Have Foxes, Jackals and Coyotes Similar Health Issues?

 I Know none of this work is paid or funded but  at around 0200hrs I was thinking that foxes, jackals and coyotes have similar lifestyles out in the wild and their prey can be similar -rats, mice, rabbits. Coyotes are very good at lowering rodent numbers as are foxes and jackals are similar.  The question that came to mind was whether illnesse4s, etc. of coyotes and jackals were similar?

Finding out depends on whether the various coyote organisations and jackal studies actually carry out post mortem examinations. PMs can give you a good overall view of the health of a species in an area and it would be interesting to find out what, if any, parallels there are with these canids.

For that reason I sent out emails today (where necessary changed to "coyote" or "jackal"):

"Hello.

"My name is Terry Hooper-Scharf and I a naturalist specialising in wild canids, felids and some mustelids. I set up the British Fox and Canid Study in 1976 and over the last two years we have managed to get (fight for) official examinations of non-road kill foxes. Obviously motor vehicles kill wolves, coyotes as well as other animals such as puma and just in the City of Bristol for 2023 we recorded 257 fox deaths due to cars.

"One thing our Fox Deaths Project has shown through post mortem examinations is that foxes look externally unmarked and all of the damage is internal which led to many claims that someone was poisoning the foxes. What our pathologist has found during post mortem examination is a prevalence of worms such as heart and lung worms as well as Uraemia/kidney problems/verminous pneumonia with prey likely the sources.

"What I am interested in finding out is whether any post mortems on coyotes have shown that they are similarly affected?

"If interested I can forward a couple of the post mortem reports to show what has been found?

"I look forward to hearing from you when convenient.

Regards

Terry"

It will be interesting to see what the responses are.

Bounties on Wildlife In The UK Are Illegal

 

As a demonstration of why foxes and other wildlife in the UK is on the decline...

Last week a "pest controller" was asking how much taxidermists would pay for a melanistic (black) fox as there are some in his area. There was discussion that black or white foxes would fetch a better price than a "common red"!   

Today a taxidermy group are advising someone on how much they can sell a grey squirrel for and how black squirrels fetch another higher price and white squirrels more.  These are online groups of people who KNOW what they are doing and in these cases they are setting bounty prices on UK wildlife -supposedly illegal.  

Rare colouration in animals should not make them targets for dim-witted idiots with guns to kill and make money from and when it comes to known black and white squirrels they are in residential/park areas and using firearms in a suburban area is illegal.  

Red foxes, as noted, are not "common" but the numbers are dropping and, again, to deliberately target black or white foxes that are rare as they will bring in some money is a bounty.  These animals fetch very little but if you are a moron and have no concern for wildlife...

I would encourage anyone noticing people out with a rifle or acting suspiciously in areas where there is wildlife to report them to the police as these people are part of the big problem when it comes to wildlife numbers dropping.

No Mange In Bristol Before 1994?

 Looking at Stephen Harris and Philip Baker's Urban Foxes book there are things that are quite off as they state mange kills more foxes than cars.

At one point this was true because up until 1994 mange was not reported in Bristol. That is the reason so many fox watchers who cared for minor injuries etc were caught off guard and could not help.

I keep stating 94% of Bristol foxes were killed off but looking at some other data the 95%+ figure for the number of foxes that died does seem more accurate.

There have been rumours for a long time that Bristol Uni and its fox study deliberately released mange into the City as part of a study to see how fast rabies would spread. I may disagree with some of what Harris states but I would never believe that he would do such a thing (evidence seems to show that he was anti hunt).

If you read this item you will find that the fox involved left the City then returned with mange.

On Fox (and Badger) Extinction -Nothing New

 Regarding the previous post on fox population status The results should also be parallel with the badger cull areas as chief zones for killing, shooting and fox hunting . The main Royal estates and grouse estates will have decline in foxes as killing a fox is seen to protect nesting birds that are destined to be shot for 'fun' later.

I think that the problem is if you have shooters who enjoy killing wildlife (badgers) for money then if they are not seeing enough badgers to kill they will shoot anything else and foxes are a prime target. I write that based on having talked and dealt with shooters from 1977-2017 and though most do the work as "pest control" they are not; shooting rabbits all night may earn them money but shooting the main predator of rabbits, foxes, only allows the rabbit population to increase. Unless that is the intention to keep the work coming in? There is in nature a natural prey-predator ratio and that is a scientific fact that anyone can look up online or (dare I write it?) by reading a book.

