Do you feed your local fox?

PolishBigSpender

rita-rabbit wrote: »

Personal choice I believe - but I think it's wrong to feed foxes. There seem to be SO many of them in both urban & suburban areas - maybe it would be better to let them forage & kill mice & rats instead IMHO.

And they're harmful how?

Jellicat

I see urban foxes as doing little harm...my previous area was crawling with the little guys and we never had any problems like attacked cats or overturned bins...a fox could never overturn a wheelie bin. Whether you see foxes as vermin is really a personal outlook...personally I love seeing a fox in the city, it must take great cunning for an animal that size to exist, although I hear urban foxes seldom reach 2 years of age not sure what the natural lifespan is but I doubt its as little as 2.

There's a lot of myths about foxes going about...all these stories about them attacking children and cats. People seem to be under the impression that they are gigantic, rottweiler sized ferocious beasts!!! All the ones I've seen are not much bigger than a cocker spaniel, and are prone to avoiding confrontation. As long as they arent causing problems, feed away!

UKTigerlily

Jellicat wrote: »

I see urban foxes as doing little harm...my previous area was crawling with the little guys and we never had any problems like attacked cats or overturned bins...a fox could never overturn a wheelie bin. Whether you see foxes as vermin is really a personal outlook...personally I love seeing a fox in the city, it must take great cunning for an animal that size to exist, although I hear urban foxes seldom reach 2 years of age not sure what the natural lifespan is but I doubt its as little as 2.

There's a lot of myths about foxes going about...all these stories about them attacking children and cats. People seem to be under the impression that they are gigantic, rottweiler sized ferocious beasts!!! All the ones I've seen are not much bigger than a cocker spaniel, and are prone to avoiding confrontation. As long as they arent causing problems, feed away!

Totally agree, we must have some round here, one came out of the park & at times i've walked home about 11pm & seen them running down the road next to where I live. It's true they only make I think 3yrs old due to traffic accidents & such. They don't do any harm & are too timid to approach humans (Normally!) I imagine they'd only attack if it was a Mum with Cubs & you cornered her or came up to her den. Feeding them doesn't hurt, afaik only their pack or whatever live in that place so you'd probably only get the one family anyhow & they wouldn't breed more due to being fed.

*onlyme*

We feed our foxes but not every day, well we used to but they became so used to it they would sleep in our front garden during the day and start scratching the front door around 6pm. We once found our cat asleep with them so I do not believe they would harm cats.

We now feed them every few days but no set pattern as they get too clever for it and we also stopped ordering eggs from the milkman as they would empty the box!

We also get tablets from the vets against mange/scabies and add those in the food.

I see it as no different to feeding birds or any other wild animal.

orlao

I don't feed the foxes at home......only because the dogs would a) probably get the food first and b) do the smelly dogs really need another chance to roll in fox poo???

At the farm where my horses are they are seen as vermin......they will have the chickens at every opportunity so at least once a year they bring in pest control to shoot and keep the numbers down.

While it's not what I would personally do myself, I can see their point as long as it's done properly. By that I mean quickly and cleanly by professionals who don't miss. Some farmers in the area use poison or let any Tom, !!!!!! or Harry who has an air rifle "have a go" :eek: not at all nice:mad:

margaretclare

The foxes have been here a lot longer than we have - well, not the individual ones because, as has been said already, they have a fairly short life-span. But they do travel the routes laid down over many fox generations, and that may be a longer time than our homes were here. We humans tend to think that our fences, paths, gardens, lawns and boundaries are sacrosanct, but the foxes have been travelling their own routes and picking up food as and where they could, for longer than there have been built-up areas.

I feed foxes. Half a tin of the cheapest kind of dog food a night and/or any scraps that there happen to be. They also need water. We enjoy seeing them. They trigger the security light at the back and if we happen to be looking at the right moment it is a joy to see the beautiful animals. They also get a drink from our pond.

I've been feeding them for years now and I have NEVER had one become as tame as others have written about. Usually, the slightest sound and they're spooked. I saw one last night. It spotted me standing looking out of the bedroom window, its eyes met mine, and it was off like an Olympic sprinter, down the garden and out through a hole under the fence. Gone!

foreign_correspondent

Even though they used to get my chickens occasionally (including six rather beautiful bantams that I had lovingly incubator hatched and reared when I was about 14!!) I have to admire them - all wild animals have to make their living somehow, and foxes are clever and adaptable enough to continue to survive even in the middle of cities.

I used to live in London for a while, and everytime I saw one slinking along when I was making my way home late at night it would lift my spirits - there is something magical about them in the moonlight!

snowman2_2

I try not to feed the foxes as I have chickens. The fact that my garden smells so heavily of my dog (to a fox nose at least) keeps them away from my garden but i see them around. Personally, even if I didn't have chickens, I wouldn't feed them as I don't want to encourage them to one spot all the time. There are plenty of fields and rabbits around here, judging by the rabbit droppings I see. Cats are too much of a risk for a fox, too dangerous to attack as foxes aren't that big. If a cat challenged a female with cubs or a particularly big dog fox came across a small cat, i am sure they would have a go but generally there are easier pray.

Little_Chicken

foreign_correspondent wrote: »

Even though they used to get my chickens occasionally (including six rather beautiful bantams that I had lovingly incubator hatched and reared when I was about 14!!) I have to admire them - all wild animals have to make their living somehow, and foxes are clever and adaptable enough to continue to survive even in the middle of cities.

I used to live in London for a while, and everytime I saw one slinking along when I was making my way home late at night it would lift my spirits - there is something magical about them in the moonlight!

Agree with you there. I saw one the other morning in Marylebone, just a glimpse, and then it was gone. But it did cheer me up on my way to work.:A

onetomany

we used to feed the foxs and cubs when i lived in the childrens home used to love watching