Monday 3 January 2011

Terror Stalks The Land...

"The people of the village, numbering some fifty men, women and children, were in a state of abject terror, and though the sun was still up when I arrived I found the entire population inside their homes behind locked doors, and it was not until my men had made a fire in the courtyard and I was sitting down to a cup of tea that a door here and there was cautiously opened, and the frightened inmates emerged."

MANEATERS OF KUMAON By JIM CORBETT
Alaska & Canada have man-eating grizzlies and polar bears, Indian children fear tigers and leopards, African children build bomas to protect their goats from lions and hyaenas. Even the sunny Californian forests are stalked by the mountain lion.

Here in England, we've had to make do with...well, the occasional sighting of an out-of-place big cat that just doesn't pass the smell test.

In fact, the biggest predator of our young (apart from other young) has been the Ford Escort.

Not any more...
Weighing almost two stone and measuring four feet from his nose to the tip of his tail, this is thought to be the biggest fox ever found in Britain.

Twice the normal size of the species, it was trapped and killed in a garden in the South East after apparently devouring a pet cat.

The discovery has fuelled fears that urban foxes are hunting new prey after getting bigger and bolder as they gorge themselves on leftovers, including treats put out for them by animal lovers.
Oh, and check out the photo accompanying the article. All the old hunter's tricks to make your quarry seem bigger and more impressive are employed - body stretched out on a frame, small child photographed behind the animal...

But it doesn't take a super-fox to make a modern metrosexual wet his Calvin Kleins, the ordinary kind seems to suffice, as the 'Mail' has already showed us, so why the fuss here? Particularly when the 'cat-killing' story doesn't exactly stack up, in examination:
The new giant was caught by vet Keith Talbot at his parents’ home in Maidstone, Kent, on Boxing Day after they told him they believed a fox had killed their black and white pet cat, Amber.
The 'Mail' illustrates this with a picture of the cat. It turns out to be a tabby and white. OK, this is clearly going to be a 'Mail' article of larger-than-usual proportions too...

But a fox - even a large male - taking a healthy adult cat is very, very unusual. So maybe they are onto someth...

Ah:
He said today: ‘Obviously, they were very upset. Amber was 19 and liked sleeping on the front door mat.
Nineteen is a good age for a cat, but it's at the far edge. A vet should know this, surely?
Mr Talbot said: ‘I’ve seen cats and foxes in the garden before and they normally give each other a wide berth.
‘Cats can usually defend themselves and are not on the menu for a fox. But when a fox gets that size, and particularly in bad weather, it appears it may become desperate and go for a cat.’
Take another look at that picture. Apart from being dead, that's the healthiest (not to mention glossiest and fattest) damned fox I've ever seen! It's not exactly desperate, is it? Not if it weighs twice the normal weight for an animal in its range, either...

Still, at least there's no irresponsible moron using this to panic the population into...

Oh, FFS!
The giant fox’s discovery was revealed today on the internet-based Fieldsports Channel - and was pictured next to a boy of seven, to give a sense of scale.
Presenter Charlie Jacoby said: ‘If it took a cat, who’s to say it wasn’t on the path to taking a child?
‘If I lived in the suburbs with children, I would think twice about leaving the baby out in the pram on a warm summer night knowing outsize foxes are out there.’
Is this cretin in league with Clive Aslet, 'Country Life' editor?
Tomorrow the channel will seek to confirm that an even bigger fox has been found after a man contacted them to say he shot one weighing 34lb in Somerset last year.
/facepalm

And I thought the junkie fox story was a lulu. Trust the 'Mail' to go one better...

Update: The 'Telegraph' sinks to a new low in their retelling of the story:
A dog fox will often grow bigger than the rest of the pack because the social system means the alpha male gets most of the food and the rest get leftovers.
Foxes are social pack hunters now! Who knew..?!?

17 comments:

Richard said...

At 19 years old, it's quite likely the cat took itself off to die somewhere, no fox necessary.

Jiks said...

I admit I laughed aloud at the update. Alpha male my ass! Where does the DT GET it's writers from?

Can't they even check Wikipedia these days?

Lynne said...

19 is a good age for a moggy. 28 is even better as my sister's cat will attest. Sadly, given his recent frail health, we don't think he'll make 29.

Pavlov's Cat said...

Where does the DT GET it's writers from?

but it was written by Climate Change & Natural History Expert Lois Gray

So it must be true

Woman on a Raft said...

At the back of the bar, Leonard the Beagle pushed his flat 'at to the back of his head, pulled out a panatella he had stashed under it and lit up.

He dragged deeply, breathed out creating a swirling mist of menace and mystery, then leaned forward and downed near half a pint of Landlord bitter in one swallow.

