Sunday 'Sermon' -Breakthroughs in Fox Research, Dogma and the UKs Lack of Interest in Wildlife

Yes, I can bore for England when it comes to foxes (and wild canids in general) and wild cats. No one has studied history of the British fox even though there are many sources easily available that detail the original three Old British fox types and also the original British wild cat which lasted much longer than most think.  

The extinction of Scottish wild cats in the 1860s was confirmed in 1897 by naturalists in Scotland.

We know that the Old fox types also became extinct in the 1860s and to foxes and wild cats you can add red squirrels who hit extinction and like other wildlife were replaced by imports from Europe -in fact deer and others all hit the extinction wall in the 1860s.  We know that hunting and simply killing for bounties was to blame. Nothing else just humans.  We know that Germany killed off its wolves in the 1850s and France ran a relentless war against wolves until they became extinct.

It also seems that to continue the fox hunts in England where "better sport" called for a larger and sturdier fox that we imported from Norway. I have found Norwegian wildlife people totally unaware of the fact that they had an Old fox type -it is documented in books as well as publications of the time.  The British hunts and their need to kill something very likely resulted in so many Norwegian foxes being imported that they quickly became extinct.

I have found red fox "experts" totally unwilling to even consider looking into historical records even when given sources and basic information.  One Swiss "expert" told me that he had "studied red foxes for thirty years" and dismissed the Old fox as unworthy of consideration or even looking into the collection he supervised at the museum. I politely did not point out that I had studied and researched foxes for almost 50 years.

One museum was cooperative and actually found a specimen killed in England in 1848 which ended up in their collection.

We now have photographs of a 19th century Old fox type -we believe at the moment this was surviving  in Central Europe in wilder lands and no excessive hunting. If one taxidermy survives in Europe might there not be more?

The two updated books on wild  Canids and Felids are heavily referenced so that they can be peer reviewed but also show that over 40 years of research results are fact not "some unproven theory" (imagine that in a Swiss accent).   No UK publisher would touch the books although three were interested but out of the blue "they don't fit into our current publishing plan" (after glowing responses that seemed odd).  There are two explanations:

1. We know that a good few involved in the publishing business are also part of the horsey/hunt set.  They do not want to upset their chums by showing how relentless hunting wiped out species.

2. Many have, since the early 1900s, published dogma based on unresearched claims. All of the top naturalists in the UK up to and just after 1900, all noted how "wild cats" in museums were hybrids and I found that no UK museum has a wild cat specimen pre 1900 (including the rather hostile to research Natural History Museum, London if I take them at their word). If you read any book looking at UK foxes you will find one thing and that they all quite literally quote from each other and so dogma has never been challenged. Would a publisher really consider a book which showed how some of their best selling books have been wrong?

I therefore privately published.  Copies have gone out but even David Attenborough Productions has shown no interest.  Dogma is that deep in UK wildlife.

Consider this: I set up the Bristol Fox (and Badgers) Death Register in 2021 and there is nothing similar in the UK. These registers show us (reported) fox deaths and were, etc.

In 2021 I started the Bristol Fox Deaths Project -the first of its kind in the UK looking at unusual or suspicious fox deaths and we learnt a great deal from over 80 necropsies -things we never suspected before.

We are also pushing the treatment of sick or injured foxes (unless they are in a condition that requires veterinary intervention) in situ. Mange, bad legs and even facial injury cases have been treated successfully since treatment in the wild gets rid of the stress an animal feels when captured, transported and penned up for a week or two.  Meds work better under no stress situations. In Bristol over 550 foxes that would, under a previous rescue, be euthanised have fully recovered and continued on to live and have cubs.

We are slowly but surely educating people on foxes and the amount of official support (but no funding) is encouraging as is the fact that many vets are now more than willing to treat foxes (there are notable anti wildlife vets sadly).

Publishers -no interest.  Production companies -no interest.  Museums and some "experts" -no interest.  Is it really going to shake the world to its foundations to read two historically accurate and referenced books?

Dogmatists think so.  Those cosy jobs and free lunches.