No one outside the UK understands the badger cull which is based on very poor science and may even refer to badgers as "scapegoat species". A "scapegoat species" is usually chosen when bad animal husbandry and over killing by humans needs to have blame put elsewhere.

If 100,000 badgers killed on the roads you add that to 250,000 killed 'legally' then that is 350,000 and that is before including illegal shooting, baiting and snaring which might account for another 1000 per year(?). With foxes they reckon a similar number of 100,000 killed on the roads and based on what we've seen in Bristol I reckon that is an under estimate and we know farmers like to shoot any fox they see, we have snarers and of course "fun shooters" claiming to kill at least 200 a month while some claim the total in England is 500 'for fun'.

Dog foxes, vixens, cubs -all 'fun' and that means the breeding population declines but the 'fun shooters' are not worried about that as the odd straying pet dog or cat are equally 'fun' to shoot and I would not be surprised if a figure of 150,000 fox deaths per year was estimated. If people were not treating mange I think we would easily see 200,000 as a good estimate of deaths per year and we need to include parvovirus, babesia, pneumonia, heart and lung worm to fox killers.

We know that the Old types of British fox were hunted to extinction (even though the 'sportsmen' of the time predicted the extinction) by the 1860s. The wild cat was, in 1899, officially recorded as becoming extinct c 1860s. At the same time the red squirrel was also driven to extinction and importing these animals to continue the 'fun' was still going in the 1920s. In the case of the drop of red squirrel numbers the scapegoat species became the grey squirrel. This was to cover up the fact that humans were shooting and poisoning as well as trapping and killing red squirrels "because". Today private estates and commercial forestry are still killing off red squirrels as "vermin" -just as the New wild cats are..

The reason why so many species in the UK have "European DNA" is because their ancestors were imported from Europe to hunt -hares and various species of deer that had been wiped out in various areas.

The "Great Scarcity" of 1923 was likely a near extinction for foxes that took decades to recover and hunting records from the 1940s prove this. In fact, in the 1940s and 1960s the number of foxes killed was "estimated" as hunts attempted to show that there were "so many". Even authors at the time gave a nod and a wink to this lie.

Following the introduction of myxomatosis to the UK 70 years ago the loss of the foxes main prey item also resulted in large numbers of foxes dying off and was, again, at the point of near extinction in England.

It is in their 2004 review of the Red fox in Canids: Foxes, Wolves, Jackals and Dogs, that David Macdonald and Jonathan Reynolds note that, globally:

” ... roughly 75% of foxes die in their first year, and thereafter mortality is approximately 50% in each adult year.”

Sadly, the Bristol Fox Deaths Register confirms this. A fox lasting 1 year is known as a Cub. If it survives to 2 years it is an Adult. After 3 years it is considered Old.   I know that people pay very little attention to these facts and that I am just one voice shouting out but we need to seriously -with the full power of the law- preserve what wild species we have left and in the case of the fox place it on the Red List and politics and "financial donations" (bribes) be damned.

I think in 20 years foxes and badgers will be very rare indeed.

Should The UK Red Fox Finally Be Red Listed?

 People keep ignoring what I write and say so it is good when an organisation I have no connection to and which in the past has refused to cooperate with me publishes similar findings. I stated what has been concluded here back in 2010's Red Paper Canids as well as updated it fore 2022's Red Paper.  

The Red fox in the UK is facing extinction..again

“If this trend is real then in 24 years the Red Fox has declined by 50% in numbers – halved! If this were a bird, and it clearly isn’t, it would be on the UK red list”.

Credit Mark Avery, Senior Conservationist.

Road Wildlife Under/Overpasses update 19 02 2024

 

Sent to Bristol City Council Highways, Mayor Marvin Rees, Regional Mayor Dan Norris and Highways England

Hello.

Please find attached the Bristol Fox Deaths Register for 2023 as well as the Badger Deaths Register for 2023 maintained by the British Fox and Canid Study (f 1976) and the Bristol Badger Group (f 1994). In summary, for 2023 (and only animals given a location that could be found) some -I should point out that the total number of fox deaths listed herein are not all that died in 2023. There are numerous reports of “a dead fox in Bedminster not sure what road” as well as “I was driving into Bristol and saw a dead fox -not sure of the location” and when attempting to narrow locations down the usual response is silence or “I have no idea but I’ve reported it”.

