Foxes: friends or foes?

I am fascinated by the wildlife which has managed to make itself home in human-dominated places. Travelling to another city, whether in the UK or elsewhere in the world, I like to observe the wildlife the locals take for granted. They say one man's trash is another man's treasure and that's certainly true of urban wildlife. Tourists are fascinated by the grey squirrels in the Royal Parks, even though they're non-native and found almost everywhere here. 

Park Hill Park, July 2019

One creature we have a lot of in British cities is the red fox, which apparently started moving into cities from the 1930s onwards. Foxes are a divisive creature, as is common with urban wildlife. I'm not going to get into the issues around fox hunting but I do recall the protests when Parliament were debating whether to ban it. Rural foxes behave rather differently to urban foxes - they are flighty and mostly active at night. In London, the foxes strut along the pavement in broad daylight like they own the place. Even at a site like Hutchinson's Bank, which is right on the edge of Greater London, the foxes are much more flighty than elsewhere in Croydon. 

Fox in Shirley, Nov 2019

Foxes have a bad reputation for a number of reasons. People who keep chickens or rabbits tend to hate them for their predatory behaviour. Gardeners sometimes hate them for digging holes or leaving smelly poo around. They can be annoying when they're barking outside at night, and pretty scary when they wake you with a piercing scream, a sound the females apparently make during the mating season.

Here's a tip: if there are foxes outside at night being loud, get a torch with a strong beam and shine it out of a window at them. You should see glowing eyes and then the foxes will usually skulk away to make a noise somewhere else.

If you've ever seen a rubbish bag strewn across the pavement with its contents everywhere, that could well be the work of a fox. The wheelie bins and food waste bins we have are supposed to be fox-proof, but foxes are clever and they've learned to adapt.

Should we hate foxes for the mess they make?

Lloyd Park, August 2020

As I see it, we share this planet with all the other creatures, and humans cause far more problems and leave far more mess than all the other species put together. If people in general were tidier and didn't leave food lying around outside, maybe there wouldn't be as many foxes. If it wasn't for the foxes, rats would be even more prevalent than they are now. Crows are another species that are often found rifling through bin bags and I saw some squirrels at it recently too.

Foxes at Brickfields Meadow, 2016

In some cities - generally in warmer climates, there are sizeable populations of street dogs and cats. These animals have no owners but they are often looked after to some extent by local people. The photo below shows three street dogs in Istanbul going through rubbish left next to a bin in a public park. I suppose it could be said that foxes fill a similar ecological niche in this country, where we don't have stray dogs.  

Personally, I love seeing these beautiful creatures around, especially when they're relaxing in the sun. I believe we can peacefully co-exist. 

Addiscombe Railway Park, Jan 2021