Not so long ago, charging about the English countryside on a large horse, following a pack of baying hounds and blowing your hunting horn, seemed to some people to be a very jolly way of spending a Saturday afternoon. Not so jolly for the fox you and your dogs were chasing of course, but then, foxes were vermin, weren't they? And they killed the farmer's chickens and their numbers needed to be controlled. Right?
The End of Fox Hunting
Then Mr Blair and Labour came into power and put an end to all that. Think of the poor fox, they said. It's cruel and serves no real purpose. So fox hunting was banned and decent Britons could sleep easy in their beds once more (not worrying all that much about the thousands of pheasants and grouse that have their heads blown off each year, or the hundreds of fish that are caught and killed in our fair lakes and rivers).
Urban Foxes Now Perceived as a Threat
Now, it's all change once more as foxes in the UK are increasingly seen to be a pest, a menace and, particularly in urban areas, a threat to young children and people in general. The tide has turned once more in the way Mister Fox is perceived and popular opinion is most definitely of the view that he is not such a fantastic neighbour to have living in your back alleyway after all. How long will it be before local councils are sending out health and safety officers and pest controllers to combat this fox infestation?
The Reality of the Urban Fox Threat
According to research carried out by the Mammal Research Unit in Bristol, there are approximately 33,000 foxes inhabiting British cities and towns. That is a tiny figure when compared to the number of rural foxes in the UK, believed to be around 225,000. The RSPCA advises the public that foxes will try to avoid contact with humans as much as possible. However, these are wild animals and, if cornered, or frightened, they will attack and possibly bite people whom they perceive to be a threat.
Recent Attacks
In June 2010, twin baby girls were attacked by a fox while sleeping upstairs in their home in east London. Both children survived the attack, but their injuries were serious and required extensive hospital treatment. However, the fox remains one of the most popular wild animals in the UK and the Bristol Mammal Group argue that statistics show that a child is far more likely to be bitten by a dog than by a fox.
Fox Problems
Some experts claim that urban foxes struggle to find food, particularly in the winter months, because of the new heavy plastic bins which are difficult to get inside. Hungry and desperate for food, foxes may be taking more risks than previously and attempting to steal food from kitchens and other parts of houses and apartment blocks. But there is no evidence that the fox population in cities is rising and the attack on the twin girls remains a very rare act that (though frightening) is out of character for the majority of foxes who, whether they live in the country or the city, simply want a quiet life and to be left alone.
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