I find this a bit worrying:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/02/06/nfox06.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/02/06/ixhome.html

No plans in place to curb urban foxes. We don't see any here (we're out in the sticks) is it becoming a problem for anyone on here?

Edit: link won't work - pls cut & paste

As you know we have problems here :( We are right on the edge of town, with fields behind - so not really urban in as much as there are 'natural' sources of food here. Due to our 'caring' neighbour, the foxes are being encouraged to come nearer the houses than perhaps they might otherwise do :( The noises we hear after dark are awful sometimes - but I never know whether it's just the foxes or whether they have caught something :(

Daisy

I also didn't know they hunt in packs - 6 of them attacking one cat?! Must be worrying for puppy owners.

Bramble had a nose to nose encounter with a fox, when one of them was sleeping in the compost heap :) I don't know who was the most surprised - fortunately the fox decided to flee :D

Daisy

Ella came in from the garden late one night last year with a horrendous gash on her nose. We took her to the vet the following morning after cleaning it up and as we suspected, it was a fox bite :( He gave her an antibiotic jab and said to keep an eye on it, thankfully it cleared up without problem. Quite unusual round here as we are out in the sticks and don't normally get any in the garden, just bad luck. But I am more vigilant now. :)

We have some foxes around here and apart from the vixen calling etc have no problems. I am awakened sometimes by that but it's not a problem as people make more noise on a regular basis all year round ! At my previous home the youngsters did mess up the lawn whilst digging for worms but again it was easily solved and only lasted a short while.
So urban foxes dont bother me, and no cat owners around here seem to have problems.

Lindsay
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When I still had cats, one of those was witnessed being chased by a fox - and that was in the country. A local man here (again, a village) took down a derelict farm building and found cat skulls in a den under it :( . There's no doubt foxes do take cats.

Friends of ours, across the field, have 'lost' several cats in the past few years. Perhaps this is the reason :(

Daisy

:( thats worrying, my cats go out hunting at night and I know there are foxes in the fields and woods behind my house, I just hope they have the sense to climb up the nearest tree if they see one.

The Cats' Protection League recommend that cats are kept in at night, not only to avoid them being run over in the dark but also because of the risk of fox attack.

we see a lot of foxs around us, next door to us is a graveyard and at night its a fox mating ground. When we first moved here we thought that somebody was being murdered with the noise, Bin day is our biggest problem as some put the rubbish our the night before and they spread it up the road.
Terry

a fox killed my rabbit & 2 guinea pigs a couple of years ago. got into the run & killed the little piggys ,sassy the bunny managed to get out & was found on the lawn. she was a lunatic rabbit & would have put up abit of a fight im sure (when handling her id have to wear a puffa coat to protect my arms & wellys to protect my legs)
still really sad though,especially the poor ;little piggys who had no chance.

we had our rabbit killed aswell by a fox, we buried him in his hole and the fox came back tha next night and dug him up and took his head over next door! ! also our old collie X would never go out after dark unless someone was with her and even then she was still nervous we think she could smell the fox or its poo which it left all over the garden. we only live about 100 meters from countryside so it could have easily came from there and i suppose a rabbit is its natral prey but still its upsetting lossing a pet. :(

I dont live near any roads (well I live at the end of a cul - de - sac and am surrounded by fields and woods where the cats hunt) so ive never shut the cat flap at night, as a rule the cats are in by 7pm and are still asleep when we go to bed about 12am they are usually gone by morning but there is always part of a dead creature in the living room so I know they have been out :rolleyes:

I will have to dig out the litter tray I think and start shutting them in, but saying that the only time I have seen the foxes is in the mornings when I walk the dogs :rolleyes:

It's strange about the cats because I know many people who let cats out at night and none of the cats disappear except the odd one via road accidents etc. Maybe foxes in some areas do take cats, but i've also seen foxes and cats at night just giving each other a wide berth.They certainly seem to co-exist peaceably round here. Is there also not a possibilty that foxes have taken cats as road kill rather than actually killed them, as that would explain cat remains in incriminating places.Just a thought!

