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Post by NellyDee on Dec 4, 2015 10:20:12 GMT
Recently I have been picking up a fox on my trail camera. I put out food (for badger) and twice now the bowl that was put out has been carried away (searching has not found the bowls). I am assuming that it is the fox and wonder is it maybe still feeding young cubs and so trying to take the food to them. I cannot see that the food would stay in the bowl, one of which was a reasonable sized ceramic. Just wondered if you had any thoughts on this.
 Cam Fox by Wabi Gallery, on Flickr
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Post by Tringa on Dec 4, 2015 10:36:09 GMT
This is just an opinion based on relatively little experience so may be wrong.
I don't think foxes will be feeding young now (though given you are in a rural area where the raising of young might be more difficult, it is a possibility) but if they were I think they would either carry food to the young or eat it and regurgitate it for the young.
Foxes we've seen in an urban environment are very inquisitive and sometimes remove and carry all sorts of items. I have heard reports of foxes jumping and pulling washing from a line and we have had a flip flop and a old towel carried down the garden. I think this might have been what your fox was doing with the bowl but perhaps the smell of food on the bowl encouraged it.
Did you trail camera catch the fox in the act?
Dave
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Post by NellyDee on Dec 4, 2015 17:55:51 GMT
No unfortunately, the fox and the few occasions it has been seen is very nervous and appears on camera then dashes away, so obviously does not want to come further than the big clump of fern you can see behind it, as to do so would bring it out into the open. The food is usually put by or under the fern. I have no idea when fox breed, which is why I was wondering about there being young cubs.
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Post by shirl100 on Dec 4, 2015 18:02:19 GMT
I think the norm is for mating during the winter with the young born in spring, autumn / winter usually is the time when foxes disperse to find their own territories and subsequently mate. Our young foxes did visit the food bowls late spring and early summer and the bowls were regularly moved but I have never seen one carrying bowls away.
Shirl
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notpop
Junior Member
and I think to myself.............
Posts: 50 
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Post by notpop on Dec 4, 2015 18:21:52 GMT
Foxes habitually cache surplus food and this is a typical example.
Also I do not think it is beyond a fox to carry a food bowl without spilling it.
Pretty sure your bowls are hidden or buried nearby.
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Post by NellyDee on Dec 5, 2015 9:58:07 GMT
Thanks, especially breeding times. Lost another bowl last night - this time a wooden one. I am fast running out of bowls so have decided just to put food on the ground.
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Post by Tringa on Dec 5, 2015 11:55:59 GMT
What food do you put out? Peanuts are good and too small for a fox to carry off. However, if the badgers arrive first I don't think there will be any left for the fox.
Dave
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Post by rowanberry on Dec 7, 2015 22:07:37 GMT
Nellie- our fox made off with several bowls before I finally got a heavy ceramic one... they don't seem to be able to carry it off, (although they still make off with the plastic plant pot I put over it to keep slugs and cats out of it.) I'll find it under the hedge some mornings. One thing you could try it to attach a short length of chain to the bowl and stake it out with something like a tent peg.  I did that and it does work- only it was on the garden path and I kept tripping over it. If your bowl is under a shrub and out of the way, that method might work better for you. |
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Post by souwesterly on Dec 8, 2015 7:13:56 GMT
In the suburbs here on the edge of Taunton, we have a habit of putting out left-over cat food each night for the benefit of whosoever comes along.
I know that we feed the occasional neighbour's cat and some hedgehogs but recently the plastic bowl has been moved away down our garden, or at least some 20 metres from where I put it.
When I've recovered it in the morning it's been empty and I've pondered over what it might be that's moving it; in particular I've thought that it might be a neighbouring dog that's leapt the fence, etc.
Up near the house our security light comes on when there's anything around and with two cats and a dog its on and off all evening - but until the other night I'd never seen the culprit.
But now I know - I happened to wake at about 3 am and noticing that the light was on I looked out of the bedroom window. And there was a fox - a nice big healthy-looking animal with a full brush and healthy appearance just disappearing from sight.
It's obviously wary of the proximity of the light and the house and prefers to eat where it's dark.
So in an answer to your original question NellyDee, your fox may not be feeding cubs but may just be shy.
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Post by NellyDee on Dec 8, 2015 10:26:09 GMT
What food do you put out? Peanuts are good and too small for a fox to carry off. However, if the badgers arrive first I don't think there will be any left for the fox.I put out peanuts and sultanas and occasionally meat or poultry scraps. The peanuts were in a bowl. I now just chuck the food around the big fern and down slope near the bird feeder. I did put sultanas and nuts in a bowl under the fern, this for the pine martens and also put a pile of nuts and scraps down slope for the badger - think I was trying to keep them apart - getting through an awful lot of nuts The pine martens (2 adults) usually come around 11pm. The badger (sometimes 2) don't come till the early hours 2-3am and only about twice a week. I started putting a small bowl of sultanas and a bowl of nuts under the table on the patio and now the two young martens come everyday usually around 9pm.Both times I have caught the fox on camera it looked as if it was actually eating the peanuts, which surprised me, but an awful lot of wild life is having a bad time up here this season. |
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Post by Tringa on Dec 8, 2015 13:30:34 GMT
Peanuts are a really good food to put out. They are cheap and lots of animals eat them - foxes, pine martens, badgers, mice, voles. The drawback is, as you have found, some birds are also keen on peanuts, and some of the larger ones eat a lot in one go.
The badgers might be starting to spend more time in the sett now so are not visiting you every night.
Dave
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Post by jonathan on Dec 10, 2015 11:01:20 GMT
Foxes won't be cubbing in Argyll until April. As suggested, foxes will store food, but often they'll simply take it a short distance and eat it under cover - especially in areas where foxes are persecuted (I imagine it's mostly sheep farming in your area so I doubt foxes are shown much quarter). They're also quite playful however, and seem to sometimes take things (sticks, clothing, wings, etc) simply as toys to play with.
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Post by NellyDee on Dec 10, 2015 13:46:31 GMT
Foxes won't be cubbing in Argyll until April. As suggested, foxes will store food, but often they'll simply take it a short distance and eat it under cover - especially in areas where foxes are persecuted (I imagine it's mostly sheep farming in your area so I doubt foxes are shown much quarter). They're also quite playful however, and seem to sometimes take things (sticks, clothing, wings, etc) simply as toys to play with.True - very rarely see them here. Thanks for April date - bad time for the foxes I think start of lambing? |
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I did that and it does work- only it was on the garden path and I kept tripping over it. If your bowl is under a shrub and out of the way, that method might work better for you.
