cricketfan
At the Start
And the fortnightly rubbish collection operated by some councils ? Can't see it helping.
Ca Photo Competition
- Thread starter Sara
- Start date
I will happily accept that fortnightly rubbish collections and sloppy habits are a part of the problem. So is the hedgerows issue though. It's a combination of factors that have led to the rise of the urban fox.
There has not been a boom in the fox population over the past ten years though, that is a fallacy as this article from the bbc shows (from 2004)
'No change' in fox populations
Rally at the Beaufort Hunt in Didmarton, Gloucestershire
Hunt supporters say they will disobey any ban on hunting
There has been little change in fox numbers in Britain in the past 25 years, according to a study in the Journal of Applied Ecology.
A team of scientists and volunteers counted fox faeces from over 400 1km-squared sample sites across the UK to make their calculations.
The final figure - of 258,000 - has hardly changed since a similar survey was carried out in 1981.
The International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw) funded the study.
By combining the number of faeces found in each site with estimates of the number of faeces a fox produces each day and the proportion of faeces that can be found during field surveys, the researchers could make their deductions.
A "guesstimate"
Study leader Professor Stephen Harris, of the Mammal Research Unit at the University of Bristol, UK, described the figures as something of a "guesstimate".
But they agree with results gained from studies carried out in previous years, which used different methods.
Fox hunt
The number of foxes killed by hunts each year is minuscule
Professor Stephen Harris
From 1981 onwards, several surveys have put the total at around the quarter of a million mark.
Of the latest figure, 225,000 of the foxes inhabit rural areas of Britain, says the study. The remaining 33,000 live in urban locations.
By itself, Ifaw says the survey does not show whether fox numbers would increase if people stopped hunting them.
However it claims another study, which it also funded with the Royal Society for the Protection of Animals (RSPCA) and published in Nature, shows there was no change in fox numbers when hunting was suspended for nearly a year during the foot-and-mouth epidemic in 2001.
Ifaw campaigner Josey Sharrad, said: "This research demolishes arguments by the hunting lobby that foxes need to be killed to prevent a population explosion. It will also allow us to monitor the impact of a ban on this cruel sport."
But this argument drew derision from Tim Bonner, the head of the Countryside Alliance group in the UK.
"These figures come as no surprise," said Mr Bonner. "All that this research does is prove that the present controls for managing wildlife are effective at maintaining sustainable populations.
"We do not claim that hunting on its own can control the UK fox population," he told BBC News Online. "There is no link between this research and political arguments for or against hunting."
Monitoring populations
Professor Harris said he did not think that a ban on fox hunting would affect fox populations in Britain.
"The number of foxes killed by hunts each year is minuscule," Professor Harris told BBC News online. "Foxes regulate their numbers very effectively.
WHAT FUTURE FOR THE HOUNDS?
Hounds
Hunting dogs number 20,000
"If you kill lots of foxes, they produce more cubs. Likewise if numbers are high, females will slow down breeding.
"However, it is important to have a method of accurately counting foxes should a ban come in," said Professor Harris. "If we have a precise method of monitoring foxes, we can make sure numbers don't rise.
"We don't want too many foxes, as they do deplete numbers of other animals."
In July of this year, Commons leader Peter Hain hinted that the government would move to ban fox hunting by Christmas.
There has not been a boom in the fox population over the past ten years though, that is a fallacy as this article from the bbc shows (from 2004)
'No change' in fox populations
Rally at the Beaufort Hunt in Didmarton, Gloucestershire
Hunt supporters say they will disobey any ban on hunting
There has been little change in fox numbers in Britain in the past 25 years, according to a study in the Journal of Applied Ecology.
A team of scientists and volunteers counted fox faeces from over 400 1km-squared sample sites across the UK to make their calculations.
The final figure - of 258,000 - has hardly changed since a similar survey was carried out in 1981.
The International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw) funded the study.
By combining the number of faeces found in each site with estimates of the number of faeces a fox produces each day and the proportion of faeces that can be found during field surveys, the researchers could make their deductions.
A "guesstimate"
Study leader Professor Stephen Harris, of the Mammal Research Unit at the University of Bristol, UK, described the figures as something of a "guesstimate".
But they agree with results gained from studies carried out in previous years, which used different methods.
Fox hunt
The number of foxes killed by hunts each year is minuscule
Professor Stephen Harris
From 1981 onwards, several surveys have put the total at around the quarter of a million mark.
Of the latest figure, 225,000 of the foxes inhabit rural areas of Britain, says the study. The remaining 33,000 live in urban locations.
By itself, Ifaw says the survey does not show whether fox numbers would increase if people stopped hunting them.
However it claims another study, which it also funded with the Royal Society for the Protection of Animals (RSPCA) and published in Nature, shows there was no change in fox numbers when hunting was suspended for nearly a year during the foot-and-mouth epidemic in 2001.
