AIBU to think a fox cub is cute and so adoreable and maybe put out titbits

[Yukduck]

For three sundowns running we have had a fox cub come into our back garden and have a drink from our pond.
The first night we thought he was a hedgehog ambling around the garden and setting off the personal light at the back as he is about the same size. It was twilight and we got quite close (about 20ft away) before we could see it was a fox cub.
Mum fox is about but stays up the bank and not in our garden watching her cub. He seems a sturdy little fellow.
I know they are vermin. But he really is the cutest little thing with bright eyes and a bit chubby and fluffy and very alert and inquisitive.
Would it be so very wrong to leave out some chicken or cat food?

Yes, I do. as far as I am aware, there is some doubt in the case of fox attacks. None of them are completely open and shut cases.

They are wild animals just as domestic dogs kill babies and indeed sadly parents do sometimes do so you just make sure they can't get in the house which is not too difficult for most of us to achieve.

Bertrand So are you saying the parents didn't see foxes in the house or their babies bedrooms and they are in fact making the stories up?

The urban fox moral panic is Tory propaganda (just as almost every "OMG won't you think of the children!" rhetoric campaign is some form of political propaganda with an agenda behind it). The case in Hackney happened a few doors from where I used to have a flat and it was certainly very over-hyped. Also, oh so "coincidentally", other similar news stories coincided with the Tories trying to reintroduce legal fox-hunting by the back door. The chances of your PFB being attacked by a fox (unless you encourage them actively to tease/ interfere with feeding foxes) are vanishingly small.

Foxes are our neighbours. We've built on their land, buggered up their natural habitat, and now express consternation that they come into cities to live and feed themselves?! Ditto people/ politicians (also Cameron) who complain about the "problem of" seagulls on the coast attacking visitors for food, and threaten to overturn species protection laws making it illegal to kill gulls. They bloody lived there first! They live there all the year round! Eat your fish and chips inside!

Human beings really are a horribly arrogant species. End of rant.

Scaremongering nonsense about foxes attacking people. People are far more likely to get attacked by pet dogs.

It will attract any wild animals including rats.

They are also furry and have tails but people don't tend to encourage them do they.

We had foxes, I got DH and DS to pee in the garden as they hate male urine, we have a very secluded garden thankfully. Jobs a good un and they don't visit anymore.

One thing I have noticed is townies tend to go gooey over foxes. I grew up 5 mins from miles of countryside and whilst I do not approve of fox hunting the attitude where I grew up was all negative.

I don't think foxes should be encouraged because of toxacara' I

Domestic dogs are not wild animals.

They have their beds, sofas and bowls and they are often in residence on a sofa or linen sheets in the bed.
Just saying.

Foxes are beautiful WILD animals. Just leave them alone to do their own thing - encouraging them might not cause you any problems, but if anyone living within 7 miles of you keeps chickens or has pet rabbits kept outside, or a cat, they may not thank you.

Bertrand So are you saying the parents didn't see foxes in the house or their babies bedrooms and they are in fact making the stories up?"

Possibly. People do. People also cover up for their dogs...........

And none of the attacks have been confirmed by the police.

Foxes do fine if they're left alone. Regular feeding can be detrimental and cause nuisance behaviour. This thread is a good example of the different but equally unreasonable viewpoints on foxes.

It's unreasonable to feed them/interfere with natural ecology and not expect negative consequences, it's also unreasonable to think that negative fox behaviour is because they're vermin rather than wildlife responding to human interference.

Having respect for wildlife means not buggering about with it. Much damage is done by selfish humans wanting to make themselves feel good by being 'nice' to the poor wildlife.

Sorry if it was me I would be leaning out of the window with a shotgun, I wouldn't be feeding a wild animal.

My dippy neighbour in Florida used to feed the gators in the lake at the end of our gardens, funnily enough all of her dogs became gator food as well.

I'd much rather have foxes that shotguns on the loose.

I really don't get this "aww... da cutie licke ickle pickle foxy woxies and their cutie ickle cubbie wubbies" nonsense.

They are not there for picking up and snuggling FGS, they are wild animals. Treat them with respect, keep your distance and don't feed them, unless you want them destroying your garden, burrowing under your shed, raiding your bins and generally making a pain of themselves.

I agree absolutely with not feeding them, especially young ones with a mother nearby, and showing them respect as wild animals. But be aware that they are wild animals who are not living "naturally" owing to human beings having fucked up their habitat.

The talk of using shotguns on them is vile and disgusting.

Bertrand according to a BBC report, the metropolitan police said there was a fox attack on a 4 week old Baby on 10th Feb 2013. A metropolitan police spokesperson indicates the police believed the attack on the Koupparis twins to be by a fox. A fox was subsequently trapped and destroyed at the property. What part of this is unclear and not confirmed by the police?

Why do people care more about foxes than rats? Is it because they're more doglike? You don't get outrage about trapping or poisoning rats, surely they're wildlife too.

Fox poo, fox fleas and ticks on the dog. Fox coming into the kitchen. Fox walking through the front door and out the back . Fox jumping on the guinea pigs' hutch during the day time. Guinea pigs terrified. Fox destroying bins. Fox digging earth under shed and repeat returns every year, had to move shed. Fox snoozing in sunny spot in garden. Likes it. Invites friends. They like it too.

Nô no no no no.

oyster if foxes had tails like rats then people wouldn't like them.

the mangy city foxes often have tails like rats...

Oyster...I DO care about rats as much as foxes.
If the thread was about rats my feelings would be the same. I would never condone hurting any animal...I can't understand how any one can.

Perhaps we are the vermin?

Nothing whatsoever to add to the thread, but (being nosey) I was intrigued by the OPs intro:

For three sundowns running

and was wondering where it originates ? (Born and bred Londoner with a basic grasp of Brummingem/Black Country here) ...

Foxes are vermin.

Our garden is part of Mr Fox's territory. He is doing a great job of keeping the mice and rat population in our urban environment subdued. He is in no way tame and is completely unapproachable. I wouldn't feed him and risk upsetting the natural balance.

My Uncle keeps laying hens and was not so keen on the local fox which the neighbouring farmer despatched for him. His garden is now overrun with rabbit warrens.

we have farm animals. when you have picked up the bodies of over 100 chickens killed by foxes - not taken for food but just killed and left - you tend not to think of them as cute any more.

when you have had to explain to your young DC that there pet rabbits were killed and left by foxes for them to find, then you don't think of them as cute either.

we regularly have birds of prey taking our old hens or chicks. they take and kill one and they eat it.

foxes do not. they kill everything first then take what they want to eat and leave the rest.

I put foxes in the same category as rats.