Cat V Fox?

 

I must admit that I am gradually losing my patience with people claiming a fox keeps attacking their cat and they end up at the vets all the time spending more money.

Do they have video footage of these attacks? You get two answers:

1) No

2) I do but calling me a liar I am not going to share it

2 above after politely asking. I've had three people who apparently just stood and watched as "foxes tore my cat apart". I, for one, would not stand by and watch my pet being attacked. Basically, it's a lie.

WHY can these people not tell you which vet is continually treating their cats after fox attacks? As one insisted their cat was seen by a vet I checked with the only two vets in the area in question. Never had any cat in attacked by a fox. "Who said it was a vet locally?" screeched the group moderator (a friend of the complainer).

In 50 years I have NEVER seen a fox attack a cat. In a wildlife survey in London back in the 1960s it was noted that foxes "ran like hell" when a cat came at them. I cannot find any historical or genuine modern account of a fox attacking and killing a cat.

In the last 20 years I have had occasion to rescue 5 different adult foxes that were cornered outside (by different cats)).

"Bella" the semi feral black cat that lived next door was a regular for attacking foxes and even twice had to be stopped as she jumped on foxes backs and went for a neck bite to kill it. I have on video two different cats that were stalking foxes.

Foxes can bite but a cat has 4 sets of claws and very nasty sharp teeth. Cats have all the attack advantages.

Cats fighting other cats -a fox was seen so it is to blame. A neighbour's dog has a go at a cat -a fox is to blame., This country has truly no interest in facts just blame it on...the badger...the fox...deer....otter. The biggest threat to pet cats are the owners at times so present veterinary reports or video footage or just shut up.

"The UK is currently one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth"

 

"The UK is currently one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth, with an average 19% decline in species abundance since 1970. Nearly 1 in 6 (16%) of the over 10,000 studied species are threatened with extinction, placing the country in the bottom 10% globally for biodiversity intactness"

http://stateofnature.org.uk/

Another Fox Dies Due To Netting In A Garden

 

Sadly an avoidable death in this case. We have had a number of deaths because people cannot empty inflatable pools and cubs fall in and drown or because people are so lazy that they put up netting for football etc but will not consider wildlife and pull it up in the evenings. Another net caused death.

127 Friday 22 05 2026 Dead young male cub, caught in netting --- Moravian Road BS15 8ND I removed all the netting –rigor mortis had set in” (note. RM sets in 1-2 hours after death and peaks at 6 -12 hours)

In The Long Term It Means Nothing Apparently

 Apart from a while living in Germany I was born and raised in Bristol. From an early age I had an interest in wildlife from the smallest insect to the largest mammal. I think it amused my gran when I used to pick up worms from her garden in St Werburgh's and just hold and examine them.

St Werburgh's was great as we lived in Sevier Street with the brook and Mina Road Park to our rear. The odd owl landing on the window sill at night was "fun" (huge glowing eyes outside the window); I interacted with a pretty smart jackdaw and even observed a large caterpillar that after all of these years (I was about 10 years old at the time) I have never been able to identify what species it was.

In 1975 whilst walking to work down Pennywell Road I saw by first fox out in the daylight (it was around 0630) -not far behind it was a pursuer: a chunky black and white tom cat that looked determined to teach "that damned dog" a lesson for coming into its area. A year later I set up the British Fox Study here in Bristol. I also looked into wild cats and badgers. In 1977 I was rather accidentally drawn into exotic animals and spent 1977-2018 acting as a UK police forces wildlife consultant (and later as part of the Partnership Against Wildlife Crime -PAWS).

Yes, I did get interviewed in newspapers 9national and regional) and even on local, national and non UK (Australia and Forces Radio Europe) on my work.

So I started out all those decades ago and tried as best I could to avoid publiciity while I also helped people build wildlife pounds, remove the odd adder that had wandered into their garden and tried to persuade local authorities (Conservative, Labour and currently the very non Greens) to help do more for the environment and help conserve our rapidly dwindling wildlife.

I had the first ever post mortem study into fox deaths set up in Bristol which yielded some interesting results. Outside the UK I am known for my research on canids and felids -particularly extinct ones and I managed to identify which fox inhabited Hong Kong before hunting drove it extinct -something naturalists there had been unable to do.

