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Problems with wildlife- how to cope, for the none too bright. Foxes.
A free education lesson for the simple pro hunt loons who appear to
find working a chore. Living with foxes Foxes show how wildlife can live side by side with people in London. Most if the time they are hardly noticed, while many people take great pleasure in seeing a truly wild animal in their neighbourhood. But sometimes foxes can become a nuisance. This document highlights some of the problems which foxes can cause and shows how they can be dealt with in a humane and effective way. About foxes Foxes have become more common in some London Boroughs than in the surrounding countryside. This is because they are very adaptable and can survive in a wide range of places, eating many types of food. Much of the food they eat in London is scavenged off the city streets or from under bird tables. They also eat earthworms, small animals and fruit. Adult foxes are a little larger than a domestic cat and they live in small family groups, especially during the breeding season. Fox problems What a racket Between December and February you may hear the most unearthly screaming sounds late at night. This is sometimes called the “vixen's scream” and is thought to be the sound made by the female fox to show she is ready to mate. Once reassured about this sound, most people are happy to live with the noise while the foxes are mating. If it does become intolerable, you can move the foxes on by using a strong smelling repellent such as the types you can buy to deter cats. Mess and smells As well as barking and screaming, foxes communicate with each other using scents. They produce strong smelling urine and faeces to mark their territories. You may occasionally find that a fox is visiting your garden and leaving a smelly message behind! If your garden is very important for a fox, it is likely to mark the area with strong smells very regularly. While many people are happy to know that their garden is important for foxes, if you really want to deter them, the simplest way is to remove the reason why they are visiting. This could be food left on a compost heap or under a bird table, or a favourite hiding place such as under a shed. Foxes and pets It is extremely rare for a fox to attack a cat. Most of the time they simply ignore each other. Remember that foxes are really quite small and they pose no threat to dogs. Foxes' natural prey includes small birds and mammals, so they will eat pet rabbits, guinea pigs or chickens given the chance. The best way to protect rabbits, chickens and other small pets is to make sure they are kept in secure hutches or enclosures. It is also essential to prevent a fox from digging its way in to the enclosure. A simple way of doing this is to lay chicken wire underneath the enclosure. Fox homes Foxes spend much of their time resting in an "earth". During the breeding season, young fox cubs live in the earth until they are old enough to start exploring the outside world. In the countryside, earths are usually in small tunnels hidden away among fallen trees or the banks of hedges. In London, fox earths can be found under sheds, in cellars or any other quiet place. If you have foxes using your shed or cellar as an earth, you must be very careful if you want to deter them. This is because you could disturb the young foxes that may be living there. It is probably safer to attempt this between September and December outside the breeding season. SOURCES OF HELP/WANT TO KNOW MORE? The Fox Project runs problem solving advice lines Fox Deterrence: 0906 272 4411 Dealing with sick foxes: 0906 272 4422 Fox indentification / foxes and pets: 0906 272 4433 Fox Project (administration line): 01732 367397 Urban Foxes by Stephen Harris (Whittet Books) Running with the Fox by David Macdonald (Unwin Paperbacks) Fox problems Dustbin devils? Foxes are blamed for ripping open plastic bin liners and overturning dustbins. While foxes will scavenge from almost everywhere, it should be remembered that domestic cats and rats have very similar habits and may be to blame for causing a mess. While the introduction of wheely- bins has reduced the problem in some areas, the easiest way to solve it to make sure that you have a dustbin that can be securely closed. Gardeners World Foxes will eat fruit, bulbs and other sorts of vegetation. They may occasionally dig for earthworms, but usually prefer to catch them when they are on the surface. If you are finding that your garden is suffering from this sort of attention, you must be sure that it is really foxes that are causing the problem. If you want to deter them, make sure that the problem really warrants it, then use the methods outlined on the back of this leaflet. Shoes and toys Foxes are very playful creatures and will sometimes steal shoes and toys left lying around. You will probably find them tom apart in a quiet part of the garden. To avoid this, make sure you keep shoes and toys indoors, well out of reach of your neighbourhood fox! Foxes and disease Many people are concerned that foxes may spread disease. In mainland Europe foxes do carry rabies, but there has not been an outbreak in the UK for many years. Wild foxes have never been found suffering from distemper and are unlikely to spread this serious disease among dogs. Foxes can suffer from Weil's disease (leptospirosis), but properly vaccinated pets are not at risk. Mange is an infestation by parasitic mites, which causes skin irritation and loss of fur. This has spread rapidly among foxes and has caused their disappearance from many areas. This disease can be transferred to pets (especially dogs), but is easily treated. If you find a diseased or distressed fox, report it to the RSPCA immediately. FEEDING FOXES Although there is usually plenty of food for foxes to catch or scavenge, many people enjoy feeding them. If you want to feed foxes, tinned dog food is very nutritious. However, the London Wildlife Trust recommends that you should stop feeding foxes if you discover that a neighbour is finding them a nuisance. This should ensure that extreme measures will not be taken to get rid of them. DETERRING FOXES The hazards which foxes pose to people are very small indeed and the nuisance they may cause is usually short lived. London Wildlife Trust believes that foxes are an important part of the city's ecology and should be tolerated instead of persecuted. If it becomes necessary to deter them from an area, we recommend the following humane and effective actions: Make sure it really is foxes that are causing the problem - domestic pets or other animals could be responsible. Remove possible sources of food - such as scraps from compost heaps, fallen food from bird tables or plastic bin liners full of kitchen waste. If this is not possible, make sure that foxes cannot reach the food by building some sort of barrier. Make sure that small pets and chickens are housed in strong hutches or enclosures and that foxes cannot dig their way in. If foxes are visiting your vegetable patch, fence off their favourite food with netting and place chicken wire just under the soil to protect bulbs. If foxes have made a home in your garden use strong smelling repellents and then carefully block access to their earth. First of all place a strong smelling repellent around the entrance to the earth. After a few days, lightly block the entrance with soil, so that the vixen can dig out and remove any young foxes that might be living there. Once you are sure that foxes are no longer using the earth, you can block it up more securely. Discourage foxes from gaining access to your garden by making sure fences do not have any gaps. You can deter foxes with strong smells such as the repellents used to deter dogs and cats. FOLLOW THE FOX CODE Local authorities are not obliged to control foxes. London Wildlife Trust calls on all local authorities, pest control companies and individuals to adopt the fox code so that people and foxes can continue to live together. The killing, trapping and transportation of foxes should never be undertaken to solve a nuisance. This is cruel and will usually not work since other foxes will quickly take over a vacant territory. Where foxes are causing a serious nuisance, using the types of humane methods described in this leaflet to deter but not harm them. We should aim to live in harmony with foxes and other wildlife that shares our city and celebrate the fact that foxes have adapted to urban life. Written by: Steve Micklewright |
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