The total number of foxes killed on Bristol roads in 2023 was 257 and these include cubs, pregnant vixens and dog foxes.

The total known number of badgers killed in Bristol for 2023 was 53.

Our work now includes recording deaths of otters which totalled around 6 for 2023.

We do not keep a record of deer and other mammals/birds killed on Bristol roads but the number is high.

We know that for January 2024 to total fox deaths stand at 25 and one of these was a heavily pregnant vixen. We have also just recorded the first otter death of 2024 at Lawrence Weston.

One black spot for wild life deaths is the Hick's Gate stretch of road -deer, badgers, foxes etc. Saturday 27th January saw four fox deaths on this stretch of road.

For otter deaths we know that the major black spot is the Hartcliffe Way which sees the highest death rate. Looking through the registers you will note that certain areas always crop up and Downend is a particular black spot for foxes and badgers.

I am aware that it will cost, financially, but I would like the departments and Mayors to consider the possibility of wildlife underpasses being installed in the main hot spots -Hick's Gate and Hartcliffe Way as the rate of wildlife death on these stretches is so high and otters and badgers are protected species.

We are currently looking at environmental crises and concentrating on wildlife areas but we are not looking at the animals themselves and how the impact of their deaths are affecting the environment -foxes as hunters are not wholly carnivorous but will catch and eat large numbers of rats and mice and in some cities around the world they are seen as far more effective than rodenticides(as are feral cats). If the numbers of foxes and badgers continue to drop then we will be seeing them, in the City, as rare and they took a long time to recover after 94% died off in the 1994/1995 mange outbreak.

So, please, give the idea of some type of underpass or overpass for wildlife serious consideration as in many parts of the world they have been adopted as essential.

I look forward to your responses when convenient.

Regards

Terry Hooper-Scharf

Although Highways England got back to me almost immediately with "Nothing to do with us -local authority matter" is is rather damning that Bristol City Council Highways, Mayor Marvin Rees, Regional Mayor Dan Norris are notable for their complete silence on the matter. For this reason I have, again, emailed them and told them of the number of deaths of foxes, badgers and otters reported dead since my last email.

Sadly there is no profit in saving wildlife. Anyway, for the record, here is the email sent out today:

"Hello.

I wrote to you in January regarding this matter and attached the 2023 Bristol badger and fox death registers in order to show you how important the issue of wildlife deaths on our roads is.

Since I last communicated with your office the death toll has increased to 39 foxes including three pregnant vixens, two badgers and two more otters. I understand that the issue of wildlife may not be high in your priorities but according to Highways England the local authority, Bristol City Council, would be responsible for looking at the possibility of roads over/underpasses for wildlife at hotspots in the City.

With hundreds of foxes dying on Bristol's roads last year and scores of badgers not to mention otters and deer this is a grave situation that cannot be ignored because we cannot continue to see such losses as they have an affect on Bristol's environment -and BCC is supposedly supporting the fight back against environmental damage.

I hope that you will give this your serious consideration .

Respectfully

Terry Hooper-Scharf"   

I expect continued silence from an authority far from interested in environmental or conservation issues.

To date (12th Feb) Marvin Rees has shown his fakery over claiming to be an environmental champion and has refused to engage on this subject.

Regional Mayor Dann Norris (supposedly an animal lover) has also refused to comment.

Local DEFRA as well as Bristol City Council Highways and Roads have also refused to respond.

This should not be surprising since Labour's mayor has attempted to have greenbelts built on and is not considered interested in anything but publicity.  Dan Norris is seen as a political light weight interested in self publicity.  While people such as these lie and twist around the environment and conservation we will continue to lose habitat and wildlife.

Today I recorded the 40th fox death -again at a well known wildlife blackspot- to add to the two otters and badger. And where are the journalists investigating these thing? Writing pieces about foxes lick car tyres bald, eating cable in car engines and being too noisy for Paul Gambaccini.

The UK has no interest in environment or conservation.

******************************UP DATE*************************

Response from Dan Norris

Dan Norri9s finally replied re wildlife crossings

Dear Terry,

Thank you for contacting me to share some statistics about animal deaths on the roads in the West of England. As someone who is an animal welfare advocate I find this very sad.