"By 'eck" he said, slapping the bar with his paw, "Ahm tellin' thee, it were that big, the whole bloomin' pack stepped back and there's just muggins left in the lead, facin' t'bugger down. Well, I looks at 'im and he looks back at me, cool as you like, an' 'ee sez Mah name is Alf.

"What's that to me, I told him an' Ah were just about to leap - cos you know me, I don't back down - when that daft eagle they've been training poked 'is beak in an' only goes and lands on my bluddy 'ed, put me right off, like.

"I don't suppose they are in league, but that eagle needs his eyes testin'. I told them there would be a reason it was found wandrin' round Morrison's carpark, scaring the kiddies off their burgers."

Leonard paused to finish the other halfpint of the beer.

"Anyway, in all the kerfuffle the fox, this Alf bloke, gets away and the gaffer clouts me for having a mouthful of feathers.

"And then I gets back and there's another one down in Maidstone, of all places. I told them I wasn't imagining it. Mark my words " and here Leonard waved his paw accusingly "Somebody is feeding them up."

English Viking said...

Foxes most certainly do prey on cats. I,ve seen the result.

Foxes are vermin, kill as many as possible, preferably on horse-back with a lovely red jacket on.

Richard said...

WoaR - tha's bin suppin too much Theakstons, tha knaws.

EV - foxes need controlling, and hunting seems to me to be the kindest (or least cruel) and 'natural' way of doing it. But I still get a thrill from seeing a big dog fox in its proper environment. I encountered one the other day - huge and confident with a baby rabbit in its jaws, seen for a second or two before it vanished into the scrub. A terrible beauty, and all that Yeats stuff.

Uncle Badger said...

'sfunny... the moment I saw the words 'Daily Telegraph' the name 'Louise Gray' flashed through my brain like a tracer.

Interesting to see that she's omniclueless.

Richard said...

"Omniclueless" - LOL, I'm using that!

Dave H. said...

"A dog fox will often grow bigger than the rest of the pack..."

Whilst that's true as far as it goes, they fail to point out this time of year foxes that haven't flown South will be busy hibernating like other marsupials.

Malcolm Stevas said...

I love the notion of suburban foxes growing unaccountably large - perhaps through some mysterious genetic adaptation - and preying not only on pets, but on the suburbanites themselves... all those bunny-hugging, fox-loving veggies, terrified to go into their little back gardens at night! Cripes, what a lark! Talk about poetic justice.
BTW those posts above about the glory of hunting foxes on horseback with hounds are just wild romantic piffle - no-one should believe a word of it. Best way is with a high-velocity rifle - I've shot loads of the buggers.

Anonymous said...

"...particularly in bad weather, it appears it may become desperate and go for a cat."

Every snowcloud has a silver lining then.

RAB said...

A class piece of writing, WOAR, loved it!

Marsupials? Hibernating?? I dont think so Dave H. Basil Brush had a fob pocket for his watch, but that is about it!

The ones round our way are becoming increasingly unafraid of... well just about anything these days. They dont run away in broad daylight if you clap your hands and shout now.

Pavlov's Cat said...

The ones round our way are becoming increasingly unafraid of... well just about anything these days. They dont run away in broad daylight if you clap your hands and shout now.

Applies to both Foxes and kids round our way.

JuliaM said...

"At 19 years old, it's quite likely the cat took itself off to die somewhere..."

And a fox would have happily 'cleared up' the body. They're Nature's CSI techs! :)

"Can't they even check Wikipedia these days?"

I guess they get paid regardless, so why should they worry?

"19 is a good age for a moggy. 28 is even better as my sister's cat will attest."

28!?! Good lord, that should be some sort of record...

"At the back of the bar, Leonard the Beagle..."

That made me snort cornflakes through my nose... :)

"Foxes most certainly do prey on cats. I,ve seen the result."

I've no doubt they'll take old, young or sick specimens, but it's odd that predation has never been filmed by any of the wildlife units...

"But I still get a thrill from seeing a big dog fox in its proper environment."

Me too. Though 'proper environment' for me is raiding the bin, or scooting out of our garden.

Though I do have a great picture of a fox cub nose-to-nose with my Siamese through the patio doors...

"Interesting to see that she's omniclueless."

:D

JuliaM said...

"Whilst that's true as far as it goes, they fail to point out this time of year foxes that haven't flown South will be busy hibernating like other marsupials."

I'd not be surprised to see this in the 'Telegraph' one day, frankly...

"...wild romantic piffle..."

Oh, you can't beat it for spectacle, sure. But effective pest control it isn't. The hunt supporters would be best advised to drop that line...

"Applies to both Foxes and kids round our way."

Sadly true...

Pogo said...

Oh, you can't beat it for spectacle, sure. But effective pest control it isn't.

Depends on what you define as the "pest". ISTR that fox hunting had the greatest number of annual fatalities of any "sport" in the UK - by quite a margin - so it could be said that it served a purpose in keeping the aristocracy numbers down. :-)