In the fourth in a series of articles looking at the effects of the changes in human behaviour caused by the Covid-19 restrictions on pest specie populations and behaviour, we look at the urban fox. At the tail end of March 2020 the UK was plunged into conditions none of us have seen in our lifetime, it has also allowed those of us who study pest activity to observe survival behaviours and the true resilience of these amazing animals.
With the aims of reducing transmission of the Covid virus, governments around the globe restricted the movement of people and closed non-essential businesses to the public now as we face a second national lockdown we will test the resilience of this species.
Although one specie, the European red fox can be easily split into 2 subsets based solely on the environment they inhabit. They started to move into our cities in the 1930s. The expansion of these areas created an ideal new habitat with an abundance of food. The only true difference between rural and urban foxes is their diet and foraging behaviour. Rural red fox diets are around 95% meat, with the remainder being insects, worms and fruit. In urban environments meat either killed or scavenged only makes up around half of their diet, the other half being household refuse. Urban foxes primarily scavenge for food, but when they do hunt it is for birds, rats and mice, although there have been a number of reports of family pets being targeted.
Throughout the lockdown the fate of the fox has been a tail of two halves. They have seen widespread reduction foraging opportunities in city centres with the closures in the hospitality and catering sectors, however opportunities in the commuter belt have increased with the move to home working. As a result, the numbers of sightings are increasing but this does not reflect an increase in numbers. Rather a dispersal and normalisation of population density.
In terms of fatality the lockdowns have been hugely beneficial to the fox population. Wild red foxes can live up to nine years. However, on average, foxes only survive between one and three years with most being killed on our roads. The reduction in road traffic through the first lockdown coincided with the most dangerous time for foxes when the cubs are starting to explore their environment. This has resulted in a far greater proportion of this years cubs have made it to adolescence. Foxes are very resourceful in exploiting new territories. In 2011, as the Shard skyscraper was being built in London, a fox moved in on the seventy-second floor, surviving on food left by construction workers. Similarly, juvenile foxes have been arriving in some very unusual environments usually occupied by humans such as offices and garages closed during Covid lockdown.
The resourcefulness of foxes can be seen in the speed they have started to occupy the environments we abandoned. Foxes dig out dens to provide a safe underground space that is predominantly used for raising their cubs. This year we have seen a marked rise in the number in urban areas, particularly located under sheds, and temporary structure. However, we have seen a number in schools and office grounds and under carparks and paved areas.
Unusually vixens have been heard screaming for a mate in October and November, 3 months earlier than normal. This could be as a result in the change in their resources with the population looking to maximise on the opportunities that have presented themselves this year. How successful this will be seen next year. It is likely that the population will self-regulate to a new level as we return to life in a post Covid world.