Highways England are right on responsibilities and the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority is not a ‘local authority’ – locally that is Bristol City Council.

However I am aware that the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority does work with local authorities and other organisations to tackle transport severance (the name given to wildlife deaths caused by traffic incidents) in the wider region.

I will ask that the locations mentioned are included in discussions.

It is good to see that there are individuals in the region monitoring this matter, as this is very helpful when making decisions about how to develop policy which protects wildlife better going forward.

If you are not already, you could submit your data to the Environmental Records Centre for the West of England https://www.brerc.org.uk/.

Specifically for otter deaths, you can inform the Cardiff University Otter Project https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/otter-project, and if appropriate, the body of the otter can be sent to the university for research.

I hope that this response clarifies my position on this important matter. Thank you once again for contacting me.

Yours sincerely,


Dan Norris
Metro Mayor for the West of England

A Quick Word On A Sunday

 

It appears people (some) have misconstrued what my aims are regarding wildlife. I have been called an "environmental conservationist" but not too keen on that. I was always embarrassed by "noted naturalist"!

I am a mammalogist specialising in wild canids and felids and some mustelids. The idea that I am keen to be seen as a fox expert is odd to say the least. I have studied foxes and other canids since 1976 and felids since 1980 and around the same time certain mustelids and I have written about all of these in articles and papers and two books, Red Paper 2022 Canids and Red Paper 2022 Felids. As an historian in general but especially a wildlife historian my work is aimed at educating people on wildlife and the extinctions of the past as well as looking at the current trend toward extinction of species in the UK. I have also studied (since 1976) the introduced species to be found in the UK.

My work on "exotics" as a police forces wildlife consultant could have netted me a good living as (even far more embarrassing thanks to UK newspapers and TV/radio not having much imagination) "Britain's Big Cat Detective" 😏. Being paid as an expert would have been quite lucrative but my problem is that the animals concerned are my biggest concern and not what I am going to eat tonight. At one point hunt groups were following me attempting to find where I was going for illegal "safari hunts" so I stopped the field work.

My motto has always been "Never by word or print jeopardise animal safety" and I have stood by that.

When it comes to foxes my intention was to publicise the species in the UK -the ones that were wiped out, ones introduced and wiped out again and so on. It has been an aim to have foxes taken seriously and to destroy the lies and myths surrounding them and my work still has a way to go with the public! My other aim has always been to also look at the health of foxes and it took a couple of years of daily arguing before a project was allowed to have certain foxes post mortem examined and from these we have found a great deal out. More than I had originally expected and the work is being noted.

We still need to do more and, yes, if I were a publicity hog then I could quite easily get myself featured and promoted more but I do not have that ego type. For me history can forget me so long as we learn and educate more and more about foxes and other wildlife. The wildlife are the important thing and not me and, yes, 1976-2024 unfunded I have achieved much but the idea, as someone suggested, that I ought to apply for some sort of grant...this is the UK and unless you are attached to a university or college (who are not interested) or have a "Dr" or "Professor" in front of your name you are simply running into brick walls.

What would I like to achieve? Above all to have people stop saying "Oh, just foxes" because they are worthy of far better description and better treatment.

More Work Going on re. Fox Infections

 

Happy to see far more work being carried out now on viruses and diseases affecting foxes. Due to common prey animals with other canids such as jackals this will all help in the future especially with European jackals that I hope to include more news on in February.

Our policy is in line with other wildlife and naturalist groups

 

Above: (ignore time stamp) an intruder who turned up at 0320hrs one morning in cub season in the mistaken belief there was a fox den in my garden. Proof that this is going on (mange had wiped out local foxes)

__________________________________________________________________

The latest e newsletter of Wildlife News covering Bristol has arrived and there is a call for people to report all species sighted so that their numbers and status can be assessed.

I sent this response:

"Hi, Ben.

Today we put out a call for people to not report the locations of badgers, foxes, otters and certain other species. The reason being that there are currently people out to hunt these animals or ‘find them dead by the roadside’ to sell on for taxidermy, etc. We know there are people snaring in and around the City and two foxes have already been victims to snares.

Our policy is in line with other wildlife and naturalist groups in Europe, the United States and Canada as well as Australia that when it comes to wildlife and protection for them silence is the best policy.

Considering that 250,000 badgers are “legally killed” already and that separate to 100,000 killed on UK roads and an unknown number shot, snared and poisoned we consider this a policy worth promoting even though it may annoy some.

