Foxes have made a success of living with people. This is not so much because of their mythical cunning, but rather their ability to adapt to a range of changing conditions.
Appearance and behaviour Male foxes, called dog foxes, are not much larger then cats weighing about 6.5kg and standing about 35cm at the shoulder. Female foxes, called vixens, are slightly smaller. Their colours may vary slightly, and during the spring and summer months they may look extremely scruffy as they moult. Foxes live in family groups - a dog fox and vixen producing one litter of about four cubs a year. It is also common for one or two other vixens to help raise the family - usually either the daughters or sisters of the breeding vixen. They communicate through calls, which may be very loud in the breeding season, scent marking, facial expressions, and body postures that are very similar to dogs'. Hunting throughout the family territory, these opportunist feeders have a varied diet ranging from fruit to rats and mice. On average, discarded food forms a third of their diet. It is incorrect that foxes survive largely by raiding the contents of dustbins.
Wild facts Foxes started appearing in towns and cities following World War I due to a change in people's lifestyles. New transport systems allowed people to work in one place and to live in another, and surburban housing was built in once rural areas. Foxes quickly adapted, taking advantage of the food and shelter provided in these new relatively large gardens. Now accustomed to living in close range of humans, successive generations have spread inwards towards the city centre. Today there can be more opportunities of food and shelter in towns and cities than in the surrounding countryside, with the destruction of hedgerows, woods and wild field margins.
Conservation issues The number of foxes in London remains about the same despite approximately 60% of the population dying every year. Nearly half of these deaths are due to car accidents. However, injured animals often survive, lying under a garden shed until the bones start to knit together. Once the fox is able to feed again it will soon regain its lost weight. Generally it is best not to move an injured or sick animal, rather to put out food for it each night. A fox taken in for treatment has only a slim chance of survival. It will probably be driven out from its territory by a new tenant. This "do not disturb" policy is true for supposedly abandoned fox cubs. A vixen normally leaves her cubs for long periods of time, especially as they get older. The rearing of truly orphaned cubs may be taken over by other members of the fox family group.
Living with foxes Most people derive pleasure from having foxes in their neighbourhood and they are certainly a benefit, feeding on rats, mice and feral pigeons. If you really don't want foxes in your garden then dog or cat chemical repellents are the most efficient deterrent. Most encounters with other large animals, such as cats, result in the two animals ignoring each other, or the cat coming off best. They are only a threat to small family pets such as rabbits. Most fox diseases are not transferable to pets or people. Should rabies enter Britain, London Wildlife Trust would support the vaccination of foxes, and not their killing, as an appropriate means of control. These wild animals provide a welcome reminder in our urban world of the realities of nature. They hunt, breed, play and die in the wilderness of our backyards. Adaptable opportunists, they have learnt to cope with the world that we have changed. London Wildlife Trust opposes the persecution of any of London’s wildlife and advocates a fox code as best practice.
In your patch Find out if the fox has been spotted in your area with the fantastic WIMBY tool, run by GiGL – Greenspace Information for Greater London.
Spotted Have you seen a fox in London? Let us know! Register with GiGL and tell us about the species you’ve spotted in the capital.