In 2000 I wrote a paper that clearly stated there WAS a genuine Corsican wild cat (aka "fox-cat") -science caught up with me about five years ago!

I have researched and discovered what the original British fox looked like as well as the wild cat -al archived and published for posterity.

British academia's response? "You aren't with a university are you?" which is their way of saying "you ain't part of the club". Far more interest outside the UK.

The question I keep getting asked by people who wonder WHY I still do all of this with no financial reward or official recognition (I liked it when someone pointed out that a lady who was a public toilet attendant for 30 years got an MBE for her work but "You just get tones of ------ thrown at you!" -it stops any ego developing)

From the 1970s when things were bleak -the Energy Crisis and power cuts- to the 1980s when people seemed to be trying to at least do something to save the environment and wildlife we have seen, since the late 1990s, a downward spiral of not many caring about all of the UK species going extinct, all the trees being cut down and Green Spaces grabbed for selling off.

Local authorities and national governments all have the same mantra: "**** wildlife and the environment -there is money to be made!"

When I am gone very few are going to even know about the work I have done. The UK as a whole doers not care what is going on outside of TV or on the internet. Otters, badgers, foxes and deer are all piling up on the roadside (former wildlife track) but build under or over passes for wildlife to cross? No. That would cost money -it's just wildlife after all.

Have I Ever Tried Working With Avon Wildlife Trust?

 

Someone asked me about Avon Wildlife Trust:

AWT I am indifferent to. They had Ashton Vale designated a Wildlife Deprivation Zone when I moved here in 1994. In my first night I observed low flying barn owls, hedgehogs, two foxes walking up the road, bats etc. Next day I saw a woodpecker, collared doves, wood pigeons, finches, great and Blue Tits and more.

After a month of wildlife surveying I sent a report to AWT who told me that I needed to join before any of my data could be looked at.

After B&M opened in Winterstoke Road I was accosted by a young fella looking to get people to join AWT and he very knowledgably informed me "Did you know this was a wildlife deprivation zone?" I looked out of the doorway and said to him

"What do you see outside?" Puzzled he shrugged. I pointed to the lamp post fitted rat traps , I pointed to the two wood pigeons, a large number of crows, three types of sea gull I then offered to show him the hedgehog droppings I had passed on the grass outside the strore.

He turned and asked the next person through the doors whether they had considered joining AWT to "help bring wildlife to the area".

I have never had any response to copies of the badger and fox deaths registers I sent nor the fox death study results.

When I asked AWT for some kind of support in asking Bristol City Council to look into ways to cut down wildlife deaths I was told they couldn't do that. Asking whether they could pass on any fox or badger death reports they received (three times) -nope.

I started the Fox Study Project in 1976 and AWT has never shown any interest-my work is better known internationally than in my own City. My badger work is also know outside the UK as is my work on wild cats and feral cats. None of which has ever interested AWT and certainly never BRERC,

We need people out there working to protect and study wildlife and the environment and far less time fund raising. I may come across as a miserable sod but when we live in one of the worst countries for wildlife I think I am allowed to be.

STOP! CHECK! REPORT!

 

We hit 100 dead foxes (reported) in Bristol on Wednesday. Today I listed foxes 101 and 102 and awaiting info on (possibly) 103.

When vixens die and they are lactating then cubs die. We've had cases in the past of where very young cubs have just been seen wondering about eating any vegetation they can -usually twigs.

Whatever part of the country you are ion (or outside the UK):

PLEASE do not be that ignorant "I really do not care" driver/walker. If you find a dead fox or collapsed fox check if it is lactating (extended teats) and REPORT it asap as cubs may need rescuing.

Oh, "Earth Dasy" is it?

 "Earth Day"

Earth is here for more than one day. Fund raiser, chance to get attention for whatever.

BUT there are people who try to save the environment and species 365 days of the year, every year. That doesn't matter, though as the "big bodies" don't make cash from them.

CARE about the planet 365 days a year not do something one day and feel proud you have "just saved the Earth"

In fact, for the UK it is just two faced hypocrisy as people dig up hedgerows and trees are cut down to make drive ways for their cars or gardens are concreted over because "less hassle to maintain" and wildlife homes are destroyed because "We want the fox and cubs out so we can put down new decking/a new shed" and "How do I get rid of the badgers in my garden?"

