Funding To Study Foxes -In The UK. Never

 

above: Fig. 1: Analyses of the relationship among aggressive, tame and conventional red fox populations.

From: Red fox genome assembly identifies genomic regions associated with tame and aggressive behaviours

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Someone asked, specifically, what financial figure would be needed to continuer just the fox study. 

To be honest I have never stated a specific amount because in the past I did try PayPal donations as well as Go Fund Me. but with no donations it was considered "inactive". There really is no interest in donating to wildlife studies because it is not considered important in a world where "what is in it for me? and celebrities rule the roost.

An example: "One of the most famous ridiculous GoFundMe campaigns that successfully raised a surprising amount of money was a $35,000 fundraiser started by a fan to "purchase" Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, which managed to raise nearly $2,000 before the campaign creator stated that if they couldn't legally buy him, they would just spend all the money on beer. "

DNA testing the Old type foxes and wild cats is one big expense because of the species cross-checking needed:

Wild animal DNA testing in the UK typically costs between £60 and £400+ per sample. The exact price depends heavily on the species and the type of analysis being performed.

Specific testing costs and services vary based on your specific requirements:

Species Identification: Identifying a general biological species (e.g., mammals, birds, bats, insects) usually ranges from £60 to £130 plus VAT per sample.

eDNA (Environmental DNA): Testing soil, water, or other environmental samples to detect the presence of wildlife (like great crested newts) typically starts around £248.

Wildlife Forensics: For complex, accredited forensic analysis (such as parentage or specific individual identification for badgers or deer), fees range from £250 to £400 plus VAT per sample.

When I have enquired to laboratories the cost they range far higher than the amounts noted above.  For DNA testing what specimens we have £4-5,000?

Purchasing other taxidermies to preserve them for testing and correcting the record might be a similar amount. Once a specimen is gone it is lost forever and cannot contribute to our knowledge of Old Foxes or Old Wild cats. You can see that the combined amounts so far are at roughly £10,000 which, as far as I can see, are amounts that cannot be raised in the UK.

No UK museum, national, regional or local possesses any pre 1900 fox specimens and I tried every one over a five year period in the UK and Eire.  I am aware of a couple specimens in European museums but to find others would mean visiting them personally and tat means travel costs even at the  cheapest rates.

Covering everything as an ongoing study would be around the £20,000 mark and for the UK with a lack of interest in foxes that is unattainable. Working with UK universities?  There is no interest in academia in foxes unless it is to look at possible zoonotic diseases –there is money in that and the possibility of published papers and…more grants.  Identifying two lost UK species does not get these people excited.

Last month the blog had 10,140 visitors and if each donated £2/$2 that takes care of a lot of expenses from the study. 198,460 views of the blog for All Time –that £1/$1 idea sounds wonderful!😂

I have spent 50 years on the fox study and the one thing I have always come up against is the total lack of interest in the species and the history of foxes in the UK –unless there was an ulterior motive.  And before anyone asks themselves the question “I wonder how much of his own money he has spent?”…. thinking about that makes me faint!

When I read something like this online I have to take a deep breath and grit my teeth BECAUSE no Old fox types or knowledge of Old fox types was involved. “Vulpes vulpes has always been here” is a dogmatic statement based on poor research.

“UK red foxes are a mix of naturally established native lineages and European introductions. Genetic tracking and DNA mapping show that ancient British foxes migrated from central Europe before the land bridge (Doggerland) flooded around 8,200 years ago. However, the modern population has been extensively shaped by later additions.”

We REALLY Do Need DNA Testing

 It took many years to acquire specimens of what were the last vestiges of Old British fox and Old wild cat. The Colquhoun Mountain/Greyhound fox is seen as the classic example and my colleague LM managed to acquire it through sheer luck.   Colquhoun, at the time a very noted naturalist-'sportsman' described the fox as being a perfect example of the species. It was killed during the 1830s -a period during with the three Old type foxes were heading intro extinction.

Placed next to a full grown coyote taxidermy specimen the fox stands much taller -all accounts and records note its large size and wild nature -similar foxes were imported from Norway in the late 19th century when it became extinct.

