I have never seen one in any of the gardens around where I live before but this morning one put in an appearance. I couldnt beleive my eyes :o. Even now I cant be sure but I've never seen a cat that colour so it must have been.
Large as life and in broad daylight, it walked across my nextdoor neighbours garden (heading away from mine so it had clearly been there too). Incredible.
I dont think my cat Sooty could beleive it either. She was up at the top of our garden at the time and must've come face to face with it. Surprise didnt stop her following it to see it 'off the premises' either. Dont know what happened then but the fox and the cat soon whent seperate ways, the fox onwards to wherever it was going, and the cat back home.
Hubby sees loads on his way home from work in the wee hours of the morning! Some are very mangy looking too. They are great scavengers, so are probably looking for some nice rubbish to eat!You are lucky it is only a fox! I think Badgers have taken to wandering thorugh my plottie, and digging the most enormous holes I have ever seen! Now I love badgers, but I hope they move on and do not decide my plot is a nice place to set up home! ;D DP
Not sure how this one got in really. I am in a cul desac, (admittedly on the edge of farmland) and the gardens are generaly well fenced in. This id perhaps why we have not seen them before.
I guess we have got to get used to it, now that foxhunting is about to be banned. Populations of rural foxes will thrive and will venture more and more into our gardens.
Sorry Richard, but there will be no more foxes without Hunting with dogs than there were before. Indeed if anything it is likely that there will be fewer, since huntsmen actively protect foxes to give themselves something to chase. The greatest number of foxes now occurs in Urban areas. The greatest killer of all foxes has rubber wheels and an engine, the motorise vehicle that is.
And watch your cat, foxes have been known to hunt them.
;DHmm I never heard of foxes hunting cats, in fact they usually avoid each other , but they are lovely to see Richard aren't they. especially when you least expect it.We often have them trotting about, not in the garden, we have a dog, but they walk round the paths in full view of traffic, as if they haven't a care in the world.
We reported an injured fox to the RSPCA this morning. It's hiding behind our shed in the hedgerow and looks in a very bad way :'(, think it was hit by a car early hours Sunday morning. Our neighbour heard a terrific bang at 2.15am, the bang was the car hitting my husbands van which is parked on the road outside our house. We think the driver swerved, hit the fox and then our van, then, according to my neighbour, got out, looked at the damage and drove off again. >:( Didn't even have the decency to own up and leave his number on our windscreen, poor fox has been suffering since then, he didn't even bother to report it to the RSPCA himself. We only saw the fox this morning, the man from RSPCA was very good and arrived almost immediately but the hedge is so thick he cannot get to it, everytime he comes close it dissapears through one of the gaps under the back fence hiding in a neighbours garden. It's going to be almost impossible to get hold of it. I sometimes wonder if it's better to leave it quietly to pass away rather than stressing it even more by trying to catch it. Poor thing.
What did the RSPCA sudgest?
If nothing else put some dog food in a dish and a large dish of water down for it. At least it can pass away with a full somach.
Urban foxes are on the incress easy pickings in town and yes cats are a meal.
Rural foxes do fight for survival and the farmers can control them better then the said huntsmen with dogs.
What is a fox? ???vermin? like a rat? :( is it because it is pretty that we give it preference? ???are they the farmers best friend? ???Sorry Jesse to hear about the damage to your husbands van, but maybe the driver just clipped the fox or van not knowing and the fox was left maimed, ??? so what. I agree he should have settled up with you over the damgage to your van. ::)
Don't get me wrong I'm not a pro hunter of foxe's. ::)
I just think we should not be over run by Rats and the like. :(
Edited to say they are very cudley furry soft lovely animals. :-\
And I am strongly against Fox Hunting.
The driver could have been drunk,on drugs or no insurance even a joy rider.
Did you report it to police for an instident number to claim off insurance?
Every thing in nature has its place in the food chain.
So a fox eats mice,rats and rabbits and we all know how they breed. So a fox is not looked on as vermin they also are natures scavengers will eat anything that is around even burgers in a roll.
We use to throw the lambs afterbirth into the hedge rows for them even a dead lamb they would not atack a live one.
So farmers have a respect for them but let a couple of stray dogs chase sheep especialy at lambing time and watch the farmer go for his gun.
I did leave water out for the fox but have seen no sign of him since the man from RSPCA left without being able to catch it. I should think it would have passed away by now. The man who hit my husbands van might have not known he seriously injured the fox but he certainly would have known the amount of damage he caused to the van. We have reported it to the police and got a case number, thanks for the advice. I know there are arguments to both sides of fox hunting etc. but when I see an injured animal, whether vermin or not, I feel I should do my best to help, it's not for me to decide which creatures are more equal than others.
