For The Foxes sake -The British Fox Study

 

I cannot say that I am surprised and nor can I say that I am not disappointed regarding the feedback for the study.

I know people want to protect the fox they watch/feed.  That is only natural since there are still many threats to them in the town and city including snares laid down for them and stealing cubs. However, the secrecy is creating a big problem,

 We know foxes are not a danger or threat to humans or pet cats. That is just pro hunt fake story telling to demonize the animal. We know that foxes are being poisoned in some areas –along with cats, hedgehogs and other animals. The secrecy is is allowing this type of thing to go on. If people are not educated about foxes and the dirty tricks being used by fur snarers and hunts then how can they act and help protect them? Someone sees two men hanging around near a neighbours home are more likely to think “possible house breakers” –their knowing a fox goes into that garden just does not fit into their equation because they wouldn’t be there for the fox, right? If they know of this danger they may tell you about those two men and that could be a fox saving warning.

There are hundreds of people out there around the UK who watch local foxes and some feed them. Most take photographs of them. Those photographs are valuable to a naturalist when looking at foxes in 2021. After months of scouring hundreds of photos from around the UK I have distinguished two prominent types of fox and fox morphology (colouration). Only ten (10) sets of photographs have come from fox watchers the rest I had to scour FB group photos then see which photos were taken where.

In fact, that scouring of photographs has achieved something (excluding the eye strain); it has helped me find what we might have considered at one time very rare fox colourations and some were eye-popping. Some were firsts for me after decades of work.

I started The Fox Study in 1977 and since that time, as with my work running the Exotic Animals Register (EAR), one thing has been paramount and that is the safety of the animal(s) in question. There was a motto: “By no word of mouth or deed to put any animal in danger” –when DEFRA insisted that I needed to turn over my exotics data to continue as part of the Partners Against Wild Life Crimes I refused and in the end they kicked me out. I could have stayed on the list of experts and made some money but not at the risk of exposing animals to DEFRAs “eradication protocol”.

At a time when I really needed money I was offered substantial amounts by two British newspapers who wanted to get maps and locations from what they called “Britain’s Big Cat Detective”. I refused. I knew why they wanted it and that was so they could pay a hunter to go out and “snag” a ‘big cat’. I decided poor was better.

Since 1977 I have never disclosed the name of any reportee wishing to remain anonymous, nor their location. The current look at foxes required this information:

1)      Photographs of the foxes watched/fed

2)      Name of the photographer (confidential but needed to prevent hoax/fraud)

3)      Location non-specific. In other words say, for Bristol the BS number so BS3, BS4 or BS16 etc which gives me a city area but no exact location (that is contained in the last three digits so I NEVER ask for those). In other areas just “London”, “Hove”, “Dartmouth”,”Glasgow” and so on because that gives me a geographic area NOT the exact location.

4)      How long have the foxes visited your garden and (if years) have you noticed any changes in their fur colour such as darkening, spotting or even black fur?

That is it. That information allows me to see whether foxes in different parts of the country have varied coat colours, whether they are smaller in one area compared to another. It helps us understand foxes in 2021 and that can ultimately help protect any at risk from hunters.

The Study is private and certainly not funded by any government department (such as DEFRA which hates me) or institution because, honestly, they do not care about foxes and fox studies do not bring in big donations for universities. This is NOT some type of tracking program in case rabies hits the UK. Firstly, it is very unlikely that rabies will hit the UK mainland and, secondly, no one has access to my data most of which is not kept on computer so hacking would be no good.

If you submit information you can either PM me on Face Book or email me at blacktowercg@hotmail.com and that’s it. Unless you have a very unusual or rare colour morph in which case I would like to learn more I do not pester with follow-ups. The four items listed above are all I am interested in.

There are foxes out there that have survived mange, serious injuries and more but are alive today because people have helped them and given them the chance to survive. Taking part in this study will hopefully do something towards protecting foxes and that is as important as the fight to protect badgers and the endangered hedgehog –both of whom feed alongside or near foxes with little or no conflict.

PLEASE if you can help –do.

Thank You

The Fox Study and NARF Implications

 

Above: The North American Red Fox

 If you have not read The Red Paper: Canids then it is very unlikely that you know the true story of British foxes. What we see today can easily be categorised as New Foxes as opposed to Old Fox types. The Red Paper: Canids was described as "explosive" and "totally rewrites the history of the fox in the UK".

The follow up will certainly carry on that tradition. Bit-by-bit I have pieced together that really should shake natural history in the UK to the core. 

We have irrefutable evidence that coyotes, wolves and jackals were released by British fox hunts.  This along with the importation of foxes from Europe as well as breeding foxes for future hunts is something it has taken a good few years to unearth and the information comes directly from the hunts.

I have clearly identified two fox types that seem typical of those found around the country. One of these is quite obviously of North American Red Fox (NARF) or Vulpes fulvus. 

In recent years wehave seen an extraordinary number of cases of escapes of Silver foxes as well as other exotic pet foxes. In fact the evidence leads to the suspicion that hunt groups are releasing NARF as something larger and more spectacular to hunt. It is also possible that the intention in some areas (such as Wales) is to breed something bigger with a "better fur" that can be caught in snares for the hiome grown British fur trade. The evidence speaks for itself.

Hayley de Ronde notes that in some areas the NARF has hybridised with or overtaken the number of British Red foxes.  This raises the concern that they will eventually replace the current British fox. She believes that the NARF were released following WW 2 and the eventual end of fur farming.

The Fox Study which I began in 1977 was able to make significant breakthroughs in tracing the history of UK foxes. The current work is designed to try to identify fox types in the UK and note how far and wide certain types are.

There are important points to make.

1. This work is not going to be completed quickly. There is absolutely no funding so things can take a while as everything comes out of my pocket.

2. This is a private research project aimed at giving us a better understanding of UK foxes. There is no governmental involvement, funding and there is no private access to core data given to any government department or agency working with one. People deal with me and no one else. 

3. From 1977-2013 I was an exotic animals advisor to UK police forces and it that time absolutely no witness identification or location data was ever given out. Confidential is confidential and protection of the animals involved is paramount.

4. What I ask for from people who want to help out is simple; 

(a)how long have the foxes been coming to your garden/area? 

(b)Have the foxes always looked the same -no stranger colourations to coats? 

(c)Basic location info.  In Bristol I simply ask for the post code area such as BS2 or BS 11. Outside of the City & County of Bristol I simply ask for the town, city or village. This is to help me see what types are in what areas.

(d) Photographs. People may love their foxy visitors but they take them to be "just foxes". With a photograph or series of photos I can see a lot more and that information helps greatly.

(e) If you have a name for the fox(es) that visit please note that with photos because if there is something unique spotted at least I can say which fox I'm talking about.  All photos/videoes are logged with the photographers Name and Town or area. I do not claim any rights to the photographs or video clips received so please do not be concerned that these will be used widely or without your permission.

From all of this I can hopefully produce something useful to people interested in foxes.

If you can help then please email me at:  blacktowercg@hotmail.com

If you see a black fox it may well be an escaped pet and those have been killed in road accidents, shot and even snared in the past as they are domesticated pets and not capable of living in the wild. The best people to contact (if you can get a photo it helps) are Black Foxes UK and their contact info can be found here: 

https://www.blackfoxes.co.uk/contact-us.php

THANK YOU