I didn't know quite where to put this. After reading (and posting on) the 'Hunting with Dogs' topic, I just went outside (20 minutes ago) to put out the rubbish and standing under a tree in the street was.......A FOX!!!!!!!!! It looked at me, and I looked at it, and then it sauntered off along the street as if it didn't have a care in the world. I sort of knew we had foxes because my husband saw them (2) a few weeks ago, but although he dragged me out of the house to have a look at the time, all I saw was a tail under a car and I decided it was a fluffy cat!
I live in an area of London called Tally Ho Corner ( good name, considering the topic!) and believe me, it is very urban.
A very surreal moment................

Watch out for the dogs catching mange......that will be your next delight!

We have 'urban foxes' too that visit in the middle of a residential estate. I was stood at my kitchen window late one night (couldn't sleep) drinking a brew with the lights off! What I thought was a 'latchkey' dog came by and stood looking at me. I'm at the open window trying to give the 'poor, starving, why isn't he at home in bed' latchkey some biscuits and he's looking at me as though I've gone mad (ok, so he's a better judge than I was) :p It was only after a good few seconds of me trying to call the dog nearer the window for a biccy that I noticed his 'extremely' long bushy tail....needless to say, once he realised that *I* realised, he declined my offer and went on his way!! :O

The thing that worries me the most is that the dog is very young (4 months) and likes to go out into the garden through the cat flap. I am frightened that a fox could attack or even kill her-or the cat for that matter.

I was worried about that too Sharon, but as I was watching *my* fox, all three of my cats were sat out on the front. One was up on the window sill wanting the biccy I was offering the fox, the other two were just sat watching the 'goings on' on the flags....like somebody else suggested, it's the mange I'd be worried about! ;)

Don't be daft Sharon,on the whole urban foxes don't *do* killing :D They are scavengers. They know how to turf out dustbins and tear open rubbish sacks. They might kill your ornamental ducks, but they won't take on a cat or a puppy. When I lived in London it was not an uncommon sight to see fox cubs playing with latchkey dogs. The local primary school had a resident vixen and when she and her cubs caught mange, the RSPCA came in to trap them. I was highly amused when four days later they still hadn't rounded them up. They were using dead chicks as bait :rolleyes: Luckily, the Fox Project intervened and supplied a Mucdonalds hamburger and they caught her straight away with that...lol

I have town foxes in my garden now. They live behind my kennel and take great delight in sitting on the kennel roof winding my dogs up. I don't mind this,until they do it at 3am.
Last year, the resident old dog fox, spent a few days curled up on top of the kennel. I was worried about him because he stayed there through rain or shine. The Fox Project, told me to ignore him as he had been booted out by the vixen! My dogs totally ignored him. But on the fourth day, I let the dogs out and they all started to show an unusual interest in him. Merlin was actually trying to jump up onto the kennel roof, and the others were pointing him. Later that day he disappeared and a few days later he was found dead at the back of the kennel. He had crawled away and died :-( Obviously, the fox project got it wrong. He was sick and the dogs knew because their attitude to him changed.

Leigh having foxes so close to your dogs, do you worry your dogs might catch disease from them ?

Since moving to the country it is something I have wondered about when my dogs are running loose in the garden, could they catch something from say a fox or a rat or whatever. Thankfully I've not seen a rat and hope I don't although I doubt it would last long anyway with Nell on the scene!

We used to keep chickens & ducks in the garden, we have allotments at the bottom
when the dogs were in residence we hade no trouble from foxe's!
But when they went on their holidays to the in-laws we lost ducks to the fox
my wife did spot it on one occasion & chased it which made the fox drop the duck
after a quick visit to the vets it recovered perfectly:)
As soon as the dogs came back from their holidays we had no more attack's

Yes Claire I do, but all we can do is keep a close eye on our foxes and the dogs too. The fox earth has been there since the houses were built,some 40 odd years ago. It is well established and the old dear,whos garden it is in, feeds them so they are not going to move on in a hurry. Their not to much bother. They bury golf balls in my garden and dig up my bulbs but thats not the end of the world. The biggest problem is when the cubs play right next to the kennel. They are all of two feet away from the dogs, the dogs go ape and the cubs totally ignore them :D

Thanks Leigh I just wondered how other people managed having dogs and living close to foxes :-)

I've only been living in the country a few months now but I much prefer it to a town (thankfully never lived in a city). These folk who complain about cows, tractors, church bells and so on must be mad, I love seeing tractors go past my window instead of great big buses and lorrys and you can't beat the smell of muck spreading, that's when you really know you've moved to the country - pooooooooh ;-)

Mind you I hate all the damn insects - YUK!!