Hope you get the van fixed and hopefull the fox may have been just stunned and recovered perhaps thats why the RSPCA were not too worried.
We just have to remember we all share this planet with all animals and we all play a part. I dont know about cabbage whites or slugs and snails but they are all part of the food chain. Just wish my hens would eat them they are even scared of worms crasy hens.
OK i accept a healthy rural fox is a wonderfull sight, IN THEORY. In reality the appearance of one in the neighbourhood can only spell trouble. They are likely to pose health problems to our pet cats and dogs (fleas for a start and goodness knows what else), not to mention the poison some (idiots) will put out to get rid of them. I know i will worry about my (cat) Sooty with a fox about. She is very nosy and territorial, and ther is a danger of her coming off worse if she tries to see off a fox from her territory. The cat is elderly and has had a few health scares recently, so this would be the last thing we want to happen.
Eric, I slightly disagree with some of your comments Re: hunting. It has been reported that the ban on hunting with dogs will in fact drive foxes to the brink of extinction because they will all get shot instead of a few getting culled by the hunts, controlling the population. This is a very simplistic veiw. In order to kill a fox you need to flush it out of hiding. Hounds do this in a hunt. One farmer with a shotgun cannot do this effectively (and he cannot use a dog because this will be illegal - yes its not just the traditional hunt with horses and hounds that will be banned). Thus populations are likely to grow, not decline.
Richard, don't think you would need to worry unduly about your cat - my present cat cannot be made to stay indoors at night and we see foxes regularly both day and night round here - as Val says they tend to avoid each other, vet also said this. No problem with fleas or bites so far.
The other day we were driving along an extremely busy main road when a fox trotted out from a filling station crossed half way, stood on a traffic island, checked traffic then finished crossing and walked along the pavement until he came to the garden of his choice!
Not sure but wouldn't the foxes help control the rats - always thought that happened on the allotment site anyway?
Re injured fox: saw the car in front of me hit a fox, but just carry on, so I stopped to lift the fox into the side of the road, thinking it was dead. To my surprise the fox lifted its head slightly when I approached it, so I went back to the car to get an old mat, wrapped the fox in it and drove it to the vet. The fox could be heard snoring gently in the back and my daughter (who was only about 4 at the time) stroked its lovely fur (it smelled of fresh hay) and talked to it quietly. On arrival at the vets, I carried it in and it was peaceful and quiet. Until it saw the vet and went berserk! I got such a lecture about foxes being vicious and how lucky we were that it hadn't bitten us!!! :o ;D
Ah Spurdie,
Children and animals wonderfull combernation instant trust.
I had a couple of dogs years ago and when they went into the vet they went mad attacked all around its the smell of the place. Outside they would not attack a fly.
On the other hand if you find a badger stay well clear and call rspca or police they will lock there teeth on to you and not let go. Far more dangerours than a fox.
But instead, Richard, Mr Farmer will indiscriminately shoot every fox he comes across. Theoretically fox hunting only gets the weakest foxes and therefore keeps the populations strong and healthy, kind of natural selection. But having said that, I'm pro the ban. I'm a little conflicted on this one.
It is a wonderful sight to see any wild animal visiting the garden. And you'd be surprised how they manage to get in anywhere. My garden is surrounded by fences over 6ft high on all sides, but foxes and possibly badges still get in. I think they must be able to squeeze through the tiny gap behind the shed, which is packed with junk anyway.
Teresa, we have yet to see a live badger, though we have looked for them for years!!! We know there are badgers less than a mile from our house, but have never been lucky enough to see them. Have seen a few dead ones at the side of the road, and have even been out late at night armed with peanuts and a torch, but still no luck! :(
Oh Spurdie,
When I used to travel for an hour to work along country fast roads the carnage I saw.
Badgers foxes hares and rabbits phesents as well I was near to tears.
Once 5 half grown foxes looked as they were playing on the road and a lorry hit all of them.
To see a full grown badger dead is a pitiful site such a waste but they dont run like a fox can. Even the experts have touble filming a badger set they are very shy animals.
Headlights dazzle the pore animals then its too late there dead. So realy us drivers kill more wildlife than any farmer etc. But when we kill its instant but a pack of hounds tearing the flesh of a fox and a fox screaming not a pretty sound. only heard it once and that was enough they are not animal lovers can't be.
Only one word for them,Teresa.SADISTS,EVIL SADISTS.
Hi by the way.Just popped in on a rare visit.How are you?