City Foxes V's Countryside Foxes

[on-point 0]

you can certainly tell a dumped city fox once you get hounds behind them...pre ban we chopped four in an acre of gorse covert in feb...couldn't have happened if those foxes were local. a city fox in the middle of the countryside stands out a mile - simply doesn't have the local knowledge

on-point

[SportingShooter 0]

I have shot many foxes which I believe to have been captured and released into the countryside.

There is a massive and easily identifiable difference in my opinion. I have shot three "suspects" this year, each one was shot with a shotgun as they come in extremely easily to a squeek here, one came to within 10 yards before it even stopped to consider. On inspection, all of them had distinguishing features, scars with stitch marks, patches of fur which had failed to grow back, all had mange and were very, very thin.

Compared to the true contryside ones here, they rarely come in under 60 yards with the call and none have ever had scars with stitch marks.

And so yes, Urban Foxes which have been released are, IMO, much easier to hunt and kill than their Rural cousins.

 

Regards

SS

[mackem 23,998]

I have called them in while standing under a HPS streetlight,just because they are townies doesnt mean they have lost thousands of years of natural instinct,if anything they sometimes seem easier to bring in that their bumpkin cousins

[Bosun11 537]

Urban foxes were a lot easier to hunt before the ban,they come in like a rocket when called mostly,I once had to put out my foot as a physical deterent when one hared in to the call,we once got 5 in 2 hours,never lamped a full night in the city but I think it would be easy to get a decent bag,I know guys from the north-east who consider a drive from Sunderland to London worthwhile just to lamp fox,because before the ban they KNEW they were guaranteed a decent nights sport.

 

Like I said in my experience they dont take long to adapt to a lamp or your call...In the past I've had country ones come in just as quick as these "urban" ones. At what point do they cease to be urban? Most of the estates round here border countryside so I get confused

 

up here they squeak in , but we went down south last year , as i lived there for a bit and when i moved back up here we had a due down , and the foxes there roamed the streets ect , dont think have ever seen a rabbit in there life , therfore when we tried to squeak them , was pointless , they just wasnt intrested ,

Not in London mate,forget "squeaking was pointless" had countless fox in London,and they DID come in,i have fox in the street every night,saw a few last night,they are genuine townies

 

I've called many in around the London area, squeak to a town moggy an it'll be half interested, urban foxes understand a 'distress' call, thousands of years of breeding see's to that!

 

Lamped (pre-ban) just over the Dartford bridge, some ammount of urbans there , reminded me of the Wirral 20 years back.

[mackem 23,998]

I lamped in Hounslow a few years ago,late autumn,cant remember the exact number sitting around us along the hedges but it was between 14-16 at one time?

[undisputed 1,664]

I dont think I've came across any that have been relocated...I've seen them around the city centre late at night, and they seem at ease in their surroundings thers a lot of countryside around the outskirts of glasgow with plenty of charlies but after theyv'e been lamped or had a close encounter with a dog and lamp their natural instincts kick in and theyre quite difficult to get near again. One thing is for sure they dont bite any softer than their country cousins

[Malt 379]

I dont think I've came across any that have been relocated...I've seen them around the city centre late at night, and they seem at ease in their surroundings thers a lot of countryside around the outskirts of glasgow with plenty of charlies but after theyv'e been lamped or had a close encounter with a dog and lamp their natural instincts kick in and theyre quite difficult to get near again. One thing is for sure they dont bite any softer than their country cousins

My younger brother Daz would tend to agree with you there! He was walking home one night pissed with a kebab. He cut across the school field and come across charlie scavenging around in the bins. So he decides it would be a good idea to give it small bits of kebab. He was doing this for about 10 minutes, and the fox got brave and came within hands reach. So Daz in all his pissed up wisdom, decides he's tamed this fox within the space of 10 mins, and tried to stroke it..

Big mistake!

 

Mind you, I don't put much faith in his tales of pissed up trips across the school field, on another occasion he reckons a Badger came charging out of the bushes and chased him for 100 yards, but at least he had the tooth marks as evidence after what he said happened with the fox..

[skycat 6,173]

I remember reading something a few years back which said that town foxes were actually evolving physically, getting smaller, and even their teeth were changing to adapt to a more scavenging diet of human rubbish: whether that is true or not I don't know, but I'd imagine generations of town foxes would become smaller due to a poor diet of left over chips, burgers etc. I know that when our local landfill site was active we had loads of foxes round it, and none of them grew to the same size I'd expect from foxes we get out on the fens eating only a natural diet.