Claire,

I live half town half country if that makes sense.

I have a very large garden and to the side of my garden is a wooded area called a copse I think. And we get all sorts living there from foxes to deer.
The deer even come right up to the fence even so my dogs disaprove of this.
Never touch wood had any probs with the dogs catching anything from the wildlife.

Karen

We have a fox that will come into the garden and pinch the dogs toys, and leave them on top of the shed or along the wall at the bottom of the garden which is 20ft high. Last year a lot of cats and dogs in the neighbourhood developed mange which the vet thought came from the foxes, however our dogs never caught anything. In the daytime the fox likes to lie on top of our chicken pen which drives the dogs mad, if the cats see him they will chase him away. When I lived out in the country I rarely saw a fox but now I live on the edge of a town and we often see them, my sister in law has a resident family under her shed and they don't bother the cats or dog.

A few years back where I live there was a fox who used to live behind a garage he would come out at 11pm everynight as the kebab van was there and we used to feed him donar meat he came right up took it then run back to his den he was not afraid of us humans at all.

Karen

Thanks Leigh, for the reassurance. Come to think of it, there are 2 restaurants very close by and the fox was probably on it's way to investigate the bins. Do you know what's so funny? I lived in the countryside virtually all my life and last night, in London, was the closest I have ever been to a fox!

Sharon

Claire, I've lived in the country and had dogs all my life, foxes roam all round us. My 16yo collie who died a year ago couldn't be vaccinated due to a reaction to his first puppy one and never caught anything in all that time, in fact he only went to the vet once in his life for a cut leg.
A few years ago I was walking the dogs in the early hours, 5am along a canal bank about 2 miles out of the village and came across a London Council van parked, I stayed out of sight and watched as he released a dozen or more foxes from sacks in the back, talking to local night fisherman it seems this is quite common. Quite how these poor creatures could survive I don't know, and on the whole our local wild fox population is quite healthy so what effect these urban foxes had is another thought. Ingrid

I had a fox come into my garden when i was planting some bulbs, because she tryed to run off with them, so i had to get them back, and then i gave her some dog food, which she was taking out of my hand, it was also a very good photo session as she posed for every picture, i guess a very vain fox who knew she was very pretty, plus there was next doors cat out there with her, both just sat next to each other, looking, i had never been that close before, i have to say they are such majestic creatures, maybe it was my infatuation with basil brush as a child, perhaps thats why i like foxes so much!!!.

What makes the foxes come into built up area's? we had one two streets away but I must admit it looked quite old .So the Rspca was called in-case it got run over or caused an accident.But I cannot help thinking someone must have let this lose
because we have no big parks just all main roads and side streets.

Well I'm pleased to hear I've not to worry too much about disease but just to keep an eye on the dogs which I would be doing anyway regardless of where I lived. :-)

As for releasing urban foxes into the wild.......hmmmm that doesn't sound right to me. Surely if they have lived in towns and cities all their life they will struggle to survive in the country or is it instinct to adapt and is that the way city folk control their urban fox population

You all seem very calm about having foxes about - I go mad!! (In fact so mad I hit one on the head with a saucepan last year when it was chasing my geese - saw it out there while I was getting dinner ready and grabbed the first thing that came to hand).

Over a few months I lost nearly 100 ducks and chickens to different foxes and would be quite happy never to see another one!

Christine

If I had lost any of my animals to foxes then there is no doubt about it I would probably feel very differently towards them so I don't blame you :-)

Hi

I live in a town, with woodland backing onto my garden, we have badgers, foxes and deer all wandering through and I have two rottweilers ! I have on occasion caught the fox in my house as it likes to come in through the cat flap. I have lost a guinea pig and rabbit to them and I was slated for saying that I found them annoying on another board and that I should be more tolerant of them. But having just gone through the screaming and howling of their mating season (which sounds awful) I was lacking in sleep and would of happily banged them over the head with a saucepan too ! A previous dog of mine caught mange which the vet did attribute to the foxes.

Regards
Karen

Christine if ever you want a terrier to get rid of the foxes let me know you can borrow one of mine!

