Tamed foxes

[treecreeper]

This was in today's Daily Mail



The full story:

Animal lover baffles experts by training foxes to stand on their hind legs (small clue: feeding them helps) | Mail Online

[wild sam]

i think thts cruel its a wild creature so why should it have to do tht

[-John]

it really does show how these once shy animals have become so confident around humans!

[wild sam]

if tht fox went near a hunter it would have no chance coz it wouldnt flee

[wildliferescuer]

It is quite likely that the foxes would only be this tolerant of one particular person only & would not come that close to anyone they didn't know. Hopefully, as they are urban foxes, they will not come into contact with anyone from the hunt.
Feeding foxes a large amount on a regular basis is not recommended as they can become reliant on the food, but at certain times we would support supplementary feeding in small quantities.

[wild_as_kate]

Yes I got this on my google alerts - it is a bit weird and I wouldn't advocate it, but I doubt the fox cares if its getting fed. The main problem with foxes that are tamed/fed by hand is that they may approach humans who don't like foxes/or enter houses and then panic.

From what I understand urban foxes are already largely fed by humans purposely - In Bristol in the early 1990s, 10% of residents regularly fed foxes. But if you must feed them not by hand please - leave it outside and watch through a window or something.

They are pretty resilient fellows mind - I'm sure they'd manage fine if he stopped feeding them - there is enough food around and they'll eat everything from rubbish to rodents.

[volence]

I feed our foxes when I can, its not enough for them to become reliant on, just a supliment that also feeds a stray cat, they take turns in eating from the bowl, literally waiting in line! It got abit difficult when one of the foxes ran off with the plastic bowl, I searched all over the garden and surrounding green. I got a heavy ceramic bowl. I have now found the plastic bowl, licked clean and put back near the original placeNow they've started trying to move the ceramic bowl about

[wild_as_kate]

What truly British foxes you have. The understanding of a queuing system and returning of stolen property.

x

[volence]

They only returned it to get topped up again I bet, cheeky buggers