Foxes are primarily omnivorous but they have a flexible diet plan. These animals are solitary, opportunistic feeders and will prey on live animals especially rodents. It is known that in the period of former Soviet Union, foxes had consumed 300 plants and animal species. Do foxes eat cats? Have you stumbled one such incident in which fox actually hunt cats? Let’s find out in the later part about the foxes taking on pet cats.
Foxes typically rely on small rodents for their daily consumption such as gerbils, voles, ground squirrels, pocket gophers, deer mice, hamsters, and woodchucks. Foxes are also known to prey on several birds including galliformes, waterfowl, and Passeriformes. Other prey includes raccoons, reptiles, insects, porcupines, leporids, and other invertebrates. Red foxes primarily hunt in the early morn or late evening.
Do Foxes Eat Cats
Well, to be sure foxes do not hunt cats regularly as they are known to take on small mouse-like rodents such as voles and ground squirrels. However, when the prey is not sufficient, foxes may hunt domestic cats perhaps due to its opportunistic nature. Generally, cats do not form an essential fox’s diet.
According to some events, urban foxes have attacked pet cats because they were struggling to find ample food for their survival in British towns and cities. Referring to cat owners, they have pointed out quite a few numbers of fox attacks and according to some pest control specialists; the increasing number of attacks are primarily due to the use of wheelie bins instead of bin bags. The use of wheelie bins has rundown many foxes from an easy food source.
Read More: What Do Foxes Eat in the Wild?
Image Courtesy of Andrea olthof (Flickr)
Foxes Do Hunt Cats—Pet Owners Claim
(Do Foxes Eat Cats)
One of the pest-controller, Edinburgh holds that the fox calls have become doubled in the recent times. As the population grows, the food becomes scarce but with the wheelie bins the easy-food is no longer accessible.
Now they’re shifting towards domestic cats and other pets to fulfill their dietary needs. On number of occasions, people have found out the cat’s head in the garden. Some cat owners have also witnessed that a pack of foxes attacked on their pet cats which they come to know when their cats starts screaming, but by then it’s too late to rescue.
People see these foxes as pests and they also complaint to the local authorities about the issue but the authorities hold that they have no policy on controlling urban foxes. The veterinary surgeons also claim that the fox-related injuries of cats are increasing especially in Britain.
These foxes sometimes do not hesitate to chase down cats inside the people’s homes. Another incident took place in Britain where one of the community managers, Stamford Hill managed to save his tabby cat (Mica) from a brutal fox attack but still Mica had a large fox-bite at its back leg and as a result it had stitches and anti-biotics.
Read More: Red Fox Facts For Kids
Perhaps another reason for these attacks is that people generally do not believe that fox actually hunt pet cats apart from those who have come across. Consequently, these foxes are becoming another urban force especially against pets and if authorities do not take immediate measures, chances are that pets would suffer more. They should introduce policies that ensure a controlled population of foxes.
After cars or automobile accidents, foxes are turning out to be the second biggest threat to the pet owners in general, and cat owners in particular. Authorities should also recommend owners to keep their pets inside their homes at night in order to avoid any predatory attacks on their pets. So next time when you put a cool bowl for your cat outside your house for food and water, do make sure that there are no foxes in your neighbourhood.
Around 35,000 foxes are living in urban areas out of the total population of 240,000 individuals. It goes without saying that diseases and road accidents have killed half of the animals each year, but the urban population never deems to be declined.
Foxes Do Not Hunt Cats—Professor Stephen Harris
(Do Foxes Eat Cats)
Stephen Harris, a professor of environmental science at Bristol University, holds that foxes are solitary by nature and their attack on pet cats is nothing but an “urban myth”. “I have analyzed the behavior of urban foxes for more than 35 years and have yet to observe any single attack on a cat”, Stephen further added
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