To put it bluntly; the UK is a shit hole when it comes to protecting the environment and wildlife and I've been working on this 50 years so I've seen the rot set in.

The 100th (KNOWN) Dead Fox Recorded For Bristol

It is sad to think that it is only the 22nd April and we have reached 100 dead foxes reported. With lactating vixens dying the death toll would be much higher if we knew the number of cubs they had that would die once the mother was gone.

100              Wednesday 22 04  2026   Stoke Bishop Bristol BS9 1DZ

Vixen 4.7kg Collapsed in a garden. Strong smell of infection but no external wounds.

After arriving at vets puss like blood came out of nose Vet wasn't sure but fox was too poorly to save Pts at Highcroft Shirehampton

Vixens Are More "Liberal" Than Dog Foxes

 

A long-term study led by Professor Stephen Harris and his team at the University of Bristol uncovered surprising behavioral patterns in red foxes (Vulpes vulpes).

After radio collar tracking urban fox populations for over 25 years, the research found that Dog foxes are remarkably loyal, often staying single for the rest of their lives if they lose their mate. This loyalty was thought to be linked to Dog fox role in raising offspring and maintaining territory stability.

Vixens, whose reproductive success depends on securing a mate each breeding season, tend to form new partnerships relatively quickly.

The study highlights the contrasting strategies between the dog fox and vixens: while males invest in long-term pair bonds and territorial defense, females prioritize reproductive timing and opportunity.

This research offers rare insight into the complex emotional and social dynamics of wild animals and challenges the assumption that monogamy is rare in mammals.

Fox tactics could inspire territorial design

 

Press release issued:

10 March 2011

A new study into the exclusion tactics adopted by urban foxes suggests that the transient nature of animal territory is a result of a complex system of individual-level interactions.

The size of an animal’s territory is ultimately dependent on how long it can exert its control before intruders cross the boundaries into its space. The precise nature of such changeable territorial boundaries is revealed in a new study which offers fresh insights from the combined perspectives of biological sciences, mathematics and engineering.

Researchers from the University of Bristol used thirty years of data regarding the movements of the urban red fox to construct and verify a mathematical model on which their analysis was based.  A trade-off between two factors emerged as key determinants of territoriality – the time necessary for an animal to move between its own boundaries and the time span during which the fox could maintain its scent trail within that territory.

In 1994, when a disease called sarcoptic mange infected and killed most of Bristol's fox population, Professor Stephen Harris noticed that as the animals on one territory died, the neighbouring animals were able to move in and take over within a matter of three or four days. He assumed that this was because the scent marks of the original fox population were no longer fresh.

This new study, published in PLoS Computational Biology, shows how important it is for a fox to renew its scent marks frequently, further demonstrating the transient nature of populations, and disputing previously held beliefs that scent marks serve as a long-term message and indicator of territorial boundaries.

Lead author Dr Luca Giuggioli, a Complexity Sciences lecturer in the Department of Engineering Mathematics and the School of Biological Sciences, said: “Understanding how organisms move and interact has implications far beyond behavioural ecology. This model may, for instance, shed light on the processes responsible for the formation of territorial boundaries in early human hunter-gatherer societies, and eventually help predict how the size of modern day countries will evolve.”

Co-author Jonathan Potts added: “Our theoretical framework might also inspire designs in collective robotics. From very simple rules, the individuals divide space into territories, and if one individual should fail, its territory is taken over. Building an army of territorial robots that move according to these rules could be an efficient and robust way to deal with dangerous tasks over a wide spatial area, such as clearing minefields.”

Dr Giuggioli added: “This study is one classic example in which answering a biological question with the help of Complexity Sciences tools provides far reaching results, challenging long-held preconceptions and opening up the possibilities in areas of science unrelated to where the questions originated.”

Paper: Animal interactions and the emergence of animal territoriality, by Luca Giuggioli, Jonathan Potts, Stephen Harris.  Published in PLoS Computation Biology.

 

Ljungan Virus and Foxes

 

 Ljungan Virus is quite "a thing" at the moment with a lot of research being carried out -not for wildlife health but human -that attracts the money.

