tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1854709475119907418.post1656835575951357092..comments2024-03-04T10:44:06.229+00:00Comments on London Loves...: London Loves.....FoxesJoshua Surteeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01836133230918430241noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1854709475119907418.post-75222329401653906152010-06-06T10:50:24.617+01:002010-06-06T10:50:24.617+01:00Lovely article, and it's nice to read a well w...Lovely article, and it's nice to read a well written good appreciation for Foxes. However, I would just like to comment on this paragraph:<br /><br />The fox is having the last laugh. Immune to hunts in the country, they’ve come to urban centres in search for more excitement. Fox immigration is high. Local communities all over the capital have reported rises in fox numbers.<br /><br />Foxes haven't actually migrated to the cities from the country, they were here before we moved in and began changing the landscape with our urban dwellings. Being the intelligent and highly adaptable creatures that they are, they quickly learnt to make a living as their habitat changed around them.<br /><br />Fox numbers have remained pretty constant since the 1950's, with notable rises during the cub season, which lulls during winter due to road fatalities and disease related deaths.<br /><br />Our urban Fox however, is not safe from hunting. There has been a marked increase in urban hunting, by people who choose to set domestic Pit Bull types upon our urban Foxes. In many areas this trend is under police investigation.Lynn Cordell-Frisbynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1854709475119907418.post-72263146206283546292010-01-22T21:46:14.054+00:002010-01-22T21:46:14.054+00:00When Ludo approached me about writing a piece on f...When Ludo approached me about writing a piece on foxes I was thrilled. Not least because, by an amazing coincidence, it just so happened that the night before I was walking my dog on our local park which was still totally covered in snow, so totally white (which makes things brighter at night, have you noticed?). When suddenly I noticed my dog, Poppy, chasing after something about 30 metres ahead of me. At first I thought it was a cat but then I noticed it was longer than a cat and had a big bushy tail! I quickly realised it was a fox, but thought that it must be quite a young fox, or perhaps a female as it was fairly small. My first thought was ‘shit, what if Poppy catches it??’. I began wondering whether she would kill it. She is, generally a very friendly pacifist dog who hates any kind of fight but I thought she may still have that instinct. She certainly had the instinct to chase it. Anyway, I needn’t have worried because I soon realised she couldn’t catch the fox! She’s getting on a bit and her legs aren’t as fast as they were. <br /><br />Now, the extraordinary part of the story, and this resonates with Ludo’s piece: when the fox realised the dog couldn’t catch it, and noticed that Poppy had slowed down to a walk and then stopped, the fox decided it would have some fun. So it came walking slowly back towards her, teasing her, almost egging her on to chase her. Either that or it just wanted to be friends and play! Either way Poppy set off running again and for about five minutes they played a game of chase, running round in circles, stopping, the fox creeping back towards her and so on. When Poppy finally got too tired to carry on she laid down on the snow. At which point the fox tired of Poppy and started timidly approaching me! I have to say, I know foxes these days are bold, but this was the most audacious thing I’ve seen a fox do. I wondered whether it was hungry, or lost, or whether it indeed was a cub trying to find its family’s foxhole! I texted my sister about the extraordinary incident. She was amazed but not particularly helpful. She said ‘oh you must help it, a Tory has probably shot it’s mother!’<br /><br />Eventually I began to worry another faster more vicious dog might come along and actually catch it so we wandered off and so did it. Later as we left the park we saw it scuttling across the road, probably looking for some food in rubbish bins. It was not lost or scared, it was fine. Just a very naughty fox!Joshua Surteeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01836133230918430241noreply@blogger.com