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Urban fox warning

7:20am Tuesday 13th July 2010 in Your View

WE live near the Perryfields allotments, which are known to be populated by many foxes.

We have within the last week lost a cat and are sure that she has been attacked and killed by a fox.

While we have no evidence of this as a fact we were told by a neighbour that she heard a terrible cry and screeching of an animal being attacked on the allotments the night we last saw our pet cat.

Indeed it was about this time last year when we lost another cat that just went missing without a trace. We now suspect that she was also a victim of the urban fox.

Both our lost cats were not wanderers and were neutered small female cats micro-chipped with collars. It seems too much of a coincidence that they have both gone missing.

I just want a message to go to our local community that they should be mindful that foxes are potential killers of domestic animals and not to encourage them to come closer to houses by leaving out scraps of food.

My personal view, for what it’s worth, is that the fox has a right as any other animal for existence and I am totally against fox hunting as a ‘sport’.

I do, however, believe that we should keep a boundary between the domain of the fox, which should be the countryside, and not in urban areas when they become a threat to domestic animals.

John Hughes, Crabtree Lane, Bromsgrove

Comments(8)

yampster says...
9:30am Tue 13 Jul 10

I lived for many years in Birmingham and several foxes lived in the jungles at the bottom of local gardens. I had at one time five cats and none of them were ever taken by a fox. I have seen my cats watch unworried as the foxes came to hoover up the bread and peanuts we put out for the birds. Live and let live seemed to be the order of the day. Foxes themselves make a terrible racket when calling to each other, as if they are in great pain. It can be unnerving if you don't know what it is

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Harry-ca-Nab says...
10:46am Wed 14 Jul 10

Yampster is quite right - the scream may well have just been the foxes - we get them all the time.

You cannot "confine foxes to the countryside".

Anyway Bromsgrove is not urban, its is hard up against the countryside - what do you propose, barbed wire fences, fox patrols, poison, shooting,...border agents?

Domestic cats kill millions of small mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles every year in the UK. They are responsible for a massive collapse in the wildlife.

Anyone who truly is interested in protecting wildlife should confine their cats to the home or, better still, not have them at all.

Cat ownership is irresponsible.

They are far more damaging to wildlife than foxes and have less right to be wandering about.

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NatureWatcher says...
10:33pm Wed 14 Jul 10

Both Yampster and Harry_ca_Nab are correct. Not only do foxes make a noise which sounds like a scream when calling each other, but domestic cats, as long as they are healthy and haven't been declawed by their owners, are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves when it comes to foxes, which is why foxes usually give them a wide berth.

When my cat was four I remember watching her go up against a fox one night when it got too close to her. The fox ran away despite being twice her size!

I'm afraid that if cats disappear then, unfortunately, the chances are that it's more likely due to human intervention either by car or by person.

With only hearsay and no absolute proof that the fox killed the cat, this article should, in my opinion, not have even made it to press as it only serves to scare pet owners and alienate the urban fox population.

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charfordman says...
9:30am Thu 15 Jul 10

Gosh, that Dail Mail has a lot to asnwer for doesn't it.

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valewildlifehospital says...
11:57am Thu 15 Jul 10

I have been working with foxes for more than 26 years, mainly in connection with our wildlife hospital & I have never known of a case of a fox attacking a healthy cat. Foxes usually give cats a wide berth.
The noises were almost certainly just foxes.
It is a great shame that these scaremongering stories have increased since the alleged fox attack on the twins.

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slimhotknave says...
12:36pm Thu 15 Jul 10

I wonder if Mr John Hughes is a hunt supporter??

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msjonesy says...
2:40pm Thu 15 Jul 10

The domestic pets in the countryside are buggered then aren't they? This is getting rediculous now. The next headline will be 'Foxes are taking our jobs'.

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chesham20 says...
6:48pm Thu 15 Jul 10

You have no proof it was a fox or foxes. NO PROOF , NO BRAINS. Just another one of the worst preditor in the world MAN..............

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