When the land bridge between Britain and Europe (Doggerland) was flooded 8-10,000 years ago all UK species became island species and developed into such and the wolf would have developed into a distinct sub species and was noted for being large rather than attaining island "dwarf" status. 

The fox developed for the terrains it was to fit into. The Common or Cur fox stayed close to human habitation and was known as the smallest of the species. The Hill or Mastiff fox was much larger and heavily built for the environment it inhabited and rarely ventured down into valleys unless its hunt for food required it to.

The Mountain or Greyhound fox moved through mountains, swamps, forests and was known for its strength, stamina and that meant a lot for hunts who relished the chase and endurance as much as the kill. Mountain foxes existed and were hunted to extinction on the island of Ireland and British mountain foxes were later sent as "gifts" to Irish hunts. The foxes of Ireland, itself separated from Britain when its land bridge  sank would also have been a specific sub-species.

Looking at all of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries archives by naturalists, 'sportsmen' and better known quadruped specialists the Old mountain fox filled the niche between wolves and the regular fox. A niche filled in the Americas by the coyote and in Europe and elsewhere the jackal.

There is little doubt that the Old British mountain fox was a fox -in the past before testing there were many often silly suggestions as to its origins- and that similar foxes existed in Western/Central Europe. The Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) gradually moving from the East into Europe along human migratory routes. Taxidermy specimens are rare to find due to age or lack of interest. No single museum in the United Kingdom or N. Ireland/Eire possess any specimens. I know because I communicated with each and every one of them and the oldest foxes they had were post 1900.  The Extinct Fox and Wild Cat Museum (EFWCM) has the largest collection including two foxes from the noted French naturalist Sarrazin -which may be either the first examples of old North American fox or specimens of Old European fox.  

Similarly, in the 1830s, Colquhoun also shot what are thought to have been the last pair of Old wild cats from Scotland before the European wild cat was introduced for hunting and then interbred with feral domestic cats. The Old wild cats were known in  as "The English Tiger" but after extinction that title moved north to be adopted for "the Highland Tiger" of Scotland. 

These cats were much bigger than the wild cats of today, were sandy/yellowish and had "tiger stripes" and were so powerful that hunters attached metal spiked leather collars to their hounds as hounds could be easily killed by the cats.  Human fatalities were also known as the cats gave no quarter when bordered or wounded.

The Colquhoun cats are probably the last of the genetic line and, again, there seems to be evidence that such cats existed in Western Europe (we know of a specimen at a museum in Ireland that looks to be Felis lybica in origin and was probably introduced there during the Iron Age).

Without going into overlong hypothesis the Old wild cat would be a distinct species that was killed off and later replaced by what we know as the European wild cat of today.  This makes sense since Ireland, Britain and Europe were once joined and animals roamed freely with no obstacles in their way.

What we do not have, because of the lack of museum specimens (there is an 1845 British fox in a Netherlands museum)  is any DNA test results because of that. DNA results could well re-write British, Irish and European natural history on these two species.

No labs seem interested in testing samples and such tests are beyond any finances we have. 

Ever Heard of Island Badgers?

 

(c)2026 Badger Trust Isle of Wight

 Island populations of any animal whether fox or badger is of interest. In my two Red Papers I looked at island foxes as well as island wild cats. Badgers on islands indicate two things:

1. They are an ancient population inhabiting the island since it became water locked.

2. They were transported to the island simply to introduce them there or for hunting/hunting reasons -badgers were being caught and transported all over England in the second half of the 19th century.

If (1) then they need DNA testing and to be studied and given full protection by the law and not subjected to any cull.

If it is (2) then records need to be search for when the introduction started. Foxes were transported to the Isle of Man, Isle of Wight, etc for hunting purposes.; Because of the introduction of mange due to the poor conditions imported foxes faced before being sold on it became a problem noted in thw 18th and 19th centuries.

Hunt masters would kill any population where mange was seen even if the foxes appeared healthy the fact that one had mange meant the entire population had to be killed -cubs and all.  Some bright spark decided that foxes had mange due to them being dirty animals and not cleaning out their dens. Badgers didn't have mange and were seen as clean and they cleared out their setts daily. No one accused hunt masters of having high IQs but they worked out that if they got badgers and put them into fox dens their constant cleaning out would mean future foxes did not face mange.

