David Element
Wildlife
Photography and Digital Video Images
____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Mammals 2 - Red
Foxes

RED FOX Vulpes vulpes (f)

RED FOXES Vulpes vulpes (m, f)

RED FOXES Vulpes vulpes (m, f)

RED FOX Vulpes vulpes (f)

RED FOX Vulpes vulpes
(f)

RED FOX Vulpes vulpes (f)
- The Red Fox Vulpes vulpes is one
of the most adaptable and successful of all predatory mammals with a
distribution covering much of the world. They have been illustrated here
with a series of old personal favourite photographs that have been scanned
from transparencies although there are many other digital images shown
elsewhere on this web site. In Britain foxes have become a familiar sight
in some major cities since the end of the Second World War. Suburban
gardens, parks and railway embankments all provide ideal habitat (try looking
out of a train window on a sunny day if you are travelling on a London
suburban route) and there is no shortage of easy food to be obtained by
scavenging. They have exceptional agility and they are able to scale most
garden fences with ease.
- Although
the maximum potential life span may reach double figures (and some captive
animals are known to have lived this long) few wild foxes will live for
more than four or five years and the majority will die within the first
year of life.
- In
London and Bristol, where significant population studies have been
performed (*see below), the average life expectancy is not much more than
fourteen or fifteen months. Urban populations suffer heavy casualties on
the roads, with up to half of all foxes meeting an untimely end following
collisions with cars. Other individuals may be injured during minor
accidents and many foxes do appear to limp in a pronounced fashion,
although this is often in response to a minor leg wound and the emphasis
of the limp may change from day to day! If a limb is broken a fox will lie
up out of sight until the wound has healed and it is strong enough to
reclaim its position in the social hierarchy.
- Another
major killer is sarcoptic
mange, in which the most obvious symptom in affected
individuals is fur loss. Whole family groups may be wiped out by this
extremely unpleasant mite-borne disease. The foxes may become totally bald
in severe cases and these animals are distressing to observe as they may
take a long time to die. Some milder cases may recover spontaneously by
developing antibodies against the mites and the author has had personal
experience of observing this.
- Foxes
do moult naturally during the summer months and this may lead the observer
to erroneously believe that a healthy animal might have been infected with
mange (although they can of course have this disease when moulting too).
During the autumn the thick winter coat will grow and moulted foxes will
then achieve their physical peak prior to mating. All of the illustrations
above show foxes in this condition and the degree of insulation offered is
seen in the photograph of the vixen in the snow - none of the snowflakes
have melted.
- The
breeding strategy of this species is intriguing as it is able to absorb
this high mortality under all but the most extreme circumstances (i.e. a
major and endemic outbreak of sarcoptic mange or persistent attempts at
eradication by humans) without significant overall loss in population.
- The
breeding season begins towards the end of each year. Courtship is an
animated and noisy process and the animals become somewhat oblivious to
all other events as the act of mating approaches. Screaming vixens
sometimes cause consternation as the cries (which may sound uncannily
human) are loud, piercing and often uttered at the dead of night!
- Two of
the above photographs show foxes interacting during the breeding season.
The second picture shows the dog fox and vixen in a state of high
agitation with vibrissae fully erect and the fourth photo shows the same
animals gently nuzzling as they cement their pair bond.
- During
the breeding season adults normally live in pairs or in small family
groups of between two and six. Most groups of more than two will contain
one dominant dog fox and vixen and the remainder of the group consists of
either sibling animals or offspring of lower social status. If more than
one vixen conceives, only the dominant female will usually give birth,
with other pregnant females spontaneously aborting their cubs in the
majority of cases. This behaviour is presumably controlled by hormonal
signals produced by the dominant vixen which then somehow suppress
reproduction in the subordinates. However, if the dominant vixen fails to
survive until the time when she is due to deliver her cubs, one of these subordinate
females may then go on to produce a live litter. The reproductive strategy
is therefore one of self-limitation.
- Despite
the sophistication of the reproductive process most female foxes will only
live long enough to produce a single litter when they are about ten months
old.
- Even
the litter size seems to be controllable, with larger numbers of cubs
being produced when the population density is low and smaller numbers when
