The Mystery Canid of Nomansland

I have used this image every so often so I ought to explain (for those who never bought a copy of the Red Paper 2022 vol. I Canidae) something about it.

 

It was forwarded to me by Richard Muirhead as he thought it might interest me. He had photographed the taxidermy while in a pub in Nomansland and in case you are thinking the name is a joke: Nomansland is a small village in the civil parish of Landford, in Wiltshire, England, close to the county border with Hampshire. It lies about 3.5 miles southeast of Redlynch and 10 miles southeast of the city of Salisbury.

See?

Anyway, Richard could not remember which public house the taxidermy was in, however, there is a reason I was interested in this one. You will note no black "tear stain" on the muzzle and it looks rather unlike the New British fox (V. vulpes). The area in Wiltshire is bang smack in the middle of some very well reported on jackal hunts in the 19th century -newspapers and journals. The question was whether this might be one of the jackals that escaped the hunt? 

There were other questions such as year of the animal's death and location which are both very important. In fact there was another question which arose based on my colleague LM's study of Old British fox taxidermies and colouration/patterns in fur and that was whether this was an Old type fox?

I have tried contacting every public house in the area but pubs close, get new owners (who don't want some "horrid old stuffed fox" in their pub) and so on. I tried from 2000 up to last year just in case there was a chance that some antique dealer had purchased the item. Nothing.

A date, location and full body photo would have told us a lot but there are times when you have to just give up and this is one -dropping it after 25 doesn't make me a negligent researcher...does it?

If anyone is in that area of Wiltshire reads this and has this taxidermy or any photos/information on it please get in touch.