Urban fox attacks two babies while they sleep!

Back · #81 (**permalink**) 08-06-2010, 11:23 AM

Can I politely remind people what the forum in general is about and what the subject of this thread is in particular.

Can we please stick to the subject of urban foxes and please not go wildly off track.

Cutty Dyer · #82 (**permalink**) 08-06-2010, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eeyore

and i'm fascinated by how determined you are to excuse their behaviour - do you leave your kids unattended and insecure on a regular basis too ? or do you just like argument for arguments sake ?

I do appreciate that the parents must be suffering - but the idea that because they are suffering their actions must automatically be above reproach is false

So it's all the way to the bottom...

Back · #83 (**permalink**) 08-06-2010, 11:29 AM

I repeat.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Back

Can I politely remind people what the forum in general is about and what the subject of this thread is in particular.

Can we please stick to the subject of urban foxes and please not go wildly off track.

eeyore · #84 (**permalink**) 08-06-2010, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Back

Can I politely remind people what the forum in general is about and what the subject of this thread is in particular.

Can we please stick to the subject of urban foxes and please not go wildly off track.

yep "back" - point taked, tho i still stand my the point that urban foxes are not a particular problem

there are towns in canada for example that have urban cougars and urban grizzlies, los angeles has urban coyotes, churchill has urban polar bears - but in none of these places is there a major problem with the species concerned taking or attacking sleeping children, because the parents take sensible precautions

ergo there is no justification for a cull of urban foxes due to this, all be it sad, incident - and as i said on the other thread you could kill evey fox in the uk but it still wouldnt be "safe" to leave children unattended and insecure - or you could just close the door (thus securing the children against not just foxes, but cats, dogs, rats, and paedophiles) and leave the foxes unharmed.

I have no particular problem with fox control where justified, but a fail to see any justification in this case

Jason Green · #85 (**permalink**) 08-06-2010, 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eeyore

yep "back" - point taked, tho i still stand my the point that urban foxes are not a particular problem

captivebolt · #86 (**permalink**) 08-06-2010, 05:13 PM

Excellent article in The Times today.(08.06). Quick summary:
The risk of attack by urban foxes is negligible compared to the risk from dogs and cats.
Culling doesn't work
Don't feed them.

I wish that the people on this site who go on about "my foxes" would get a grip. When those cubs you have been feeding grow up they will move to a different area. Since you have habituated them to human contact they will have no fear of humans. People who have small pets dislike foxes for damn good reason. Foxes kill rabbits and they don't spare pets. Cats, small dogs, guinea pigs, hamsters . . . all prey to Charlie.

People who have children have still better reason, and I don't mean fear of attack. Leptospirosis is a nasty way to die. Toxicaria is a nasty way to go blind. Fleas, mange, even treading in fox turds on the back lawn are hardly conducive to a better style of life.

By all means tolerate them if you must but FFS don't encourage them.
You might also care to consider that if "your" foxes start hanging round the garden of someone less tolerant/sentimental then you, they will end up in a cage trap followed by a .410 to the head.

Good riddance, but is that what you hoped to gain?

CB

vole-woman · #87 (**permalink**) 08-06-2010, 05:40 PM

Oh, come on, I think you're getting a bit bonkers now. Foxes attacking cats and dogs? If you look on YouTube, every single video of cats and foxes shows the foxes either ignoring the cat or running away. Go check it out. And has there been a single recorded case of a child dying from leptospirosis caught off a fox??? Or toxicara caught specifically off a fox? (Dogs, yes.) This is just just scare-mongering. And I speak as a loving, careful parent to two boys.

Jim Ford · #88 (**permalink**) 08-06-2010, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fellpony01

Who keeps an outside door open in East London whilst sitting in another room!?

Yes, it took me aback a bit when I read it was in Stoke Newington. One of my daughters used to live in the adjacent Clapton. We walked a short way down the road once and I noted flowers tied to a railing. I commented that there must have been a fatal road accident there. My daughter replied that it was because of a shooting and that stretch of road was called "Murder Mile" because shootings were so frequent!

Jim