Lindsay
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We have a lot of foxes around here and several cats have recently gone missing or been found killed.  It is interesting that foxes could be responsible as there has been a rather nasty vigilante campaign against all sighthounds in the area.  This is now calming down but has driven some greyhound and lurcher owners to walk elsewhere, very unfairly, in my opinion.

We are pretty certain that we lost one cat to foxes - we are not near any roads, and we lost her one summer evening, between 7pm & 9-ish
- she wasn't stolen, nor was she run over (we're in the middle of a golf course) - and she wouldn't have strayed away as she had a litter of 5 week old kittens.

There are loads of foxes round us & we feel that she was taken by one.

Margot

It would be nice to think that they were killed by cars, Lindsay, but we have very little traffic around here, especially at night.

We have a healthy fox community here. We're a rural village. I think our cats fair better because the rural foxes have plenty of natural sources of food, I know of no cats locally injured by foxes, who are on the whole shy animals. The Urban Fox has relied on human leftovers for along time now. The Mirror states that officials are blaming wheelie bins replacing black bags. The urban foxes have reduced food supplies so they are seeking alternatives. Which is only natural. I wondered if the decision to not cull was because cats are classed as wild animals too? (you don't have to stop if you run a cat over/report it)??? 

We've had wheelie bins for years round here, since we moved here anyway in 1997 and have seen no change in cat and fox behaviour.
Also does anyone really think a fox will be taking a child? as that was also in the article and  i find that farfetched and inclined to scaremongering.  I believe there has been one case of a fox getting into a house and the owners felt it was after the baby but I don't think anything else happened; it certainly seemed to be a one off and I have never heard of any similar incidents.

Lindsay
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Who knows? Perhaps not taking a child, but if the child is in the garden eating it could well be attacked?

I would also say they must be working in packs to take a cat? I've seen bigger dogs come off far worse with cats....

We wonder whether our girl was taken by a hungry vixen - though at the same time, there were masses of rabbits about.   She was a healthy cat, we were sitting in the garden, saw her at about 7-ish, when she strolled over to us, then strolled off - as I say, we live in the middle of a golf course, and there was no-one about who might have picked her up - and its highly unlikely that she would have abandoned her kittens - she might have gone after a rabbit herself....

Hmmm...possibly the Urban Fox has evolved and picked up tips from humans hunting in packs :D
I've also seen cats ripped to pieces by dogs, or the aftermath anyway :( I don't think it would take a pack to take down a cat, when you consider the speed and size of a hare, not to mention the bite/kicks.
The only non domesticated animal that attacks children here are the seagulls :)  But when you consider tales from other countries about wild dogs, hyenas etc taking babies, I suppose anything is possible if an animal is fighting for survival.

I don't know about 2004 but in 2003 the combined London Councils culled approx 9000 foxes so some measures are in place to control urban foxes. I am lucky enough to be out in the sticks also but I have lived in London and the Medway towns and in my experience urban foxes are getting much bolder ( along with rats!)

aaargh - rats... we get a fair few of them round here. Phoebe kills some but they don't really bother us as they are more scared of us than the other way round (although I don't like it when they are round the tack room late at night in the dark )

No idea about urban ones as we dont live near any towns :) but we did have 2 foxes in the stable yard about a month ago, cornering the stable cat....they were about to get him when we heard the din & scared them off (with the ever popular lead injection method :) )

We live on the outskirts of Glasgow and in a suburban area that has a large number of very noisy foxes.  My nextdoor neighbour feeds them everynight so they feel that the streets around about are their hunting ground.  The noise they make at night during the breeding season and when they are calling their cubs is horrific.  They cause even more noise and disturbance than the teenagers who wander about!  I find them a real pain because both my dogs want to chase them and I have to be really careful if someone is coming in or going out of the frontdoor or else my dogs will be hotfooting it down the road.  Because we have the foxes in the garden obviously they leave lovely purply black poo on the grass or paths and we have to keep on top of our flea treatments!   I believe in live and let live but I'm not fond of the flourishing foxes.

