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Allotment Stuff => The Basics => Topic started by: pntalbot on September 11, 2005, 18:08:29

Title: What do the Foxes Eat
Post by: pntalbot on September 11, 2005, 18:08:29
I have a New Allotment and notice on arrival ,a Fox runs off my Plot. When I have, my Plot up and running, what should, I keep covered, so the Fox doesn`t  eat  my vegatables  or will he, Eat vegatables ? ?  Also  are they any problems ,concerning Foxes on Allotments ? ?
Title: Re: What do the Foxes Eat
Post by: gayle on September 11, 2005, 18:11:53
Hes probaly after mice and such, as far as i know foxes dont eat veggies! unle :-*ss there starving!
Title: Re: What do the Foxes Eat
Post by: pntalbot on September 11, 2005, 18:12:44
Thanks Gayle
Title: Re: What do the Foxes Eat
Post by: katynewbie on September 11, 2005, 18:54:28
Round here the foxes are mostly eating the contents of dustbins!!

I have a nest (?) of foxes under the derelict pigeon loft on my plot and they leave their paw prints all over the black anti weed stuff, but so far have not partaken of any veg!!

I would not worry too much, and suspect that once you work it a bit more and are frequently about the place they will probably b***er off!!
Title: Re: What do the Foxes Eat
Post by: Robert_Brenchley on September 11, 2005, 22:14:00
Foxes eat rubbish out of bins, carrion, small mammals, birds if they can get them, and a surprising amount of worms and other invertebrates. They have a pretty marginal life, and the average life expectancy in the wild is just over a year.
Title: Re: What do the Foxes Eat
Post by: flowerlady on September 12, 2005, 09:49:08
Some peasant has just dispatched my little fox on the allotment.  (See RSPCA post)  Was not a happy bunny that day.

Give me foxes any day over TOM CATS spraying everything.
Title: Re: What do the Foxes Eat
Post by: beejay on September 12, 2005, 13:08:36
The foxes on our site don't eat any veg but do dig in newly planted beds (sometimes burying eggs!), & leave the carcases of eaten birds for you to find. Not a huge nuisancs but a bit of an irritation from time to time!
Title: Re: What do the Foxes Eat
Post by: Sketty on September 12, 2005, 20:05:57
Foxes will dig, they will also bury uneaten prey, they've even been known to consume the odd bit of grass. They don't eat vegetables though. ;)
Title: Re: What do the Foxes Eat
Post by: Robert_Brenchley on September 12, 2005, 20:55:34
The foxes at our site dig up the parsnips and eat them,

Are you sure it's foxes? That sounds more like rabbits to me.
Title: Re: What do the Foxes Eat
Post by: keef on September 13, 2005, 11:32:12
People blame foxes taking chickens from the other allotment site in our village, but I reckon its more likely someones cat.
Title: Re: What do the Foxes Eat
Post by: Trenchboy on September 13, 2005, 12:26:31
The foxes on our site don't eat the vegetables, but they do like to dig in freshly dug earth or in the manure heaps.

This "problem" multiplies up as the younger ones are out looking to build their own lairs. The digging is a mix of trying to burrow(they usually give up after 9" down)and to see if there's something interesting - ie has something else buried a prize.

They are more of a nuisance.

The rabbits, mice, cats  .. now they are another matter..
Title: Re: What do the Foxes Eat
Post by: Bionic Wellies on September 14, 2005, 15:52:29
The foxes on our site don't eat any veg but do dig in newly planted beds (sometimes burying eggs!)

Thought that foxes were mammals and didn't lay eggs - learn summit new each day.

As far as I'm aware we don't have any rabbits on our site. :)

Thats because the foxes get them ...


We have a big problem with rabbits on our site because the main Southampton/London railway line runs alongside the site (and they hide in the embankments - they don't drive the trains) - but its become much worst since some daft pr1ck killed the fox.