it is high. The cubs will stay with the family group until August or
September when they usually begin to migrate to new territories. This is
another period of high mortality as the inexperienced cubs will be exposed
to many sources of danger at this time.
- Foxes
have variable temperaments and some individual animals may actually become
very trusting and tame in the company of humans. Others will remain
entirely wild and will avoid any human contact.
- Anyone
with a genuine interest in foxes is strongly encouraged to read "Urban Foxes" by
Stephen Harris - see full details on Mammals
1. This very informative and easy
to read book gives an authoritative and well balanced overview of the
status of the Red Fox in Britain. *Some of the above facts about breeding
strategy and lifespan have been derived from this source.
- It is
well known that not everybody likes foxes, so two useful addresses are
given below if advice is required about humane deterrence or treatment for
sarcoptic mange – although the author does not share any confidence in the
use of homoeopathic remedies (however well-intentioned they might be) and
any recovery may be due to good nutrition, hydration and an immune
response instead. The following are busy charitable organizations (so any
donations will be welcomed) and their addresses and contact numbers are as
follows:
- The
Fox Project, The Old Chapel, Bradford Street, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1AW.
Tel:01732 367397; Fox Deterrence Helpline: 0906 272 4411
- The
National Fox Welfare Society, 32 Bradfield Close, Rushden, Northants NN10
OEP. Tel:01933 411996; Adviceline:01933 397577
'Meet
the Foxes' and 'Urban Fox Attack'
- Some of
David's intimate close-up video material of two foxes appeared in a Twenty Twenty
Television 'Cutting Edge' documentary about London's urban foxes
entitled 'Meet
the Foxes' which was broadcast on Channel 4. It is
realised that some viewers were understandably upset by the final sequence
shown in which a dog fox and pregnant vixen were shot dead. David would
like to point out that his archive sequences were used as part of a
composite film for narrative purposes and both of the animals seen in his
film clips are presumed to have died some time later from natural causes.
The dangers of life in an urban environment are genuine and many foxes do
suffer an early and violent death as accurately shown in this film. The
population may also fluctuate greatly in response to outbreaks of
sarcoptic mange. More recently (July 2010) following a heavily publicised
news story about twin babies that were apparently savaged by a fox in
their upstairs bedroom much of this film was re-edited with some new
footage under the title 'Urban
Fox Attack' and shown on More4. Once
photographs of the wounds were shown it became evident that they were
indeed consistent with the type of bite-marks that a fox (or a dog) might have
inflicted on its animal prey and it is quite obvious why this event was so
upsetting. However, it is also quite possible on occasion that dog-owners
might claim that a wild fox had been responsible for inflicting bites on
family members rather than risk losing their pets as they would almost
certainly have been destroyed. It is very much hoped that these children
both made a complete recovery with minimal scarring. However, it is
important to keep such matters in perspective and to ensure that any risk
assessments about the possible threat to humans are evidence-based, taking
into account the number of reported bite incidents and their severity. It
is also appropriate to ensure that any possible actions taken relating to
fox population control are based on sound expert judgement rather than any
poorly informed knee-jerk populist political whims, not least because the
foxes' breeding strategy is already self-limiting. For example any risk of
physical injury from a fox should be weighed against the comparative risk
from dog bites (enormously high by comparison) or from injuries inflicted
by other humans. It must be emphasised that fox bites are extremely rare
whereas some 'domestic' dogs seem to have been bred with the specific
intent of inflicting maximum potential physical violence. Non-accidental
injuries to children are often encountered in hospital casualty
departments (unlike fox bites). Several young children have tragically
been killed by vicious dogs that could not be controlled. In addition,
more pathological organisms are recorded as having been horizontally
transmitted by human bites than by dog bites. It was also erroneous for
the film to have reported that rural foxes live for eight years as this is
likely to be a maximum life-expectancy as there are many hazards in the
countryside as well. For the record, the photographer and his family have
hand-fed foxes on numerous occasions without ever receiving anything more
threatening than a lick. However, care was taken not to raise hands above
the foxes' heads so that they did not feel threatened and they were never
cornered.
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