Fox rescue

[Travis22]

since when is the great australian adjective, blood with a y a word that needs censorship?

Ahahahaha, i got caught out too!

Travis.

[icefest]

Have you heard about the Belyaev Fox breeding experiments?

Have a read: http://www.abc.net.au/animals/program1/factsheet5.htm

[maddog]

Something needs to be done!

Or perhaps more accurately, an example of small minority of uptight citizens in a state of perpetual outrage, comforted by feelings of self-importance and rewarded by the sense of rectitude gained by their intrusion into the lives of others. All justified by the unquestionable righteousness of their cause.

There are plenty of wild foxes, both in urban and rural environments. The adoption of a few stray foxes, vaccinated and desexed, will make just what difference to fox numbers, distribution, or broader conservation outcomes? None perhaps?

Cheers

[Nuts]

a state of perpetual outrage

Sorry, it might appear to have been a show stopper.. but I do like that!

[tonka]

An old mate of mine reared a "Kit" (cub) in Burwood many years ago, terrific pet, always on the go. It would hang around the house only for so long and then it would escape into the night. The next morning it would bring home its kills, mostly chickens, cats, pidgeons and rats. The Fox never lost its natural instincts to hunt. Eventually the neighbours complained more about missing pets, so the fox was released in the Dandenong Ranges, he didn't have the heart to kill it. They are playing with fire.

[awildland]

so the fox was released in the Dandenong Ranges, he didn't have the heart to kill it. .

Unlike the fox, which is now in the dandenong ranges killing whatever native wildlife it's heart desires?

[north-north-west]

It's the fox's stomach I'm worried about, not it's *&%$#! heart.

[Nuts]

Cats are a far more destructive feral predator, people keep them as pets and let Them go in the bush.

[Picaro]

Fox rescue dog !

5275a40b801ff.jpg (62.21 KiB) Viewed 4158 times

[maddog]

The damage a feral animal does will all depend on the circumstances. Cats can be a serious problem in arid areas and on small islands. In contrast, the typical free ranging suburban moggie is relatively harmless (particularly if desexed).

[jackhinde]

The normalisation of foxes as domesticated animals could pose problems for future control of the species, a la the outcry regarding the culling of horses... oh, and the typical free ranging moggie spreads toxoplasmosis to native marsupials, so it is quite possible that a cat that doesn't actually prey upon any native could be responsible for the fatality of an animal as large as a kangaroo

[maddog]

The dog and goat are normalised, but are frequently shot or baited if they cause problems. This argument would be convincing if it were proposed to import the fox to an area not yet colonised (such as Tasmania), then to market them as suitable pets. But that is not what is happening. The mainland fox population is already so widespread that the rescue, vaccination and desexing of a small number of foxes by the compasionate is unlikely to have any significant impact on fox or wildlife populations (or public taste for that matter). If you dislike foxes, dogs, or goats - don't adopt one.

As for Toxoplasmosis, the impact of the parasite on native wildlife is largely speculative. Attempts to link it with past extinctions are unconvincing. Cats are often blamed, but the lack of correlation between the parasite within native species and the distribution of cats is inconvenient. It has been maintained by generations of healthy animals without exposure to cat excrement (e.g. by wallabies and sheep), so the transmission of the parasite within wildlife populations cannot be discounted as the true cause of infection. We cannot even really be sure it first arrived with the cat.

Cheers