Our wildlife is fighting for survival.

Regards

Terry"

As the Wildlife News has never bothered with fox and badger items sent in the past I doubt this will be of interest but if I have to be THE pain in the ass I will be.

Why Keeping The Locations of Wildlife Secret Is a MUST

 If ever there was a perfect reminder of why you should never give fox or any wildlife locations out this is a perfect example.

A fella (lurcher, terrier and spade man with hunting mates) contact Taxidermy UK to ask if anyone was interested in black foxes. He included photos of an escapee silver fox and although it has been pointed out that it is a silver fox so an escapee pet the thug, poorly educated and seems to love posing to show his muscles, refuses to accept this.

Yes, an escapee silver fox did breed with local red foxes and so there were some black offspring and this counts as "loads".

It could be a pair of foxes but press publicity drew his and others attention to the area.

You may well have an unusual coloured fox and I have a good catalogue of fox types that NEVER gets shared because I know the types out there willing to kill for money ands I also know taxidermists do not care that foxes are killed to order (money in it for them, too) but contacting newspapers with photos of the foxes condemns them, especially when there is money to be made.

I would guess that these foxes will be wiped out within a year -cubs or adults "all worth a few bob"

Posting photos on Face Book also makes the foxes whereabouts known because most public groups have hunting people snooping in regularly.

we are going to lose more and more wildlife

 Back on the 15th January I noted how the total number of fox deaths on the roads in Bristol for January 2023 was 11. I noted that at that time the total number of fox deaths for January 2024 was 14.

It is the 26th and the total number of fox road deaths stands at 22. Sadly, with better reporting I suspect that the total number of fox deaths reported is going to exceed 2023.  The UK as far as wildlife over and under passes is concerned has no interest. Delaying traffic to prevent otter, badger, fox, deer and other mammal deaths is out of the question. The other favourite cop-out is "who is going to pay for all of this?"

Eventually we are going to lose more and more wildlife to cars as well as rodenticides and so long as it does not interrupt or interfere with TV programmes...who cares?

A Bad Time of the Year if you are a ginger/ginger and white cat apparently

 Be aware that the "Fox carrying off a cat" posts have started appearing on FB groups.

Every year the same thing -a fox seen carrying off a cat -usually, due to lack of imagination?- a ginger or ginger and white one. The problem with FRB and public groups is that pro hunt and anti fox groups have their people join., "I love foxes!" gets them past the rigorous checks 😂 of group admins.

Foxes will carry their young from den to den but thi9s is a little too early (?), however, foxes will take food dishes, water bowls, at one time my solar garden lights, slippers and even fluffy toys left out.

Since 1976 I have not come across one single genuine report of a fox killing or carrying off a pet cat -cats are often bigger than the fox and heavier so a fox "running around" with one in its mouth is dubious at best and reveals either a lie or or not very good eyesight. Every year "I caught the foxes killing my cat on CCTV" or "I watched them kill my cat" and ask for the footage and the language back might be abusive but the "proof" is never shown. Odd. Also, why would you stand and watch something attack and kill your pet cat?

Ask these people for a photo of their cat...nothing. They used to snatch images off the internet but got caught out so often.

Even the London Natural History Society in the 1960s looked at fox-cat interactions and noted that if it came to a confrontation "the fox ran for its life"

We know that it was the hunts that used to kill pet cats and even badgers to drag them behinds horses to leave a trail they hoped a fox might follow. In the 1990s in Midlands parks pet cats were killed and used for fox baiting.

So long as FB groups just allow anyone on this will continue because there are few places these people can post their obvious lies. Last year I think it was 11 or 12 such claims -ignoring how a "herd of foxes" was terrorising a village high street. Checks with local vets showed that no cats were taken in with bite wounds or as victims of fox attacks and when I revealed that the argument was "It may have gone to a vet outside the area" -again a provable lie by one of the group admins who was a friend of the person pushing the story so I just said I'd report the matter to FB and...post removed.

It is a constant war to help protect wildlife and try to educate people on facts and this same thing happens with wolves, coyotes and jackals where the hunt is challenged.

Don't fall for the lies. Be aware.

Some Times You Just HAVE To Be THAT Person

 Natural England @NaturalEngland · 22h Confirmation of the go live date for #BiodiversityNetGain legislation is good news for #NatureRecovery.