Patricia, I think the foxes probably come to urban areas because they've had enough of us encroaching on THEIR areas! Seriously though, they are not called cunning and wiley for nothing - they are born survivors and we messy humans leave enough food lying around to tempt them. Why should they bother to hunt their prey when they can get a takeaway - or the remains of one anyway.

Many urban foxes are also re-released animals from rescue centres as they have no fear of humans.

Where I used to live we had such a centre closed down as they were treating injured foxes but causing unnecessary stress and suffering to their prey animals. They were housing the foxes in top cages and then their 'food' spieces in cages below and alongside them, they couldn't understand how the 'food' animals were dying so quickly when they had previously been on the mend!

Most of their foxes were released in the woods nearby without permission, the woods were owned by a member of my family. Trouble is the release sites were only about 200yds from a housing estate so you can imagine how long it took them to find their way to the dustbins, rabbit hutches etc. Many generations later they are still a problem in the area and have increased their territory into the next 3 villages causing havoc.

That's us humans for you? Interfering again..

Julieann

I did a job for a lady in the city a few years ago. On her back step was a roasting tin full of dog meat. When I asked her about it she explained she fed the friendly fox every night.....there then followed a fairly light hearted debate on hunting , but that was ok & we agreed to differ. When I went back a few weeks later I jokingly asked her how her fox was....she went mad! Apparently she went out one evening & forgot to feed it. On her return, she found it had broken into the guinea pig run & killed all 7 of her childrens pets......needless to say she was an instant hunting convert!!!!

Thats why I have mixed feelings about the hunt . when Mr Fox calls he has no mercy. Yet I admire them

Hi Bec
Thanks for the offer.
In spite of the foxes killing so many of my ducks and chickens I am very anti-hunting. When asked how to control the fox population I do have an answer - trap them and whilst they are in the cage then kill them. This way they are not chased and stressed - they are caged for a few hours where they frequently go to sleep, they can be shot with no risk of them escaping wounded. This way also only gets the "guilty" foxes as the traps are set up around the chicken houses.

Christine

Not a bad idea Christine - I think. Anyone have an opinion as to whether or not the fox is likely to panic and become stressed if this course of action was taken?

I think foxes are a beautiful animal but I also think they need to be controlled because they ARE vermin, however other than hunting I can't think of a better way to control them

Do you folks seem to think so many people are trying to tame the foxs by feeding them
when it comes onto your property.Seems to me a catch 22 situation loved the bit ABOUT THE SAUCEPAN :)

As you all no by now I live on a farm and we have foxes. See them a dusk here them mating!!! Molly is not really bothered by them, though is prone to eat there poo if I don't get to her first! The cats don't seem bothered either! We even have badgers here, and the birds are wonderfull (the feathered type!)

Julieann

Mari, I rather admire the fox too. The one I saw in my street was well fed and rather magnificent. It is amazing how they adapt so well to city life. I went outside last night to see if I could get another glimpse of him/her, but to no avail. At the risk of contradicting myself on my opinions Re. hunting, I rather like the idea of having a fox or two around. The area I live in is fast turning into a concrete jungle, with the development of a huge 18 storey block of flats already well underway. I am almost ready to move out, but if the fox can live with it..............

I've seen foxes in traps and they become very distressed probably more so than being hunted because there is always the feeling of freedom when running which they know isnt there when they are trapped.

HI, I would be VERY worried to have foxes going anywhere near my dogs, having had a horrendous mange outbreak in the past from a mangey fox who I used to see daily. It cost me a fortune to treat them all and a lot of hard work bathing them in the horrid shampoo and two young dogs PTS because they did not respond to treatment after 18 months of trying was a heartbreak. It is not a disease to be taken lightly, and if a collie gets it and has an under active immune sysytem - God help it cos the vet probably wont be able to.

I agree with you now but up to a year ago (before I had Barney) my next door neighbour's doberman used to chase the foxes away quite successfully but it got to like a cub and used to play with just that one young fox!! I used to feed them and I even sent away for some medicine from a fox charity as one fox that came into our garden had terrible mange. Now I have Barney I wouldnt dream of drawing them into my garden. I now have a dog so wouldnt feed foxes but a year ago I felt completely different. I think this is part of living and learning and I still believe I have much to learn :o Regards Gina
PS I still get a buzz out of seeing foxes though, silly I know but there you are LOL