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Is the fox a pest ? the lie exposed
Is the fox a pest ?
The fox has a reputation, handed down from generation to generation through fables and country tales, of being a cunning and ruthless thief which lives off lambs, poultry and pet cats. The fox has suffered much from this image - eagerly exploited by those who kill foxes either for sport or financial gain. However, over the past two decades there has been considerable scientific interest in fox biology. Studies have been undertaken by the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, the Universities of Oxford, Bristol and Aberdeen as well as the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food (MAFF) (now DEFRA, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and the Department of Agriculture & Fisheries for Scotland (DAFS). This research has shown the fox in an entirely different light and unanimously confirms that man's efforts at 'controlling' the fox population are largely ineffective and that the damage caused by foxes is insignificant. For example, a five year study undertaken for DAFS revealed that whilst up to 24% of lambs in the Highlands of Scotland may be lost through still-births, malnutrition and hypothermia, only around 1% are lost to foxes. (Ref: "Scavenging and predation upon sheep and lambs in West Scotland" by R Hewson and A F Leitch, Journal of Applied Ecology (1984) 21, 843-868). Perhaps more importantly, a three year study of fox predation on lambs in Scotland found that leaving foxes in peace did not result in an increase in fox numbers or an increase in the already small number of lambs taken. (Ref: Predation upon lambs by foxes in the absence of control, by R Hewson M.Sc., Ph.D., M.I.Biol.,Department of Zoology, University of Aberdeen 1990). It has already been firmly established that the vast majority of the lambs taken by foxes are either already dead, or weak and unlikely to survive. Nevertheless, farmers have constantly argued that although lamb losses are small, they would be much larger if foxes were not ruthlessly controlled. The Aberdeen University study challenges the necessity of this high level of persecution - much of which is paid for by the tax-payer and farmer. Similar surveys by MAFF have led it to the conclusion that fox predation on lambs is "insignificant". A recent study by Dr Piran White of York University showed that an average of only 0.4% of lambs are killed by foxes, making it uneconomical for most farmers to undertake fox control measures. Keeping new-born lambs indoors for the first few hours of their lives is the best way of preventing fox predation, the report found. In addition to this, a survey by the Mammal Society during the period of foot-and-mouth disease in 2002 when hunting was banned demonstrated that fox numbers did not rise, indicating that hunting has no effect on the fox population. Regrettably, the vast majority of poultry these days are kept in battery cages or broiler sheds and are therefore not at risk from fox attacks. Free-range poultry are rarely taken by foxes in daylight and therefore losses will be small, provided that the birds are securely housed at dusk. In most cases where foxes kill a large number of birds, it is because the farmer has failed to shut the hen house door or the housing is inadequate - in other words poor husbandry. Foxes are accused of 'killing for fun' because they may flee leaving many dead birds behind. This is known to biologists as 'surplus killing'. In the unnatural surroundings of a chicken-run the fox's natural killing instinct is continually triggered by prey which are prevented from scattering as they would in the wild. In fact, it has been shown that when a fox gets into a chicken coop the commotion arouses the farmer and his dogs, lights go on, doors open and the fox flees. However it is known that in an undisturbed situation, the fox will make many trips to carry off the dead birds, and bury them for future use when food may be scarce. Such caching of food is instinctive for foxes and has even been observed in young orphaned cubs. Foxes have also been falsely accused of killing cats, but studies by Oxford and Bristol Universities have shown that foxes have a healthy respect for the formidable armoury of an adult cat and will generally avoid confrontation. The remains of cats have been found at fox earths and there have been claims of sightings of foxes carrying dead cats. However, such cats are likely to have been road accident victims - the fox merely doing what it does best - scavenging. ********************************************** 'You can't win 'em all.' Lord Haw Haw. Since I stopped donating money to CONservation hooligan charities Like the RSPB, Woodland Trust and all the other fat cat charities I am in the top 0.801% richest people in the world. There are 5,951,930,035 people poorer than me If you're really interested I am the 48,069,965 richest person in the world. And I'm keeping the bloody lot. So sue me. http://www.globalrichlist.com/ Newsgroup ettiquette 1) Tell everyone the Trolls don't bother you. 2) Say you've killfiled them, yet continue to respond. 3) Tell other people off who repsond despite doing so yourself. 4) Continually talk about Trolls while maintaining they're having no effect. 5) Publicly post killfile rules so the Trolls know how to avoid them. 6) Make lame legal threats and other barrel scraping manoeuvres when your abuse reports are ignored. 7) Eat vast quantities of pies. 8) Forget to brush your teeth for several decades. 9) Help a demon.local poster with their email while secretly reading it. 10) Pretend you're a hard ******* when in fact you're as bent as a roundabout. 11) Become the laughing stock of Usenet like Mabbet 12) Die of old age 13) Keep paying Dr Chartham his fees and hope one day you will have a penis the girls can see. --------------------------------------- "If you would'nt talk to them in a bar, don't *uckin' vote for them" "Australia was not *discovered* it was invaded" The Big Yin. |
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