Old Foxes, Old Wild Cats and The Need To Fight Dogma and Learn Before It Is too Late

 

I know -three posts in one day so I must be bored or trying to get some points over. Well after 47 years of researching and studying foxes one thing I have learnt is that there is no funding unless the species is one of the  "right on" ones (and sadly foxes and badgers in the UK as well as wild cats are not included for very complicated reasons). The other thing I have learnt is that blog posts rarely if ever get any feedback no matter how many people read them.

Oh...even if you have written two hefty books on wild cats and foxes the work will never get you recognition -I have to admit I would settle for money more than recognition.

I was told that it was very unlikely that either of the Red Papers would be picked up by a UK publisher for various reasons. One was that there was a lot of money invested in promoting dogma (such as the "wild tabby" in Scotland).

There was also the fact that big publishers tend to have owners who are in or friends with the horsey 'sport' folk and they are not going to get black-listed from dinners and events because they allowed a book to be published that slapped dogma in the face and set the record straight re. hunting etc.  Also, some book editors have the same connections and it's all about climbing that greasy pole.

With museums in the UK I think that there is just plain ignorance on the wild cat and fox subject and most museum staff these days studied various subjects at university and most not even zoology -as I found out because if two museums (natural history sections) ask me to identify a "mystery animal" photographed locally then things are bad.  There have been staff at some museums who were interested in the work and even asked for more information and that is good.

I cannot really blame most of the young people who have replaced more knowledgeable older staff to fit in with the whole "we must present younger, better looking staff" craze. These new people are looking for careers, often moving on after a few years, and they are there to "represent" and if you ask them something and it is not on a press release or easy to hand book they are stuck. 

How many people at museums -including national ones- in the UK knew that 2000+ European red foxes were imported into the UK each year for 300 -400 years for hunting? None. How many had even heard of the Old British fox types or just a mountain fox? None. How many were aware that in 897 Scottish naturalists and zoologists declared that the "true" Scottish wild cat had become extinct by the 1860s and looked absolutely nothing like the current wild tabby? None.

If our museums and universities are not willing to learn and re-adjust the wholly inaccurate picture of British (mostly imported from Europe) wildlife to educate the public then it is for one reason alone: laziness and the fact that they are not paid to educate but mainly raise money from benefactors and "represent".

The fact that the Extinct Fox and Wild Cat Museum has two foxes that might be very important to France, historically, and that we offered to share information and images, etc....nothing but "we just cannot be bothered" and a fob off. That from the Natural History Museum Paris of all places that we always looked up to.  Well, we have the foxes (in my colleague LMs care) and it just adds to the importance of the collection -and it is not as though the collection will make anyone rich and with no funding it is a strain.

If anyone has any old pre 1900 foxes that they want to donate then please get in touch as it all adds to the overall picture of the history of foxes.  And somewhere in Europe there must be pre 1850 taxidermies or fox masks. 

The work is never done and the lack of financial help is always going to hold things up -such as DNA on the Old foxes we have.

If there is one thing I want to achieve it is (as I am never going to get rich) to educate people and show them the true history of not just lost Old species but to push the point that we are still losing species and foxes and badgers are being persecuted to the edge of extinction and as we know....

EXTINCTION IS FOREVER