Foxy February

[DulwichFox]

Foxy February has come to an end but you can still get involved..

Foxy Facts

1. Fox cubs are born blind and deaf with short black fur. They do not leave the den for several weeks and are dependent on their mother's body for warmth and their father to provide food for the family.

2. Want to know if a fox has been in your garden? Fox paw prints look similar to that of a small dog but are easy to distinguish. On a fox print, you can draw an X through the middle without crossing any of the the pads. You cannot do this with a dog print.

3. Foxes are good neighbours. By marking their territory boundaries, they learn the smells of their nearest neighbours. When two neighbours meet, the encounters are usually peaceful. When strangers meet, the encounters can be much more aggressive.

4. Killing foxes does not control fox numbers. A dead animal leaves an empty territory that is filled by a new fox within 2-3 days. Fox numbers are controlled by food and territory availability.

5. City foxes prefer the suburbs. The medium to large gardens provide the array of food and den sites, including hedges, scrub, compost heaps and sheds, that they need.

6. Foxes have played a major role in human culture and folklore in all countries they inhabit. They have featured in many important pieces of literature including the bible, Aesop's fables and Canterbury Tales.

7. Although adult foxes have few natural predators, cubs can be killed by badgers and domestic dogs.

8. Foxes are farmers' friends. By feeding on rabbits, the staple diet of rural foxes, they save British crop farmers around ?7 million every year. In its lifetime, one fox is worth up to ?900 in extra revenue to farmers.

9. Captive foxes can live for up to 14 years, similar to domestic dogs. However, wild foxes rarely live more than a few years. The biggest cause of death is being hit by a car.

10. Shoes, golf balls, gloves, puppets and footballs are just some of the play items found near fox dens. Fox cubs also spend many hours play-fighting, chasing each other and playing tug-of-war with food or objects.

11. Foxes are members of the canidae family, the same family as wolves and domestic dogs.

12. Foxes don't waste food. If they find or kill more than they can eat at one sitting, they bury (cache) the food to eat later.

13. Foxes sleep and breed in holes called earths. Sometimes they dig the hole themselves, but they also use old badger setts, hollow trees and spaces under garden sheds.

14. Fox predation does not have a major impact on sheep farms. All predators combined (foxes being only one of many) and misadventures (accidents) account for just 5% of all lamb losses per year in Britain.

15. The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) is the most widely distributed wild carnivore. It naturally occurs across North America, Eurasia and Japan, even as far north as the Arctic Circle.

16. Foxes help forests grow. By feeding on field voles and rabbits, the species that do the most damage in young plantations, foxes help reduce economic losses to forestry.

17. A female fox is called a vixen, a male is called a dog.

18. A fox can run at speeds up to 30 miles an hour.

19. Foxes are far too small to tip over a dustbin full of rubbish. To scavenge from bins they jump on top and knock

the lid off. This is easily prevented by using bins with locking lids or securing the lid with a bungee cord.

20. The silver fox and cross fox are just colour variations of the red fox, not separate species.

21. Foxes have strong family ties. Young foxes often stay with their parents for a few years and help raise future cubs.

22. In Britain, the average fox is only slightly bigger than a pet cat.

23. Foxes are highly adaptable. living in habitats as diverse as tundra, forests, deserts, wetlands and cities, and eating a huge variety of food types.

24. Foxes are often easy scapegoats. According to Defra, 95% of lamb losses are due to poor farming practices , with confirmed losses to foxes less than 1%.

25. The dominant male and female fox form a pair that often lasts for life. Although they hunt and feed separately, they regularly meet to groom each other and play.

26. Foxes mate in mid-winter and females give birth between March-May. The 4-5 cubs are born deaf and blind, relying on their mother for warmth and their father for food. Cubs leave their parents in early autumn and search for their own territory.

27. Foxes use 28 different types of calls to communicate with each other. They also use facial expressions and body postures similar to domestic dogs, like wagging their tail when they greet family members.

28. Their hearing and sense of smell are much better than ours. They can hear a watch ticking 120 feet (36 metres) away and smell food that has been sealed in a bag or buried underground.

Please support the League Against Cruel Sports.. http://www.league.org.uk/content/801/FoxyFeb#

Wildlife Crimewatch Line: 01483 361 108

DulwichFox

[bonniebird]

I like em :)

[aquarius moon]

Great post with lots of useful info for people to find out more about foxes and learn to live alongside them.

The league have been sharing these facts on Facebook all month. The photo's are amazing.

I like em too! :)

[numbers]

I like em three! :))