An Answer To A Thorny Question?

 

American Indian Dog

"It’s not a wolf, and it’s not a coyote; it’s an American Indian dog. known for its long, pointy ears, thick coat, intense stare, and impressive build."

Some people call these "working companion animals" and we know from archaeological work in Europe that "domesticated" wolves lived and walked with humans many thousands of years ago. According to the experts at the Animal Corner (hands up I have tried to isolate who this is but there are so many charities, etc with "animal centre" in their title it's difficult) the Native American Indian Dog is believed to be up to 30,000 years old. It is also believed that it is possible that the breed shared parts of North America with some of the earliest Native Americans to inhabit the land. A note here is that archaeological evidence is finding evidence of the occupation of America pre Clovis Culture. That means the breed is likely older than thought.

Again, some specialists have even theorized that the Native American Indian Dog breed could be the missing link between wolves and the modern dog as we know it today

After indigenous peoples (American Indians) were segregated onto reservations they were often left without enough resources to live on let alone the resources necessary to maintain the ancient breed.

I would hi9ghly recommend this Nevada Wild post:

https://findingnevadawild.com/the-american-indian-dog-danger-cave-and-realizing-some-of-the-oldest-canine-bones-ever-found/

Above and below American Indian Dogs // White Wolf Pack

You will come across web sites or notes in books that tell you coyotes have been found with varying amounts of domestic dog in them. The same applies to wolves in the United States and it is far less common in European and Asian wolves. It is always assumed that the dog DNA came from dogs introduced by Europeans -amongst the first would have been Spanish war dogs during "La Conquista de América" (The Conquest of America) starting in the 1490s. Successive European invaders/colonists also had domestic dogs with them.

Any of these running off and going feral could have been DNA contributors, Experts will tell you how any domestic dog would be killed by wolves but exceptions to this are known. Similarly, coyotes "being wild animals" would never accept a domestic dog into its pack and would likely kill it....the experts say. Even after the story of "Ghost".

Experts always like to have their opinions and yet, if dog DNA is found in wolves was it the equivalent of a drunken one night stand (I am being sarcastic there in case it was not obvious)? There are wolves caught on trail cams that it is said 2obviously have a lot of dog in them" (only DNA testing would really tell.

A tough, hardy breed that could survive hardship in the wild is far more likely to connect with a wolf or coyote and breeding take place. The American Indian Dog (AID) could be such a breed and when tribes were displaced and herded into reservations it is very possible that hungry dogs went off to hunt food and decided the wild was better.

I have tried to find examples of AID taxidermy and failed. Very unlikely that a "dirty mongrel" would be of interest to a taxidermist. How could we tell if wolves or coyotes had AID in them? DNA testing and, again, this type of intense work (requiring a sample of AID DNA) is not "sexy" enough for the grant grabbers in science. Wild canids are generally not of interest.

If the AID was around pre-Clovis Culture (The Clovis culture is an archaeological culture from the Paleoindian period of North America, spanning around 13,050 to 12,750 years) then at any time in its existence the breed could have contributed to wolf or coyote DNA. Some person(s) may have also tried to cross breed wolves and coyotes with a hardier breed of dog (this was tried by English hunts throughout the 19th century for a better hunting animal and if there is one thing we do know it is that hunters in the United States liked to emulate their British counterparts who also went on coyote and wolf hunting 'holidays' to the US).

Modern attempts at hybridisation are often frowned down on especially when a cross breed escapes into the wild. Wolves are often shot as "hybrids" just based on their appearance and to be honest that is just an excuse and I have come upon US wildlife offices covering up on certain wolf kills -body, photographs of the dead animal, reports 'lost' and even the collusion of one local newspaper which also lost its recent press photos and every detail of their story -all 'lost'.

Dog DNA could in fact make wolves more hardy to disease in the long run, although distemper is a hazard to them.

Were domestic dogs of the European or American Indian Dog responsible for dog DNA in coyotes and wolves? I think that question remains open until there is a study. No one pays for intense wild canid research.