With our necropsy study we found that babesia and leptospirosis were heavy hitters amongst foxes so it  only makes sense that as foxes main prey are rodents such as rats, voles, etc I at least mention the topic (it has been noted in Red Foxes but sadly the UK is far from open when it comes to research papers -unlike the US or Europe.

From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ljungan_virus

Ljungan virus was first discovered in the mid-1990s after being isolated from a bank vole near the Ljungan river in Medelpad county, Sweden.^[2] It has since been established that Ljungan virus, which is also found in several places in Europe and America, causes serious illness in wild as well as laboratory animals.^[3][4][5][6] Several scientific articles have recently reported findings indicating that Ljungan virus is associated with malformations, intrauterine fetal death, and sudden infant death syndrome in humans.^{[7][8][9][10]} In addition, studies are being conducted worldwide to investigate the possible connection of the virus to diabetes, neurological and other illnesses in humans.^[11][12]

Ljungan virus belongs to the genus Parechovirus of the family Picornaviridae. Other members of this viral family include poliovirus, Hepatitis A virus, and the viruses that cause the common cold (rhinovirus).^[13] One of the earliest scientific discoveries regarding Ljungan virus was that infected wild rodents developed diabetes if they were exposed to stress.^[14] This has led to speculation that this disease may be the underlying cause of fluctuating rodent populations in Scandinavia; when rodents increase to high densities, they find it difficult to defend territory and obtain food, and then become more susceptible to predation. This stressful situation results in disease, death and population decline, leading to a pattern of cyclic variation in population size over time.^[4]

There was a 2014 paper (see abstract below)

Ljungan virus is endemic in rodents in the UK

Anne-Marie Salisbury 1, Michael Begon, Winifred Dove, Bo Niklasson, James P Stewart

. 2014 Mar;159(3):547-51.

 doi: 10.1007/s00705-013-1731-6. Epub 2013 May 12.

abstract

"Ljungan virus is a recently identified member of the family Picornaviridae that was isolated from bank voles in Sweden. LjV has been associated with [corrected] type 1 diabetes-like symptoms and myocarditis in bank voles (Myodes glareolus), and it has been suggested that it has zoonotic potential. 

"Here, we show for the first time that Ljungan virus is prevalent (20-27 % positive by PCR) in four species of UK rodent (Myodes glareolus [bank vole], Apodemus sylvaticus [wood mouse], Microtus agrestis [field vole] and Mus musculus [house mouse]). 

"Sequence analysis showed that Ljungan virus of genotypes 1 and 2 were present, although genotype 1 was more prevalent and more frequently associated with brain tissue.

"This study highlights the prevalence of Ljungan virus in the UK and the need for assessment [corrected] of its zoonotic potential."

Leptospirosis and Foxes

  Abstract from Acute lethal leptospirosis in a red fox (Vulpes vulpes) Journal of Comparative Pathology Volume 201, February 2023, Pages 77-80

Author links open overlay panel, , Nenad Turk b, , 

Leptospirosis, caused by pathogenic spirochaetes belonging to the genus Leptospira, is a globally distributed zoonosis that can affect many species of domestic and wild animals, and humans. The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) is a native species in Croatia and, due to constant food availability and lack of interspecies competition, is becoming more abundant in urban and suburban areas. 

Although antibodies for Leptospira spp have been detected in red foxes, lethal disease has not been reported. We necropsied a young, male red fox that had jaundice, multifocal haemorrhages in the heart, lungs and urinary bladder, hepatomegaly, non congestive splenomegaly and slight yellow discolouration of the renal cortex and medulla. Histology revealed multifocal haemorrhages in parenchymal organs, thrombi within lung septal capillaries and other blood vessels, interstitial lymphocytic and plasmacytic nephritis and erosions of the gastric mucosa. 

A microscopic agglutination test on the post-mortem cardiac blood clot revealed a high titre to Leptospira interrogans serovar Icterohaemorrhagiae, which implies contact with rats, which are natural reservoirs of this serovar in Croatia. 

The gross and histological findings in this fox were similar to those in dogs with leptospirosis, indicating that fatal leptospirosis can occur in foxes and suggesting that this species can act as a source of infection for other animals and humans.