No. The Viking Kitties are currently undergoing SEAL training at San Diego.
Posted on 02/05/2005 8:36:18 PM PST by T-Bird45
Urban foxes are attacking and killing pet cats because they are struggling to find enough food to eat in British towns and cities.
Cat owners have reported an increasing number of attacks and pest control specialists say that the use of wheelie bins, rather than bin bags, for rubbish disposal is partly to blame because it has deprived many foxes of an easy source of food.
There are no plans to start a cull of urban foxes
Gordon Manson, a pest controller from Balerno, near Edinburgh, says that the number of fox-related calls he receives has doubled. "The population has got out of hand and because of wheelie bins they are no longer able to find their regular supply of food," he said.
"Now they are moving on to pets. I have done jobs where I have turned up to find a cat's head in the garden. I've had about 40 to 60 calls from people bothered by foxes over the past year and usually it is more like 20 to 30."
Janet MacPhail, a 57-year-old nurse from Edinburgh, was recently woken in the night by screams coming from her garden. "We found a pack of six foxes attacking our cat, Clover. We managed to chase the foxes away, but she was badly mauled and had one eye missing, so we were forced to put her down.
"We feel that foxes are a pest and steps should be taken to keep them under control, but we spoke with the our local council who told us they had no policy on controlling urban foxes," she said.
Mike Hall, a veterinary surgeon at the Braid Veterinary Hospital where Clover was put down, said that he was dealing with a growing number of cats with fox-related injuries. "We have been seeing more examples of cats with fox bites recently, whereas 10 years ago it was unheard of," he said.
"I had one client who woke early one morning to find a fox chasing her cat around the dining room, having got in through the catflap. Foxes are becoming braver in what they will look for as prey."
Bob Drinkwater, a community centre manager from Stamford Hill, north London, recently saved Mica, his tabby cat, from a vicious fox attack. "Luckily I managed to frighten the fox off, but it had taken a large bite out of Mica's back legs, for which she needed stitches and anti-biotics. I had always heard that foxes don't attack cats, but clearly they do and need to be kept under control."
Kevin Stanley, a chef from Bexleyheath in Kent, who saw his cat being killed by two foxes, called for a cull. "Urban foxes should be exterminated and I would support any humane way of getting rid of them. It won't be long before a tragedy involving a child occurs because foxes are so daring now," he said.
The Countryside Alliance also called for stricter controls on the fox population. A spokesman said: "Now the fox is also an urban force, more must be done to ensure the population does not spiral out of control, because the impact on pets would be severe."
A spokesman for the Cats Protection League said its members were increasingly concerned about fox attacks on their pets. "While we still consider cars to be a greater threat, we are taking more calls from members who are worried about fox attacks," she said. "Our advice is to make sure cats are kept indoors at night."
Out of a total fox population of 240,000, approximately 35,000 animals are urban foxes. Although road accidents and disease are thought to kill off half of the adult animals every year, the urban population shows no sign of diminishing.
Stephen Harris, a professor of environmental science at Bristol University, said, however, that increasing fox attacks on domestic cats was an "urban myth".
"I have studied the behaviour of urban foxes for more than 35 years and have yet to see one attack a cat," he said. "Foxes are solitary by nature, so anybody claiming to have seen a pack of foxes attacking their cat is simply talking rubbish."
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said that it had no plans to start culling foxes in urban areas.
No. The Viking Kitties are currently undergoing SEAL training at San Diego.
Apparently it got deleted from the original index. I've saved it through four computers.
Good! I hate cats!
Thanks for the link.
http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Pet_20Fox
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/4707/pets.htm
http://www.foxes.org/urbanfox/part3.html
http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/fennecfoxes/p/fennecfox.htm
Hilarious pic -- needs a new thread: "Secret Identities of the Viking Kitties". More fun w/PhotoShop....
Foxes like wolves cannot be completely domesticated.
In about 1000 generations it might be possible but not likely.
Humans have domesticated animals for many thousands of years and all the ones that were amenable have already been done.
Foxes are singular animals rather than pack animals. It is the pack mutual need that allowed the wolf to be domesticated. The wolf just transferred it's need for a pack from 4 footed and furry to 2 footed and relatively hairless.
A fox could be tamed down but since it doesn't have any need for community it would have no need to please. It likely would not be trainable.
A Russian breeding experiment produced completely domestic foxes within a very short period of time:
http://home.wlu.edu/~blackmerh/jsk/canid.htm
If you get them very young--yes. As an aside, some people (a sister of mine included) actually have descented skunks! Like a fox--it has to be VERY young (and in the case of a skunk--from a breeding establishment due to rabies)
Be careful, some localities have laws strictly prohibiting domesticating wild critters. Some do not enforce that rule though.
Tastes like chicken...
BTW The foxes here have chased our cats and I've seen one up a tree but safe waiting for me to chase the fox off. I have to think they would have a hard time catching one on the ground unless they can corner it somewhere, unable to climb up. Cats can climb and foxes are only barely able to jump as I've observed. So far the cats are ahead 2 - 0.
Sounds like every domestic cat I know.
I have heard that male foxes can carry rabies but not be ill for a long time...when they breed, they transmit it to the females, who die much sooner from the disease.
Cat: The other white meat.
Tastes like chicken. With fur.
Depends on if the cats have claws or not.
...yeah...me too...but then I got married and my studies were discontinued......
I agree with you about cats and foxes.
Cats actually own their humans not the other way around.
You can't teach your cat to bring you either slippers or a beer.
If they really really like them you might get a mouse head once in a while.
You don't have to teach them to use a litter box because they are fanatics for cleanliness anyway but you have to clean it out.
Exactly! Freakin eggzacktly! It never ends...
That's why I suspect if a fox does get the cat it's because it cornered it or got it into a hole or something. My observations tell me there is definitely no way they can sneak up on the cat - Our cats sense them long before they ever come into view. In fact, the cat lets me know they are around by their retreat.
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