-- Gosh I'm in a bad mood today
-- Alan
Title: Re: What do the Foxes Eat
Post by: Robert_Brenchley on September 14, 2005, 22:51:55
We had rabbits at one time; they came down the railway, or maybe it was the canal, in a cold snap, and stayed. They lasted long enough to eat all my parsnips, then vanished. The foxes probably had them.
Title: Re: What do the Foxes Eat
Post by: Sarah-b on September 15, 2005, 11:42:30
On my plot, the foxes poo on any black plastic, tear the fleece, lie down on my net tunnels, and try to dig up my celeriac. Also think they do some tom cat type spraying thing sometimes. I have really started to think of them as a pest that I would like shot of. Of course, they are nothing compared to the pigeons - but still...

Sarah.
Title: Re: What do the Foxes Eat
Post by: Trenchboy on September 15, 2005, 11:51:22
We have a colony of parakeets that live in the stand of trees by the north end of the site.

They seem to hate the pigeons as much as I do(being a Londoner), and attack in numbers from time to time.

New pigeons arrive regularly - but you never see a baby one.

An urban myth is coming on...
Title: Re: What do the Foxes Eat
Post by: Robert_Brenchley on September 15, 2005, 18:08:03
Do the parrakeets raid the garden at all? What sort do you have?
Title: Re: What do the Foxes Eat
Post by: beejay on September 15, 2005, 19:31:52
You're right in the middle of parakeet country aren't you? We just get the occasional visitor. I believe they are extremely destructive & ripped the grapes at Painshill Park to bits.
Title: Re: What do the Foxes Eat
Post by: Trenchboy on September 15, 2005, 23:10:44
There are 60+ parrakeets on or by our site, and one of the local ornithologists did mention Painshill Park among a lot of blah, blah birds stuff.

There is just as big a colony over SE London/Kent - Orpington, so it makes me wonder why there are so many around. My presumption is that they have no natural predators here. Is that right Roy?

They don't seem to be at all bothered about the allotments, just the pigeons. Very territorial.


Title: Re: What do the Foxes Eat
Post by: jennym on September 15, 2005, 23:36:09
The blighters dig up my potatoes and make a mess of other sweet roots such as beetroot etc.
Title: Re: What do the Foxes Eat
Post by: Rose.mary on September 16, 2005, 00:52:59
I know we have foxes on our site, they particularly seem to like my plot, as I have lots of droppings (black). So far I have not had any damage but I have not grown any parsnips yet as it is a new (to me) plot.
Rosemary
Title: Re: What do the Foxes Eat
Post by: supernan on September 16, 2005, 07:29:37
I have lots of foxes. Poo everywhere, dog in it daily!!!!

That's when he is not in the cow poo I am spearding at the moment. So stinky site here!!

Foxes will eat fruit, especially plums,. How do I know, plum stones in the poo stuck to the dog. Oh hum off to the bath again.
Title: Re: What do the Foxes Eat
Post by: Robert_Brenchley on September 16, 2005, 15:54:26
Parrakeets like the warmth of towns, and can do well here (as you've noticed) with global warming, but there have been a few about for generations. They're omnivorous, adaptable, and have a long breeding season, so they multiply like pigeons when conditions are right.
Title: Re: What do the Foxes Eat
Post by: Sketty on September 16, 2005, 18:40:30
I know we have foxes on our site, they particularly seem to like my plot, as I have lots of droppings (black). So far I have not had any damage but I have not grown any parsnips yet as it is a new (to me) plot.
Rosemary

If they are black and tarry and located in a relatively small area, it may well be a badger latrine. Badgers are far more likely to do damage and eat vegetables on a plot than a fox. 8)
Title: Re: What do the Foxes Eat
Post by: Robert_Brenchley on September 16, 2005, 23:00:57
Fox poo is like a small dog's.
Title: Re: What do the Foxes Eat
Post by: Svea on September 16, 2005, 23:21:06
we have a resident fox - they eat mostly worms and slugs and that.
the other night he dug under someone's compost bin and out the other side - i suspect he had a good cacth of worms that way :)

not a problem on the site though - he is quite shy and well behaved.
(the compost bin was on a semi-derelict site)
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