We are used to seeing and hearing foxes in and around our street. Was the same when we lived on Gipsy Hill.
Their calls and wails are unnerving when you first hear them as they sound like children/babies in pain. Once you recognise them though, they are unmistakably Vulpes.
We’ve heard parent ones calling kids, lovers calling soulmates and on one occasion heard and witnessed a comical boxing match between two rival Tods.
However on Friday night late on, I heard some calls which sounded much different. More urgent, more in pain, more pleading.
It was after 2am and pitch black so I didn’t venture to see what was going on. The racket was severe but it did seem like a single animal. Either way I wasn’t chancing a defensive nibble which would demand all sorts of hospital assistance.
The next morning we woke to find a dead fox at the foot of our garden, It looked adult. There were no apparent wounds.
Lewisham refuse appeared earlier after I reported and helpfully took away. Quick, efficient and polite as ever. Though no disinfecting offered.
The chap did say however that they had picked up seven dead foxes in the area since Friday.
Clearly more than coincidence. His suspicion was poisoning. Which goes some way to understanding the nature of the poor soul’s calls.
Absolutely appreciate that Foxes are an animal that split opinions.
However you look at them though: be it as pests, as neighbours or not at all, there are the right way to deal with them and the wrong.
Such poisoning is cruel, environmentally negative and potential dangerous to families and children.
Posting this so people can have a check on their own properties, neighbourhoods and pets.
Also to compare similar stories.
Once again, this post is not aimed as a debate about the pros and cons of such animals in our neighbourhoods.
It’s to raise awareness of the cruel and potentially dangerous methods someone employed upon these poor animals, in our shared neighbourhoods.