AND this landfill was being filled up with rubbish from London!

[TOPPER 1,809]

ive trapped and shot loads of urban foxes in bristol and they are all skinny mange ridden things and never seem to evole like there country cousins, a mate of mine drives a cattle truck and once a week he does the fox run, he collects urban foxes from shelters around the southwest and takes them to drop of pionts on dartmoor and exmoor and this is all arranged by bristol university sad really when you think of all the brains in that place that they should unwittingly inflict such suffering on poor old charlie as he wasn t brought up to hunt just scavenge and he then starves to death much better to have a nice warm lead injection

[mackem 23,998]

I remember reading something a few years back which said that town foxes were actually evolving physically, getting smaller, and even their teeth were changing to adapt to a more scavenging diet of human rubbish: whether that is true or not I don't know, but I'd imagine generations of town foxes would become smaller due to a poor diet of left over chips, burgers etc. I know that when our local landfill site was active we had loads of foxes round it, and none of them grew to the same size I'd expect from foxes we get out on the fens eating only a natural diet.

AND this landfill was being filled up with rubbish from London!

Smallest adult fox I ever saw was a tiny 6-7 lb vixen,the dog caught her on an east-london sportsfield,she jinked like a hare

[Bosun11 537]

I remember reading something a few years back which said that town foxes were actually evolving physically, getting smaller, and even their teeth were changing to adapt to a more scavenging diet of human rubbish: whether that is true or not I don't know, but I'd imagine generations of town foxes would become smaller due to a poor diet of left over chips, burgers etc. I know that when our local landfill site was active we had loads of foxes round it, and none of them grew to the same size I'd expect from foxes we get out on the fens eating only a natural diet.

AND this landfill was being filled up with rubbish from London!

 

I wouldn't know about that in a scientific way, though I would say it would be far to soon (for how many years have we had urban foxes, my guess would be around 40, in numbers) to change these animals phisically but from the 'old' days of hunting town foxes for years, most seemed of a smaller type, though the odd big 'un did turn up.

I belive diet and smaller territorys would play a part, foxes wouldn't have such a vast area to roam, then when in population, maybe not the best dog fox specimens would get to breed, which could produce smaller, weedier offspring?

[undisputed 1,664]

I dont think I've came across any that have been relocated...I've seen them around the city centre late at night, and they seem at ease in their surroundings thers a lot of countryside around the outskirts of glasgow with plenty of charlies but after theyv'e been lamped or had a close encounter with a dog and lamp their natural instincts kick in and theyre quite difficult to get near again. One thing is for sure they dont bite any softer than their country cousins

My younger brother Daz would tend to agree with you there! He was walking home one night pissed with a kebab. He cut across the school field and come across charlie scavenging around in the bins. So he decides it would be a good idea to give it small bits of kebab. He was doing this for about 10 minutes, and the fox got brave and came within hands reach. So Daz in all his pissed up wisdom, decides he's tamed this fox within the space of 10 mins, and tried to stroke it..

Big mistake!

 

Mind you, I don't put much faith in his tales of pissed up trips across the school field, on another occasion he reckons a Badger came charging out of the bushes and chased him for 100 yards, but at least he had the tooth marks as evidence after what he said happened with the fox..

 

Ha Ha! a man after my own heart dont believe all you hear. Mind you couple I work with have brought in vid clips and pics of them on their patio with a family of badgers foraging around them they have been feeding the badgers and foxes in their back garden for years. Giving him my camera tomorrow to get pics I'll stick them up in here if he gets them.

[woodard 32]

town foxes carry more diseases biggest one i have had was about 23 years ago and was 25Lbs but i no there is a lot bigger been killed

[undisputed 1,664]

When I started this post (before keano resurrected it) I wasn't referring to foxes that had been dumped or relocated. The places we see them I suppose cant be referred to as the countryside as they now border huge housing estates but they dont seem any the worse for wear in terms of their condition size etc. Some of the garbage they eat in the towns only makes up part of their diet as I'm sure rats and such far outnumber the foxes in towns.

[undisputed 1,664]

When I started this post (before keano resurrected it) I wasn't referring to foxes that had been dumped or relocated. The places we see them I suppose cant be referred to as the countryside as they now border huge housing estates but they dont seem any the worse for wear in terms of their condition size etc. Some of the garbage they eat in the towns only makes up part of their diet as I'm sure rats and such far outnumber the foxes in towns.

just opinion undisputed as am entitled to !!! Just as you are

 

 

Not disputing that young man :notworthy: The post died a death way back last year I was just surprised to see it back up mate