So What Has This Blog Done?

 I often wonder whether what I post on this blog actually is of interest to people. The blog gets a world wide audience (which has surprised me) but what has it done of special interest?

Firstly, despite the Natural History Museum (London) having been contacted on the matter several times over 5 years and being unwilling (or unable to and not wanting to admit that) to help I managed to identify the species of fox that once inhabited Hong Kong before it was hunted to extinction. That post got more views than other posts -views coming mainly from China/HK.

This blog has also shown images of the taxidermy of probably the first Old Canadian foxes sent to France by Sarrazin. Unfortunately, the Natural History Museum (Paris) which is supposed to hold the Sarrazin collection were far from helpful and would not check to identify or help identify whether these were the historic specimens. 

Cooperation from museums is not what it was. From the 1970s to the early 2000s museums in France and the NHM (London) were open and often went out of their was to cooperate or suggest other search areas.  Or is it because they know that there were Old fox types and that the foxes around today were late introductions and do not want to upturn HMS Dogma (a lot of money in dogma)?  If not the Canadian foxes sent from Canada to France, which would be historic enough (and I believe they are) then they are just as important if they turned out to be Old French fox types. A French national museum not interested in items of historical importance to France?

This blog has also looked in some detail at canid species driven to extinction from the Falklands Islands to Hokkaido and beyond. It is important that the knowledge of such extinctions are passed on and that we learn lessons from them -however, as a post today reports, we have lost another European wolf type (Andalucia). Maybe humans are blinded to learning? There have even been posts on the Old British wolves and items about what type/sub species they were.

This blog has also pointed out and noted references to the fact that Scottish wild cats were declared extinct (by the 1860s)   by naturalists in Scotland in 1897.  After 45 years of research there is much anecdotal (as well as taxidermy) proving that European wild cats were also released (imported or purchased from collections) for hunting purposes in England (and likely Scotland) right up to the 1920s. This would explain similarities in appearance to European wild cats and why European wild cat DNA matches 'Scottish wild cat' DNA.

Posts on how coat variations are spreading across the UK and the possible cause has also been looked at drawing on my data base of hundreds of photographs and video clips.

Much was covered on wild cats and foxes in The Red Paper 2022: Felids and The Red Paper 2022: Canids along with photographic evidence and taxidermy examples.

This blog has also reported on the results of the Bristol fox Deaths Project where specially selected dead foxes have been submitted for official post mortems and testing. The results have often been an eye-opener and some very interesting results have been included in the national Wildlife Health report. What we find in Bristol foxes, the largest urban population outside of London, would show what we can expect from towns and cities across the UK so do have far reaching results.

Alongside the Bristol Fox Deaths Project I have been keeping the Bristol Fox Deaths Register and Bristol Badger Deaths Register noting every reported death received. Again it is important to stress that although cars are the biggest killers there is also disease and the high toll is staggering and goes to show that the claimed number of fox and badger road deaths each year reaching into the many thousands is far from an exaggeration. Added to this we know that badger baiting is taking its toll on the population while 'legal' (unscientific) culling is driving the badger population to a point where a viable population will cease to exist in the very near future.

We know by the figures and photographs 'proudly' displayed online that hundreds of foxes are killed each week by shooters. We also know the 'odd badger or two' are "dealt with" by shooters and that farmers and game keepers are still killing badgers. 

To all of this we can add snaring -as far as I am concerned there is no such thing as legal snaring- and poisoning as well as the continued practice of hunting with dogs ("out of sight and ear") takes its toll.  We have seen snaring in and around Bristol and we have certainly been made aware of shooting going on at night (the police are otherwise engaged looking into a new packet of chocolate Hob-Nobs). This we have reported on with this blog.

Again, health and welfare of wildlife particularly of foxes and badgers seems to attract no interest from wildlife rescues let alone regional and local wildlife groups who seem more interested in pretty butterflies, moths, birds and flowers -though the odd photo of a badger or fox is good for social likes.  Even groups dedicated to foxes and badgers appear to be indifferent to real life issues -after a year of posting anti-snaring and anti-hunting with dog campaign petitions people have found it difficult to get signatures; the members from just two Face Book fox groups would have provided sufficient signatures but....

This blog has covered a great deal and subject matter ranging from wildlife health, the environmental benefits of wildlife as well as the history of wildlife will continue. I may well not get much (none) feedback but something has to be done to educate the public and the next generation before we have to write (again): British fox -Extinct. British badger -extinct.

And by now we should really all know that extinction is forever