 We have worked with Defra and developers, landowners, local authorities, and environmental NGOs, on the policy to ensure development has a positive impact on biodiversity.

My response: "So could you NOW stop the wholesale slaughter of badgers over bad science and start looking at everything from outlawing snares and people who go out every night shooting wildlife for fun? "

They never reply of course. 

The Fox and The Jackal

 If you have an interest in wild canids then this paper is a must read and shows the value of trail cams in field research.

Interspecific social interaction between golden jackal (Canis aureus) and red fox (Vulpes vulpes)

https://link.springer.com/epdf/10.1007/s13364-024-00737-2?sharing_token=ws4jRrKKxBSt1xY3VEK_m_e4RwlQNchNByi7wbcMAY78RUpEIrPwhHHKu2KJC59nT_XZbh78QM9H1J84qyHXx5GPTBncUDPCDhLnmcSoe_WeA5AQE_x-f1RlDAow-xfO0UjOmOZSwUH_QXUsZ2F5Fe6aoFz-R6Lvs0_GgdWfNB8=

Maps: Wolf Distribution in the United States and Europe

 

Gray Wolf and Red Wolf Current and Historic Range and Suitable Habitat

https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=da949c568f7a497d9ac2f4196f262e4a

Wolf distribution Europe

Map of European wolf distribution showing wolf samples (n = 177) and population clusters. Map of European wolf distribution showing wolf samples (n = 177) and population clusters detected using 67K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. Distribution map prepared by the Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe (lcie.org) based on Linnell et al. 2008. Wolves also occur in areas marked ‘without data’, but their distribution is uncertain. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0076454.g001 

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Map-of-European-wolf-distribution-showing-wolf-samples-n-177-and-population-clusters_fig1_257729488

"People in the UK were far more concerned about soap characters than the endangered and soon to be extinct wildlife."

 The Extinct Fox and Wild Cat Museum is maintaining its status as a unique collection. Having contacted any number of museum s in the UK we know that there are no comparable collections of taxidermy let alone archival back up. Small and national museums all have specimens dating from post 1900 therefore long after the Old fox and Old wild cats became extinct (circa 1860s).

I have tried a large number of European museums since the  material available shows that there was an Old Western European fox. The lack of cooperation from some, almost downright rude, seems to indicate general ignorance amongst museum staff -push dogma because that is all they know and no one wants to rocks the boat.  

There was one exception -a museum in the Netherlands did have a pre 1860s fox and it conforms to what we are looking for. The thing is that the fox came from the UK!   So a European museum has added independent back up to what we have been stating for a very long time.

We know that there must be a great deal of pre-18760s fox and wild cat taxidermy out there but the problem is trying to find it. On several occasions I have contacted The Cambrian News (as we are aware mountain foxes were killed and stuffed in Wales) and The Westmoreland Gazette as the North of England was a mountain fox stronghold. The Scotsman was also contacted. Sadly, although these papers contacted me whenever they feel like it over sightings of 'big cats' they have ignored any communication on the Old Fox and wild cat. 

"Just foxes" not "BIG CATS!!!!" that will grab the eyes of the readers even if the stories and headlines are so inaccurate that they are nonsense to anyone who knows about wild felids. How often have I been asked "How many big cats in the UK?" /"Why do people report different coloured cats?" and so on... Yet as far as journalists are concerned there have only been the little red dogs in the UK because they do not care or have any interest. 

If Sir David Attenborough declaring "We used to have three Old fox types in the UK and a wild cat that looks nothing like what we see today" and every editor and journalist would drop their newborn to cover the story.

We are currently seeing British badgers driven to the point where they are facing extinction after more than 250,000 have been killed as scapegoats.  100,000+ a year die on the road and an equal or higher number of foxes die that way. The massive impact on the environment of losing our top carnivores is of no interest. The effect of losing our Old foxes and wild cat is of no interest. Only Greta Thunberg or Chris Packham are of interest to journalists because they are seen as "controversial" so "sexy news".

How can we expect to prevent future extinctions on this little red island if we are blocked from educating the current generation and others interested on past extinctions in the UK and there are many in the last 300 years?

We appear to be in an age of ignorance where no one cares what species were wiped out or are being wiped out.  You cannot keep importing non-British species to replace the ones wiped out and which will be wiped out again (and replaced ad infinitum).

