L00b Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 And you claimed to know what you were talking about regarding rifle shooting of deer and fox in the UK.I did? Where? Are you sure you didn't read things in my posts, which clearly are not the case? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berberis Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 What do you base this on? It may be something to do with having lived in both the city and country and having seen both rural and urban foxes close up. The urban fox is less brightly coloured, greyer in appearance and slightly larger than its rural counterpart, the red fox or Vulpes vulpes if you want to get technical. The concept of a hybrid fox/dog is not new, but there has been little research carried out. Their characteristics are obviously subject to variation due to the parentage of the resultant dox, but I am of the opinion that urban foxes are close if not already a separate from the common red fox. It is not impossible for a dog to produce off spring with a fox as they are both part of the Canidae biological family and closely related to other species to varying degrees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_Sleeps Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 It is not impossible for a dog to produce off spring with a fox as they are both part of the Canidae biological family and closely related to other species to varying degrees. It isn't logical to presume that because they share a biological family that they can interbreed. Humans cannot breed with chimpanzees, gorillas or orangutans; and we are all from the Hominidae family. Your claim could be true, a "dox" could exist, but it is far from a substantiated claim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonzo77 Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 Should they be culled, or spared? I have always been very anti-hunt regarding badgers and foxes (though am not political or an active activist), but having seen the recent headlines regarding the attack on young children, plus many accounts- by professionals of all persuasions- and laymen such as myself, I am not so sure about defending them any more. I still like the fox, and am loathe to support any demand to slay them, but I'm afraid my patience with them is slipping- they encroach 'human' urban territory (as they have for ages), but is their behaviour becoming more sinister (humanwise), which may be natural to them? I'm still not ever going to align my views with the repulsive right-wing types who leap on this aging bandwagon, but I foremost don't want anyone's children threatened, by foxes, any other domesticating animal, or evil humans of course. So, without upsetting the balance of nature permanently, what's the solution? If we are killing animals for no reason, then I'm gonna start killing cats because they dump on my garden & attack toddlers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patty1142 Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 Should they be culled, or spared? I have always been very anti-hunt regarding badgers and foxes (though am not political or an active activist), but having seen the recent headlines regarding the attack on young children, plus many accounts- by professionals of all persuasions- and laymen such as myself, I am not so sure about defending them any more. I still like the fox, and am loathe to support any demand to slay them, but I'm afraid my patience with them is slipping- they encroach 'human' urban territory (as they have for ages), but is their behaviour becoming more sinister (humanwise), which may be natural to them? I'm still not ever going to align my views with the repulsive right-wing types who leap on this aging bandwagon, but I foremost don't want anyone's children threatened, by foxes, any other domesticating animal, or evil humans of course. So, without upsetting the balance of nature permanently, what's the solution? train them as guide dogs so the blind dont get thrown off buses Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_Sleeps Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 The urban fox is less brightly coloured, greyer in appearance and slightly larger than its rural counterpart, the red fox or Vulpes vulpes if you want to get technical. Sorry to push a point, i find this interesting and welcome your opinion. The silver fox can still be Vulpes vulpes, and being larger could be down to a strong food supply. Is it possible the urban fox is taking traits of the silver fox through evolution? I can't find any information on the history of silver foxes being in this country though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berberis Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 Sorry to push a point, i find this interesting and welcome your opinion. The silver fox can still be Vulpes vulpes, and being larger could be down to a strong food supply. Is it possible the urban fox is taking traits of the silver fox through evolution? I can't find any information on the history of silver foxes being in this country though. The silver fox is V.Vulpes as its only reason for being dark or silver is not a specific evolutionary trait, but a genetic defect. This trait has been taken to extremes by breeders in some countries to a point where you can actually buy domesticated silver foxes. Thankfully this does not happen in the UK. Most of my personal observations of the urban fox are in bad city light or those horrible orange street lamps, so the actual colour of the fox is hard to distinguish. You can however gauge the size and shape of the animal as well as the shape of the head and nose. These are what initially caught my eye as they looked very different to the rural foxes I had seen while growing up. I dare say there are a lot of factors at play. Urban foxes could be changing to suite their surroundings (much like other species that differ from territory to territory but are in fact the same species, genetically) just as much as they could be breeding with the local dog population. I suppose until some scientist takes an interest, which may be closer then we suspect with recent news reports, we will never know for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_Sleeps Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 Most of my personal observations of the urban fox are in bad city light or those horrible orange street lamps, so the actual colour of the fox is hard to distinguish. This man has a collection of photos spanning 5 years, but i think they are based around his home. I don't know where that is. Fox Watch! My Grandfather has urban foxes on his back garden, but i can't compare them with rural. The only ones i've seen myself have been red foxes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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