Feed foxes says the RSPCA

Obviously they prefer foxes to babies :rolleyes:

Glad to see they are being labelled irresponsible - we are seeing a turn in the medja vis-a-vis the RSPCA however we all know that they can turn back equally as quickly being the medja and all.
 
Nicnac said:
Obviously they prefer foxes to babies :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Since baby meat is quickly becoming a staple of foxes' diet, I am a liitle surprised the RSPCA isn't advising people to leave out babies along with the cheese, boiled potatoes, raw chicken pieces, bread and table scraps. Rolleyes indeed. :rolleyes:
 
Surely the sensible thing for anybody to do, before believing more biased and edited drivel from the likes of the press, is to actually READ the factsheet they are referring to.

http://content.www.rspca.org.uk/cms...goBlobs&blobwhere=1233009779671&ssbinary=true

This factsheet CLEARLY does not encourage or tell people to feed foxes. It makes one sentence about IF people want to see foxes in their garden, a small amount of food may attract them.

It actually contains more information about how to deter them.:rolleyes:
 
I would have thought given the recent Leveson Enquiry, the Tory papers would be a little more careful in distorting fact for their own gain....:rolleyes:

They obviously don't credit their readers with the intelligence to be able to read the factsheet for themselves.
 
MrPotts said:
Fburton, if there is ample food then more fox cubs survive, more adults to breed, more litters per year.
Click to expand...
Sorry I wasn't clear - I meant how has food provision by people affected fox numbers in cities. Has this been studied? I can see that putting food out is likely to increase numbers by improving cub survival, as you say, but this will be offset by mortality due to road accidents, pressure on territories (they have to get smaller in order to accommodate the greater numbers, but there are limits in a territorial species), and the fact that greater population density leads to less breeding and smaller litters. How much difference does feeding actually make, and do changes in bin collection frequency have a noticeable effect on the population?
 
The purpose of a territory for a wild animal is mainly food related. If there is ample food then the size of their territory decreases as they don't need to roam such a large area in their search. Hence if enough people feed foxes you can have a much larger population per square mile.

I'm unsure re facts regarding fatalities that are traffic related in the urban fox but seeing as most road speeds will be 20 or 30mph in built up areas I'd imagine there is less risk than the 60mph on a dark country road with no street lights.
 
Moomin1 said:
Surely the sensible thing for anybody to do, before believing more biased and edited drivel from the likes of the press, is to actually READ the factsheet they are referring to
Click to expand...

The article is actually quite balanced if you read it through to the end. The RSPCA have had opportunity to respond and put across that they are not advocating feeding foxes.

With regard to the fact sheet which is about 1/3 information and 2/3 Q&A's, you are quite right in that more space is given to deterring foxes than encouraging them.

However they could have been more responsible by starting their response to the question "How can I help foxes in the area?" with "We do not recommend feeding foxes as they do carry diseases that are transferrable to both humans and pets, also putting down food can attract other animals such as rats, however if you .........." and then carry on with the rest of their advice.
 
fburton said:
Since baby meat is quickly becoming a staple of foxes' diet, I am a liitle surprised the RSPCA isn't advising people to leave out babies along with the cheese, boiled potatoes, raw chicken pieces, bread and table scraps. Rolleyes indeed. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Stop it!!
Drinking pear cider, nearly wet myself reading post.:D
 
Lizzie66 said:
The article is actually quite balanced if you read it through to the end. The RSPCA have had opportunity to respond and put across that they are not advocating feeding foxes.

With regard to the fact sheet which is about 1/3 information and 2/3 Q&A's, you are quite right in that more space is given to deterring foxes than encouraging them.

However they could have been more responsible by starting their response to the question "How can I help foxes in the area?" with "We do not recommend feeding foxes as they do carry diseases that are transferrable to both humans and pets, also putting down food can attract other animals such as rats, however if you .........." and then carry on with the rest of their advice.
Click to expand...

Seems reasonable enough. I knew a chap who always put pet food out for the fox, he reckoned that it stopped them killing his hens. He never lost any hens so I guess it worked.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top