Video: Corner of Kingswood full of fox friends

Foxes create controversy in Kingswood Facebook groups, but on the ground many locals seem mostly happy about the furry friends. Some are even feeding and treating them.

Claire, who walks her dog in Rodney Road Playing Fields wrote a short poem when asked what she thought of the foxes.

She wrote:

“I love to see the foxes trotting, across Rodney Park.
On a summer’s evening, just before dark.
It makes me feel closer to nature and glad we share our space.
With such special creatures, that scamper all over the place.”

Phil, who I met on the way to weed his elderly father’s garden near Kingswood Park, was hopeful he’d see the fox who likes to sunbathe there in the day.

Urban foxes are now part of our everyday lives. Locals, such as those in the video, seem to be glad to have foxes around.

Stacey Morgan, a Kingwood resident commented on Facebook,: “I love foxes, I think we build on their original homes, so they used to eat our scraps from black bag n dustbins, we changed to black plastic bins so they can’t eat scraps anymore so they have to attack small garden pets to survive, I’d be sad if they ate my pet but they are just like us, trying to survive and feed their families too.”

An older fox with a bushy tail sits beside a campervan – photo: Caitlin Quinn

Worries about cats being killed were largely put to bed by a Bristol City Council survey of  north west Bristol which showed foxes killed 0.7 per cent of cats and they were mainly young kittens.

They state “this means your cat is far more likely to be run over, stray or die from a variety of other causes”. Similar surveys come to the same conclusions so there’s no reason to think our little corner of South Gloucestershire would be an exception.

A cat eats food put out for foxes – photo: Caitlin Quinn

Debbie Boucher said on Facebook: “Love the foxes, they are friends with my cat, some of them have mange. I do put out scraps for them but don’t feed them every night, sometimes one sleeps in my garden but I see them all the time. I used to be a hunt saboteur before I had kids and I also used to interfere with the hunt that used to happen where I used to live.”

The biggest concern of residents is mange, which severely impacts fox wellbeing.

Both the locals featured in the video above have treated foxes for mange and this was common across the community.

Eileen and John, retired neighbours in Kingswood, have both put out mange treatment with food for the foxes. John used the homeopathic treatment, provided free by the National Fox Welfare charity while Eileen consulted a vet for a course of oral medication.

As noted by Ken Thomas, a long term fox charity volunteer (and “the man to speak to” according to Bristol fox lovers on Facebook), says it’s very important to target the fox needing treatment and he gives tips to do this in the video.

Mark Rich, Kingswood resident said,: “We feed them in our garden every night and treating two of them for mange also we have made our garden into a nature reserve”

A fox looking at the camera as it comes up to eat the food put out for it – photo: Caitlin Quinn

Sarah Strawford is passionate about foxes,and says: “I feed foxes every night they are beautiful and so misunderstood, love it when I catch them eating the food I have given them, some have mange and some have beautiful coats with there cubs. Absolutely beautiful love seeing them #keeptheban”

Are there too many foxes?

Most urban fox populations regulate their own numbers, by limiting the number of cubs they produce each year.

This they do remarkably successfully, and the cubs that survive to adulthood almost exactly replace the number of adult foxes that die each year. This is partly due to limiting factor,  an ecological term which refers to the availability of anything an animal needs to survive, like water, food or shelter.

Alongside the limiting factor there is carrying capacity, which is the maximum number of individuals of a given species that an area of land can support.  Overfeeding removes one of these limiting factors, and Bristol University found that when food was put out it was “usually done so in quantities that far exceeded the amount required to support the local population.”

When food is abundant, they store excess food by burying it, this is known as caching. If foxes are burying food in your garden it’s a sign they’re being overfed.

This increase in caching was found by Bristol University, to be due to overfeeding and  lead to an increase in fox population.  According to Wildlife Online foxes consume a weight of about 400g daily. A single urban fox will eat around 70g of human food waste throughout a single day and then will cache the rest. The advise is to “make sure you feed less than 70g per day to stop dependence”.

The RSPCA echo this sentiment, saying to feed them in small amounts and not every day.

One resident, Adam, says: “I loved finding evidence of foxes in the garden, I thought it was a den- but it turns out they were burying food”. He added “I don’t care if they dig in the garden, they’re cute as heck! I’m just glad they feel at home. They also give a helping hand- eating the slugs and snails.”

Studies by Bristol University biology department have done extensive research on Bristol foxes; one frequently cited study by Philip Baker et al. is ongoing , and over four decades long.

If you want to learn more, or get involved with local efforts to live alongside the foxes check the links below.

National Fox Welfare Charity
Information on Mange
RSPCA information on foxes
40 Years of Foxes- Bristol University

Caitlin Quinn is reporting on Kingswood, deaf and disabled communities as part of Bristol24/7’s community reporter scheme, a project which aims to tell stories from areas of Bristol traditionally under-served by the mainstream media

Main photo: Caitlin Quinn

Read more: How you can take action to encourage local wildlife

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