Saw a Fox in one of our woods on Saturday whilst out feeding. It was in very poor shape and looked starving. My guess some "Kind" person had brought an unban Fox and released it to live in the "Wonderful" countryside. Poor Fox had no idea how or where to find food! If it's still alive this Saturday we will have to put it out of it's misery :(

Regards, John

We once had a litter of kittens that had just started to go out during the day. Several went missing and we were greeted by a mauled dead body of a kitten on out serach. We never found the others, they couldn't have strayed that far, as they were only young. I am certain that the only explanation is a fox.

It's desperately sad when pets are killed or go missing and i must admit i was a bit wary with keeping our guinea pigs outside. We did get them a very strong cage and the run we had was covered. Most days they were out in the run and we only brought them inside in very cold weather or during the bloomin' fireworks. I saw several foxes in the garden and they ignored the pigs, but the Siamese tom cat from 2 doors down (who sings all the time and much as i love animals does drive me a bit nuts at times!) was far  more interested and i was more worried about that.
The other side of things too is that cats will kill wildlife and birds just as a fox may kill something - it is heartbreaking the amount of young fledglings we have had who have been killed by the local cats. Yet the cats are allowed in our gardens and everywnere. I'm NOT against cats because i love all animals but just trying to balance things up a bit. In my area at least, i have to say i prefer foxes to cats (who also mess all over the garden ;) ). We spent a long time planning the garden for wildlife and feel very sad when young birds are killed esp. when the cats mess about with them.

Lindsay
X

Yes, I wonder why it's all right for cats to hunt mice and birds, but people (including some who have posted on here) would be horrified if their dog killed a rabbit. Double standards? Why are cats allowed a more natural life? Just wondering.
:)

It certainly happens, you can tell because normally one gun shot and they scarper (if not hit) my local keeper shot 14 in one field in one night (well about an hour and a half actually) this time last year. All looked disorienated and  in poor condition. Could it be something to do with being just outside London and close to a motorway junction?!

All these 'animal lovers' 'being kind'! What's so kind about taking an animal from its familiar territory and transplanting it into what is in effect an alien environment?

I know. I actually think it is quite funny in a warped sort of a way that they are not prepared to kill them so they move them to a strange teratory with a stressfull journey etc so that some one else can do their dirty work for them! And all this in the name of loving animals. I always thought that part of loving was knowing when to let go.

Very interesting point. A definite case of "out of sight is out of mind". How can a fox, born into an urban environment, fed by raiding rubbish, survive in the countryside where we all keep rubbish stashed away specifically to avoid having foxes spread it everywhere!

Exactly why I doubt actions like this are carried out by proper welfare agencies :(   Alot of thought/time/energy/dedication/experience and knowledge goes into the process of releasing an animal into the wild.

  People don't realise the harm they're doing in the long run; much the same as people who buy from distasteful breeders in a bid to offer the dogs a better life.

Animals prey on animals, regardless of their homebase. You can feed your cat as much food as you like but if it has it in it's nature it'll still enjoy 'playing' with rodents and birds, most dogs will love a good chase and occassionally will shred a rabbit, herons will raid your goldfish pond, cats will keep you awake fighting all night, roosters will wake you too early, pigeons pooh will cover everything, nextdoors dogs will keep yapping, cars will keep revving, the binmen will come earlier and earlier making as much racket as possible....the list could go on. The fox is not the bad guy, the majority has spoken, the law has spoken. What next....Fox found hiding weapons of mass destruction? :D

I agree, the fox is not the bad guy...but something has to be done about the fact that they are obviously starving and desperate.