Your brain can hurt if you try to work this all out logically. If the foxes were alive then badgers could not be moved in. If the foxes were gone and the badgers moved in to clean up an area before more imported foxes arrived...where did the badgers go?  Where they killed or moved on to another hunting territory?

It is very odd to write that after centuries of melecide the badgers of England only survived because they seemed useful to fox hunts. Otherwise like the original British fox and wild cat badgers would now be extinct -for 'sport' they were not much use ("unless there is a shortage of foxes") so would not have been trapped in Europe and imported in their thousands as foxes, deer, hare, red squirrels and other species were.

Which means that if (2) then we know why -unless some local squire wanted to have a "typically English animal" on his property.

The history of island canids and felids is interesting but island badgers are never mentioned.

Interestingly, every search will tell you that foxes and badgers are absent on the Isle of Man and yet we know from records (written not online because internetters do not study archives) that there are foxes there -again, imported for 'sport' in the 19th century. And:

"No Extant Population: Reports of badger sightings are rare and usually considered to be escapees, not a established population." 

  Escaped from where?  The fact that there is no bovine TB on the Isle is stated to be proof that badgers do not exist there and yet that claim of badger introduced bTB can be shot down over and over again.

Badgers actually went extinct on the Isle of Wight by 1909. The current population stems from about a dozen badgers introduced in the 1920s by the local hunt.

Removing a badger from an island population, say an orphaned cub, would or should be difficult since there would be questions re. any disease introduction OR if returned back to the island the risk of bTB.

There are a lot of questions about island populations but dogma (spread by armchair 'experts' and internet bloggers) has taken the place of field work. Why get wet and cold when you can just copy and paste 'facts'?

My coffers are empty so I pick and choose.

 

Yesterday and today a total of five requests from wildlife/environmental groups in the UK or outside the UK for my input or to help advise. This is a regular thing and can amount to 10-15 requests per week,

I'd guess to do what the last five requested would take two days of sorting data, etc.

All unpaid work.

No.

This goes on too much and yet the bodies involved WILL make money from contributions, etc from my work which is usually all uncredited.

Why do I get so many requests? BECAUSE I have spent 50 years of field and archival research but if you ask a "professional" you would get asked for a high fee and those persons would see what was on the internet copy and paste and give that to you for your money and it is likely an assistant or intern will do the work. Which means you can get some pretty inaccurate info back.

I know because I was told by two such people that this was "common practice" and also when I used to help students etc with their papers what appeared were just huge chunks of my work all word-for-word and.... no credit.

My coffers are empty so I pick and choose.

There Is A Stupid Voice That Keeps Saying "Continue!"

 

Apart from a while living in Germany I was born and raised in Bristol. From an early age I had an interest in wildlife from the smallest insect to the largest mammal. I think it amused my gran when I used to pick up worms from her garden in St Werburgh's and just hold and examine them.

St Werburgh's was great as we lived in Sevier Street with the brook and Mina Road Park to our rear. The odd owl landing on the window sill at night was "fun" (huge glowing eyes outside the window); I interacted with a pretty smart jackdaw and even observed a large caterpillar that after all of these years (I was about 10 years old at the time) I have never been able to identify what species it was.

In 1975 whilst walking to work down Pennywell Road I saw by first fox out in the daylight (it was around 0630) -not far behind it was a pursuer: a chunky black and white tom cat that looked determined to teach "that damned dog" a lesson for coming into its area. A year later I set up the British Fox Study here in Bristol. I also looked into wild cats and badgers. In 1977 I was rather accidentally drawn into exotic animals and spent 1977-2018 acting as a UK police forces wildlife consultant (and later as part of the Partnership Against Wildlife Crime -PAWS).

Yes, I did get interviewed in newspapers 9national and regional) and even on local, national and non UK (Australia and Forces Radio Europe) on my work.

So I started out all those decades ago and tried as best I could to avoid publiciity while I also helped people build wildlife pounds, remove the odd adder that had wandered into their garden and tried to persuade local authorities (Conservative, Labour and currently the very non Greens) to help do more for the environment and help conserve our rapidly dwindling wildlife.

