Urban foxes

There are many foxes around the world and they all are amazing scavengers, so no wonder we see them around our towns and cities. In this blog I am going to tell you about foxes, the threats they face and how you can spot one.

Foxes are nocturnal animals (they sleep during the day, and come out at night) and this is so they can eat without being spotted.

Basically, foxes will eat anything and everything they can get their paws on. Foxes are omnivores which means they don’t just eat meat but they don’t just eat plants. They eat a bit of both.

The fox family is made up of a vixen (female fox), a dog (male) and it’s young – there are usually up to four or five of these in each family. Cubs stay in the earth, or the place they are born, for roughly eight weeks after which they leave to find their new territory. Before they do so, the adults teach them how to hunt by leaving them alone for periods of time while they hide and watch.

Foxes often live in gardens, under sheds or in overgrown areas of grass but this isn’t necessarily good for them as it gets them used to humans and into bad habits like approaching people that might not like them and even take actions against them. If you have a shed or long grass in your garden, then block off the gap between the shed and the floor and cut down or shorten the long grass to prevent foxes sleeping there.

If you live in a city bear in mind January is the mating season for foxes and so you may hear them howling in the night. If you do, why not follow the noise with a torch to have a chance of spotting one. Do not be scared of foxes – they can’t harm you, they are extremely timid and are likely to just run off.

Foxes are a bit like marmite – you love them or you hate them, but they have their place and us humans should learn to live along side them.

By Ella