxes such as the one below -I believe in Wales in the early 1900s.

(c)2023 British Fox Study

On the really dark side of things some towns had houses in which badger baiting took place in back rooms and these attracted quite a crowd (with some betting going on). One poor badger at least had been taken from one house to another and when seen was described as "not looking as though it would last long".  The cruelty was not just down to the hunts but ordinary people who had a taste for blood sports.  

The conditions foxes and cubs -mainly cubs from what I have seen so it is likely the mothers were killed- were raised in were not good but dens were in a coal shed and the damp and dirty yards (known as "fox yards") were not conducive to raise healthy animals. The fox shown above looks like it has mange though it is more likely damp/wet fur . 

Above are two men showing the cubs they are raising. These could be sold to someone as a pet or to a hunt in need of fresh 'sport'. Back in the 19th century hunts complained that foxes they purchased from such people often had mange from the filthy conditions they were kept in. This complaining was not about animal welfare but the fact that they paid good money for foxes that developed mange; treating mange as far as hunts were concerned meant killing every fox in a territory even if it had no sign of mange -after all they could always buy more foxes.  

It has to be remembered that locals turned up to watch the start of a fox hunt when a bagged fox or jackal was released -it was entertainment. What people tend to cover up is that without the ordinary citizen wolves, foxes, wild cats and others would not have been wiped out -they could earn good money killing these animals. Badgers just escaped extinction in some areas while in others, particularly the north of England, they were exterminated.

The truth is something that many want to wash over but it is important to remember because it shows that the extermination of species as well as environment involved everyone not just one mad faction.

A "Typical Red Fox" -No Such Thing

 In A Field Guide To The Carnivores Of The World (Panthera, 2011) by Luke Hunter and Priscilla Barrett include an illustration of a "typical red fox" and this makes it easier for writers to demonstrate what they are talking about.  

Above: "a typical red fox". (c)2023 respective copyright owner

The big problem is there is no real thing as a "typical red fox" and the one thing none of these books mention is that the native Old foxes of Britain were wiped out in the 1860s.  What we see today are not the historical foxes on Britain and Ireland but descendents of the many thousands of foxes imported from Europe and elsewhere from (evidence suggests) the 16th century on -by the 19th century 2000 plus were imported to keep fox hunting going.

What people and organisations do -bodies such as the BBC- is have stock photos of red foxes that "conform to type" so what people see on TV and in books are really not typical but a form that is being pushed and that no one argues with. Incidentally, this is why the wild tabby of today is considered a genuine "Scottish wild cat" -it is another import rather like red squirrels that were wiped out (Old fox, Old wild cat and Old squirrel amongst others all fell into extinction by the 1860s).  Many naturalist/'sportsmen' who were all famous and knowledgeable on wild cats used to tour museums and rarely saw a genuine wild cat; museums seem to have gotten all their wild tabbies after 1900 and all insisted on them having the same markings as the bigger collections and this has helped push dogma through writers and naturalists own ignorance.  

I have a photo data base of foxes from all over the UK and Ireland and to be honest when I started compiling this it was to look for local or regional "types" but I soon realised that there is no longer such a thing.  

The photos that follow are (c)2023 The British Fox Study and to protect the foxes as well as those who sent the photographs no locations or names are given. If you ask "why?" then you really have not read posts on this blog before!

Above and below: these were quite large foxes and when the lady who took the photos first saw them she jumped but soon realised they were quite inquisitive and not aggressive. This is in the SE of England and it may be that these are descendents of  foxes released from fur farms in and around London that have spread out. It is possible these may have North American Red Fox (NARF) blood in them.  

Sadly, despite reporting to the police and RSPCA (no interest shown), each year someone in the area was poisoning these foxes.

Above; one thing I noticed pretty quickly were the number of foxes showing melanism traits and there are a good few of these "grey" foxes that, again, appear to have spread out from the SE and across Southern England.

Above a rather short fox. Foxes tend to be smaller, the same size or slightly larger than domestic cats -though some domestic cats are large themselves.  There was video footage from London of a "pygmy fox" that was so small but possibly an adaption to its environment though it could have been a one off.

Above I was about to write "one of the Southern "Greys" but these have spread further afield as I will note further on. In Bristol we have had three of these Greys -all killed by cars. 

One thing that is noticeable when going over all the photographs is that differences in head and body shapes is clear and this one has certain characteristics but look at the colouring, etc. which is very much not "typical red fox" and yet this is nothing other than Vulpes vulpes.

Above yet another example of a Grey fox this time in the SW.  The location surprised me at the time as Grey foxes (not to be confused with North American Grey foxes) had never been recorded there before and within weeks, including those killed by cars, five were recorded.

There are the foxes with black hair tips and a number with white hair tips making them very distinguishable.

Above a "Cherry red" or "orange" fox which is more in-keeping with the "typical" red fox but even this one had certain variations.

Above; again not typical but the colourations amongst foxes can be staggering at times. This is what was termed a "Basil Brush" type.

Above is a long legged fox with an overall brownish colouration.

Above: from the same leash but both are quite distinctive and it shows how variations can occur amongst one group.

Above: a "pygmy fox" from the north of England with shorter legs and body but there were others noted locally. The more we learn about foxes the more we realise that a litter can have perfectly "normal" looking cubs with a shorter one amongst them.

Above what may be a piebald fox. It was seen a number of times and a photo taken and that was it.

Above yet another grey fox and this was outside of what was thought to be their usual range.

Above: I had to look at this twice as the first time I thought someone had sent an image of a terrier but this is a genuine fox. Note the shorter muzzle and body shape.

Above: another tall, fine specimen and colouration is not quite what is expected from a "typical" red fox.

Below is another Grey.

Above: this one look a little like the terrier fox shown above and its fur colour is a darker brown rather than black.

Above: red fox but colouration and body shape is again different from the "norm"

Above a black fox. There is one region where these are seen fairly regularly and photographs are an easy way to tell whether you are looking at a melanistic red fox or an exotic pet escapee  -the silver fox.

Above: this type was typical of foxes in the SW of England and were called "russets" or "salt and pepper" foxes.  It is obvious that foxes have spread out more but there are other factors involved in all of these various types being seen.  

Each year hundreds of sick and injured foxes and cubs are taken in by rescues and treated until well enough and when it comes time for dispersal the rescues look for "fox safe" areas to carry out soft releases in. This means that cubs from Essex could be turned out in the SW or further north. Rescues are very sensitive about this for a reason.  What it means is that what might have at one time been a local type of fox has gradually been replaced or bred out with released foxes. 

There may well be some areas where releases do not take place and there is a local type but photo gathering is still in the early stages and none of it involves computer programs! 

But as you can see for yourselves the "little red dog" is very much not the typical type of fox and one day, perhaps, the photo archives will be online and people can see all of the types themselves and that ought to be an eye-opener.