I had the first ever post mortem study into fox deaths set up in Bristol which yielded some interesting results. Outside the UK I am known for my research on canids and felids -particularly extinct ones and I managed to identify which fox inhabited Hong Kong before hunting drove it extinct -something naturalists there had been unable to do.

In 2000 I wrote a paper that clearly stated there WAS a genuine Corsican wild cat (aka "fox-cat") -science caught up with me about five years ago!

I have researched and discovered what the original British fox looked like as well as the wild cat -al archived and published for posterity.

British academia's response? "You aren't with a university are you?" which is their way of saying "you ain't part of the club". Far more interest outside the UK.

The question I keep getting asked by people who wonder WHY I still do all of this with no financial reward or official recognition (I liked it when someone pointed out that a lady who was a public toilet attendant for 30 years got an MBE for her work but "You just get tones of ------ thrown at you!" -it stops any ego developing)

From the 1970s when things were bleak -the Energy Crisis and power cuts- to the 1980s when people seemed to be trying to at least do something to save the environment and wildlife we have seen, since the late 1990s, a downward spiral of not many caring about all of the UK species going extinct, all the trees being cut down and Green Spaces grabbed for selling off.

Local authorities and national governments all have the same mantra: "**** wildlife and the environment -there is money to be made!"

When I am gone very few are going to even know about the work I have done. The UK as a whole doers not care what is going on outside of TV or on the internet. Otters, badgers, foxes and deer are all piling up on the roadside (former wildlife track) but build under or over passes for wildlife to cross? No. That would cost money -it's just wildlife after all.

Let's All Save Wildlife

 Wildlife Trusts promo:

"Every day, wherever we are, there are chances to roll up our sleeves and fix what’s broken. Let’s start with nature."

My response:

"Sadly, about 90% of the UK population does not give a damn about wildlife.

In Bristol this year thanks to speeding we have lost (reported) 47 badgers and 115 foxes.

Every night men and women across the UK get into their cammo gear and go out shooting foxes or whatever is about for 'sport' -killing wildlife for fun (as well as the odd domestic cat).

Birds of prey nests are being wrecked and the birds poisoned because "We don't want them here".

Until prosecutions for wildlife crime become really harsh the killing will continue.

Until speeding motorists cut back the wildlife deaths will continue.

Until we stop people going out and killing for 'fun'...we are losing. Losing in a big way.

See my post My Opinion After 50 Years A Naturalist: The UK IS NOT A Nation of Animal Lovers. here:

[https://terryhoopernaturalist.blogspot.com/.../my-opinion...]

Working With Avon Wildlife Trust?

 

AWT I am indifferent to. They had Ashton Vale designated a Wildlife Deprivation Zone when I moved here in 1994. In my first night I observed low flying barn owls, hedgehogs, two foxes walking up the road, bats etc. Next day I saw a woodpecker, collared doves, wood pigeons, finches, great and Blue Tits and more.

After a month of wildlife surveying I sent a report to AWT who told me that I needed to join before any of my data could be looked at.

After B&M opened in Winterstoke Road I was accosted by a young fella looking to get people to join AWT and he very knowledgably informed me "Did you know this was a wildlife deprivation zone?" I looked out of the doorway and said to him

"What do you see outside?" Puzzled he shrugged. I pointed to the lamp post fitted rat traps , I pointed to the two wood pigeons, a large number of crows, three types of sea gull I then offered to show him the hedgehog droppings I had passed on the grass outside the strore.

He turned and asked the next person through the doors whether they had considered joining AWT to "help bring wildlife to the area".

I have never had any response to copies of the badger and fox deaths registers I sent nor the fox death study results.

When I asked AWT for some kind of support in asking Bristol City Council to look into ways to cut down wildlife deaths I was told they couldn't do that. Asking whether they could pass on any fox or badger death reports they received (three times) -nope.

I started the Fox Study Project in 1976 and AWT has never shown any interest-my work is better known internationally than in my own City. My badger work is also know outside the UK as is my work on wild cats and feral cats. None of which has ever interested AWT and certainly never BRERC,

We need people out there working to protect and study wildlife and the environment and far less time fund raising. I may come across as a miserable sod but when we live in one of the worst countries for wildlife I think I am allowed to be.