Ifaw campaigner Josey Sharrad, said: "This research demolishes arguments by the hunting lobby that foxes need to be killed to prevent a population explosion. It will also allow us to monitor the impact of a ban on this cruel sport."
But this argument drew derision from Tim Bonner, the head of the Countryside Alliance group in the UK.
"These figures come as no surprise," said Mr Bonner. "All that this research does is prove that the present controls for managing wildlife are effective at maintaining sustainable populations.
"We do not claim that hunting on its own can control the UK fox population," he told BBC News Online. "There is no link between this research and political arguments for or against hunting."
Monitoring populations
Professor Harris said he did not think that a ban on fox hunting would affect fox populations in Britain.
"The number of foxes killed by hunts each year is minuscule," Professor Harris told BBC News online. "Foxes regulate their numbers very effectively.
WHAT FUTURE FOR THE HOUNDS?
Hounds
Hunting dogs number 20,000
"If you kill lots of foxes, they produce more cubs. Likewise if numbers are high, females will slow down breeding.
"However, it is important to have a method of accurately counting foxes should a ban come in," said Professor Harris. "If we have a precise method of monitoring foxes, we can make sure numbers don't rise.
"We don't want too many foxes, as they do deplete numbers of other animals."
In July of this year, Commons leader Peter Hain hinted that the government would move to ban fox hunting by Christmas.
I think one can agree that there's been a huge urbanisation of many creatures, though. Seagulls didn't use to live and feed inland anywhere so much until fish stocks got depleted by (humans) overfishing, and opening up acres and acres of land for rubbish sites. Years back in Staffordshire, we had a huge landfill site out in pristine countryside, and thousands of gulls plus local corvids, not to mention mice, rats, badgers and foxes, used to scavenge it all day and by night. As towns have known no barriers and have spread further and further into what once were fox and badger runs, it's no wonder that those animals have taken to coming into the new gardens and being quite well rewarded with food put out for birds, as well as trash.
The eating habits of this country leave a lot to be desired, too. Road layby bins are usually overflowing with fast food leftovers and in Brighton, as I'm sure it is the same in many bigger towns, it's not at all unusual to get foxes coming in off the Downs to hoover up the thrown-away chips, half-eaten kebabs, pizzas, half-sandwiches, etc., which the population chucks in the bins or into side alleyways. By day the gulls patrol the beaches and promenades for whatever the locals and tourists want to chuck for them, and there are a few people who regularly take stale loaves into the local parks to feed whatever wants feeding. I find it absurd to hear these creatures referred to as 'vermin' - who made the muck in the first place? Thank goodness they do take the stuff - otherwise we'd be wading through it as it built up, thanks to the parlous state of street-cleaning here.
There's always this talk about 'explosions' of wild animal populations, but I'm hard pressed to see how or why those should be happening when their normal habitations are being encroached upon all the time by endless urbanisation and disturbance. Our gulls nest on the tops of houses and high buildings (as do a regular pair of peregrine falcons) because most of their normal nesting-sites have been taken over by clifftop 'development', which creates too much disturbance to bring up their young. I'm sure the same goes for foxes - a secluded suburban rhododendron bed in Surrey, with regular meals courtesy of urban rubbish, or even courtesy of a kind householder, sure beats roaming miles in foul weather to try to grab a couple of rats from someone's barn!
The eating habits of this country leave a lot to be desired, too. Road layby bins are usually overflowing with fast food leftovers and in Brighton, as I'm sure it is the same in many bigger towns, it's not at all unusual to get foxes coming in off the Downs to hoover up the thrown-away chips, half-eaten kebabs, pizzas, half-sandwiches, etc., which the population chucks in the bins or into side alleyways. By day the gulls patrol the beaches and promenades for whatever the locals and tourists want to chuck for them, and there are a few people who regularly take stale loaves into the local parks to feed whatever wants feeding. I find it absurd to hear these creatures referred to as 'vermin' - who made the muck in the first place? Thank goodness they do take the stuff - otherwise we'd be wading through it as it built up, thanks to the parlous state of street-cleaning here.
There's always this talk about 'explosions' of wild animal populations, but I'm hard pressed to see how or why those should be happening when their normal habitations are being encroached upon all the time by endless urbanisation and disturbance. Our gulls nest on the tops of houses and high buildings (as do a regular pair of peregrine falcons) because most of their normal nesting-sites have been taken over by clifftop 'development', which creates too much disturbance to bring up their young. I'm sure the same goes for foxes - a secluded suburban rhododendron bed in Surrey, with regular meals courtesy of urban rubbish, or even courtesy of a kind householder, sure beats roaming miles in foul weather to try to grab a couple of rats from someone's barn!