From museums -the supposed centres of learning and education - to universities and all the way down to the public. No one cares. It takes too much effort. eating pizza and drinking a beer or glass of wine while numbing the brain with TV soaps is far easier. Far less effort. I am glad I will not be around when someone writes in the future that people in the UK were far more concerned about soap characters than the endangered and soon to be extinct wildlife.

Bristol Fox Deaths Register 2024

 Just a brief post as I try to shake off my second bout of covid. Last year we had the second year of recording fox deaths in the City and County and for the whole of January deaths totalled 11.  

The system has gotten better and it makes things bleaker for the start of the third year. Up to today, the 15th of January, we have had 14 reported fox deaths. 

Being mating season and with young foxes still roaming around I sadly suspect that while mange is being treated well in the City and foxes are surviving  cars are taking their toll.

A Name Change Does Not Mean Less Fox Work

 

As readers of this blog will know I set up the British Fox Study in 1976 but since that time not all of the work has involved foxes in the UK. 

A lot of the work has involved jackals which, due to many old "mystery animal" reports dating back to the 1970s and my late friend Franklyn A. Davin-Wilson introducing me to Charles Fort's "Killer canids of Cavan" and "The Badminton Sheep killer" became suspects. In fact as was proven in The Red Paper Canids (2010) and in far more detail in The Red Paper 2022 Vol. I: Canids, the 'mystery' of why there were so many jackal incidents in the UK was solved.

Along the way I also solved the mystery of wolf incidents in the UK -far more than even the fantasy prone cryptozoological fringe might think. And what of coyotes? Again there are claims in certain cases that do not match up with the facts but going back to newspaper and other publications of the period (believe me after 6-7 hours of newspaper archive searching you know what "archive blindness" means!)

I have also looked at and written as well as advised on canids outside the UK. Back in the mid 2000s I was asked whether I could identify the canids in two photographs from Germany (it seems experts there were not willing to 'guess' even though it was quite clear the canids shown were a malamute in one case and wolf in another).

I have also dealt with officials over "giant wolf" incidents in the United States and the "coywolf" situation (I am not going to call it a problem).

Looking at the origins of canid species as well as how they were made extinct by humans whether in Japan, Falkland Islands or elsewhere has also taken up a lot of time and work and trying to make it clear that wolf, coyote and foxes as well as other canids cannot continue under relentless hunting for 'fun' and 'pleasure'  has made me a few enemies (I do not lie awake at night crying over that) . 

The current lie used by hunters in the United States is that wolves "are killing all the deer. Deer populations are practically wiped out by them".  Firstly, wolves like other predators kill for food not 'fun' despite the unsubstantiated claims pro-hunt folk put out. Why are deer dropping in number? Illegal hunting as well as over hunting by humans who often brag how many deer they have 'harvested' and the thinking is so poor that they fail, like all hunters before them, to realise that if you shoot the breeding females as well as breeding males in one area then there are fewer to breed and so populations drop. One 'hunter' declared that there were no deer left in his area "damn wolves have wiped them out" and someone commented "I'm a mile up the road we have plenty of deer"

Throughout history we have seen the Hokkaido wolf killed off "just in case it killed sheep" (which it wasn't) and the Falklands wolf wiped out for the same reason. The thylacine was also wiped out for that reason -people certainly enjoyed the bounties paid for killing the animals.  Now hunters and farmers (the latter getting compensation) want to reverse the entire revival of wolves in the United States and Europe along with "in the pocket" politicians. No efforts to bring in wolf deterrent dogs or other anti wolf protection for livestock (which involves spending money -you can make money by killing wolves).

The need to educate on wild canids is there and I try as best I can even if on some days I feel that all efforts are wasted.

For foxes the need to educate people is even greater with problems from feeders as well as people who have misconceptions about foxes -they DO NOT kill cats and the fox moving young from one den to another often create reports of foxes carrying dead cats they have killed! Looking at the causes of fox deaths from illness as well as by cars -it is all crossing over with other work -wolves, coyotes and jackals are also killed in car strikes and my other specialised area of research, wild felids, has shown me that puma, lynx and other wild cats are also suffering the same fate.

The "Fox" part of the Study title is a little misleading so I have decided that it needs to be brought up to date after over four decades. The new title is The Fox and Wild Canids Study. That new name means that readers are not going to look at a post on wolves and ask "I thought this blog was about foxes?"