Today Post::Fox

Another frequent visitor to the London garden is a fox.

We’ve had foxes around here for about thirty years - they’ve always lived in the park at the back of the house. This year though, there’s a den in the garden of a house a couple of doors down. The house was unoccupied for a while, and obviously looked like a good place to raise a family. I can sometimes see the cubs playing in the garden from my bedroom window, and every so often they wander over.

One of the adults, however, visits regularly at 8.30 every evening - I could set my watch by it. I put out some food tonight to encourage him (or her?) to stick around long enough for me to take photos - not the best quality I’m afraid, as not only was it late but also very cloudy. I was therefore photographing in very low light - almost in the dark, and I’ve had to play around with the luminosity and contrast to make the photos visible. So they’ve come out a bit grainy.

Urban foxes are now a common sight in many British towns, and London is certainly full of them. I’ve even seen one right in the centre, in the streets around Regent’s Park. And they’re another of those animals you either love or hate to have around. Like the squirrels, they’re lovely to watch but can be pests. They’ll dig holes in the garden to bury surplus food or hunt for grubs, dig burrows under your fences, yap and scream when you’re trying to sleep, and mark your garden as their territory by … well, you can imagine.

Despite which I love having them around. And yes, I do put food out for them whenever I’m here.

Should you feed urban foxes? It’s a question which has people screaming even louder than the foxes. Obviously, if you don’t want them around your garden, the answer is no. However, if you do there are still things to keep in mind.

Firstly, the food has to be suitable. Foxes are omnivorous and will eat meat (cooked or uncooked), fruit and vegetables. Dinner scraps or tinned dog food are fine, and remember they need water too. Avoid giving them anything which they would not eat in the wild - especially chocolate, which is poisonous for all canids.

Don’t try and tame them or get them eating from your hand. It can be done but is dangerous - not necessarily for you, but for the fox who will lose its natural fear of humans and might approach someone who doesn’t want to be approached. Foxes won’t normally attack people, but will defend themselves if they feel threatened.

Don’t feed so much or so regularly that they become dependent on you. Sooner or later you won’t be there - even if only for the holidays. And remember that the cubs must learn to hunt and scavenge for food before it’s time for them to leave the family and move off - which happens at about eight months. Don’t make it too easy for them. Our cubs are really skinny and scrawny - but I am rigorously ignoring them.

Remember that feeding them will encourage them to stick around, and while you might be happy to put up with the holes in your lawn and fox crap on your paths, your neighbours may not be so keen.

Remember that having food around could attract less welcome visitors like rats. If possible, find out what time your foxes come and put the food down just before, always in small quantities which the fox will finish.

Oh - and one other thing. If you have foxes in your area, don’t use blood or fishmeal fertiliser on your garden. The foxes will be convinced there’s a carcass buried there somewhere, and dig the whole place up trying to get to it. On the other hand, if you want the whole place dug over, it would probably be cheaper than hiring a rotovator …