Totally agree Chloe :)

If they're starving and desperate it suggests to me that there are too many of them for the area to support, so numbers need culling ...

our 2 older cats have been bitten by foxes i have chased a fox off as well when i saw it fighting with one of the cats, the fox did pick on the biggest of our cats, he has been ill recently but used to weigh just over 8 kilos, since we have had dogs though we have had less foxes in the garden, when tess was roughly 3 she was asking to be let out i went out with her which isnt something i normally do only to see her jump the 4ft fence out of the dogs part of the garden over the 5ft fence in to what was the 'dumping ground' over the 5ft fence into next doors garden then over a fence that had 3 ft chicken wire in front of a 5 ft fence (roughly a 3ft spread) and run off up the private road after a fox since then we havent had very many in but i would hate to think what would happen if she was ever to get hold of one,

tanya

We have free range chickens and ducks ( and two mad turkeys called Mabel and Mildred :D) - so yes we do have foxes sniffing round, we also get a badger who tries to tear up the chicken run and Muntjac deer who rip up my lawn and eat the spring bulbs , moles who turn the grass into a landscape similar to the moon, owls who keep us awake at night  cos their roost is in the tree next to our bedroom window, rabbits whose mission seems to be the total destruction of my vegetable patch, and bats that hibernate in our barn and dive bomb us on a summers evening.

Yes all these animals can be classed as a 'nuisance' but we actually feel priviliged to share our home with our native wildlife - we know that they are simply behaving in a way that is  natural to their species and try and minimise the damage they can do -  and yes it IS a pain to go out on a freezing winters night to lock the hens up :( or to fix the pens again etc. What we don't do is feel the urge to kill anything that does not fit in with our (human) way of life .

Yvonne

The more i hear about your home the more i want to live there :D

I agree with what you say about feeling privileged etc....that's how i feel.

Lindsay
X

Yep - we have all those too - and lots more. But this thread is about urban foxes - living in an environment where they cannot eat - so what relevance does your last point have: What we don't do is feel the urge to kill anything that does not fit in with our (human) way of life
?

Do people feel that all urban foxes are unhealthy?
Because if so that's not the case; i agree if they are unable to obtain food and are ill then they would need to be culled, but the foxes round here are in fantastic condition and as far as i know no-one feeds them. We have wheelie bins etc so they don't have access to food from there. What we do have is lots of little nearby parks, lots of shrubbery and rabbits and small wildllife they probably eat apart from scavenged food. Plenty of dropped takeaways etc! (yuk).
Last year Banya set up a real commotion and i looked out and there was the most beautiful fox i had ever seen (rich red) crossing our patio and jumping the fence into next door. I was stunned as i had never seen one so close to the house but it truly in excellent condition.

Lindsay
X.

I'm pleased most of the urban Foxes you have are healthy, most of the ones here are full of mange and there has been a HUGE increase of mange in dogs too.  Foxes belong in the countryside and should be managed correctly.
Dawn.

I agree foxes should be able to run in the countryside but unfort we are building more and more in their habitat so where else do they have to go?

Like most wild animals its us who are pushing them out and forcing them to find alternative food sources and living areas.

Appreciate it must be a nitemare for people who have livestock. 

Least dont live in swampy florida where you can find crocs in your pools!

How can anyone tell what portion are pushed from the countryside and what portion are as a result of urban foxes breeding uncontrollably?

I wonder, do all foxes actually belong in the countryside?
I ask because if they are adapting to towns (as many animals and birds are) can we really say they only belong in the countryside? If foxes are mange ridden and unable to find food in towns fair enough, i would agree, but it seems that there are a proportion at least who seem to do very well :) I would prefer to see healthy foxes in the country at the end of the day, but maybe nature is deciding something else? :)

Lindsay
X

But nature isn't building more houses...so therefore how can it be nature deciding that foxes should live in towns? Isn't that just survival as opposed to any particular evolution? :)

Yes maybe, I'm not sure - if some are adapting and doing well maybe it is evolution?Perhaps not in its strictest sense, more adaptation perhaps. I'm wondering as much as anything.

Lindsay
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