The Labour Party Lied To Voters: DEFRA Announces More Badger Culls -and hope there are enough badgers to kill

 I so wanted to keep politics out of this blog but Steve Reed MP, Keir Starmer and the Labour Party lied to voters. Say goodbye to badgers.

Keir Starmer and Steve Reed met with farmers before the general election and were all smiles and handshakes. Odd for two men who detested the badger cull and wanted it stopped. 

I believe they, and that means the Labour Party is also tainted, made a deal with farmers for votes and to date both men and the Labour Party has refused to respond to voters asking what is going on.

They cannot stop the culls until 2026 as they are "honouring" contracts. What they mean is that rather than pay out for stopping the cull they are willing to see the 300,000 badgers already killed joined by thousands more if they can find them.

You see DEFRA has given a maximum number to be killed and a much lower number if there are not enough badgers found. That in itself indicates that the badger population is reaching or has reached a point that the Tory government and former Prime Minister Sunak wanted to achieve: the eradication of all badgers. 

We lose thousands each year on the roads. We do not know how many are killed illegally but we know it goes on and not just on private estates.

What I have warned about for the last few years is becoming a reality; eradication of badgers in England.

By the 2030s urban badgers will be all we have left and when that goes down in the history books Reed, Starmer and the Labour Party can be credited with completing the work of the Conservative government'. And lovers of killing animals get enough money to buy the new cars and purchase properties.

13th August -International Wolf Day

 

Is Amputating A Fox's Leg Reason To Kill It? NO.

  I was told quite authoritatively that "a fox losing a leg cannot survive in the wild. If it's a front leg then it needs to be put down" -no "ifs", "buts" or "maybes" -put it down. Fox health and welfare is something I have looked at a lot since 1976. I could bore on wild canids for England.

I heard, in the 1970s, of a fox that had a back leg missing and it was suspected that it was down to a snare or trap. It was not expected to survive long. It was still going four years later and catching rabbits.

There are a lot of stories of three legged foxes and the question has to be why should a fox that could lead a perfectly good life be put down because it has a leg missing?

Growing up in the 1960s I would see the occasional three legged pet dog. Nothing unusual. I saw more around in the 1980s and in one week during the 1990s I saw four -all perfectly fit and healthy.

"But those are domestic dogs, you idiot: they have people looking after them and feeding them!" Well, yes, but I knew a man with a three legged Jack Russel that he still took around to businesses as a rat catcher and the dog had no problem: it had learnt to work on three legs and adjust its balance, etc..

So, yeah, if I was dumb enough and had not spent most of my life on foxes I might believe three legged foxes cannot survive in the wild.  However, what I have learnt is that so long as there is that fight and spark of life to survive a fox will and it will make you look a fool for doubting it.

There is Missy the three legged fox which is at a rescue -so not the wild. But it is alive.

Fripps Farm Animal Rescue Little Randolph our three legged fox. He’s staying here for life as he had to have one of his front legs amputated before he came here

Newhouse Wildlife Rescue obviously had not been told that you have to kill a fox if it has to lose a front leg. This one is doing well.

Newhouse Wildlife Rescue

Another three legged fox in the wild

And another three legged fox in the wild "It moved FAST!"

A two legged fox (not having had veterinary amputations so this was possibly from birth -it was hunting and eating before anyone had ever seen it before.

Finally; very active, gets in and out of things like a normal fox. It has three legs. We checked and the leg was not amputated by a vet and any leg injury in Bristol that went to a local rescue was automatically put to sleep. So...how did this fox cub survive? How is he running about and being a fox with three legs?

Take a look at this still from a trail cam. This vixen has been visiting the site for over one year. And this year her cub is with her....

...she has a front leg missing. Well, she's survived, mated and raised a cub.

"If a fox loses its front leg it cannot survive and best to put it down" Really? 

The above has a nice stump. We have checked and it certainly was no amputation by a vet -they would consider PTS. I would guess that this was from birth as it looks too clean and natural and it goes anywhere it wants. Its overall body condition is excellent -as is its speed.  So..trap and kill? No. It will live its natural life we hope and if it got to this age it is not "barely" surviving.

Foxes with back legs missing I avoided in the main as there are a few out there. Even it it is decided by a hum,an that a fox losing a front leg means it has to stay in a rescue it is still far better than being killed. Look at the photos of the foxes that have lost front legs and are surviving in the wild. Photographs and videos speak volumes and to press home a point does anyone remember the two legged, FAST moving fox that got into the news a while back?  

Never, ever underestimate a fox and its will to survive and live and with fox numbers declining sharply it's not too much to ask humans to actually do something to help them for once.

Badger Work Pre-2000s

 During 1993/1994 I was contacting people left, right and centre including the RSPCA as they listed the Bristol Badger watch on their page (still do). Absolutely no luck and so I set up the Bristol Badger Group. I have been asked before how one joins? One doesn't.

BBG is not a social meet up for tea and biscuits.  I keep a record of badgers killed in Bristol (The Bristol Badger Death Register) and a very private list of where badger setts are located. I do not care if you want to film a documentary on urban badgers or whether you are the BBC: you do not get to know where a badger sett is.

DEFRA and the current anti badger Labour Party are continuing badger culls despite stating that they do no good. By the 2030s it is possible that urban badgers may be all that is left in the UK. 300.000 already killed and now more slated to be killed.

I found, through the fox work oddly enough, a lady who used to do badger work and also worked on foxes. As she is getting on in years I have not given her name (this is the internet after all). She gave a glimpse into the Old School work up to 1994, when the badger group folded.

"Dear Terry,

"Mike Collins did post mortems in his back garden! One day he had a dead badger that had turned into wax. I am not sure what this was, I used to leave all the science to Mike. He used to go on radio and TV to talk about the Krebs report for badgers and had a regular slot on Bristol radio Shepherd's way.

"He told me that there were at least 5 badger setts at ************, due to be redeveloped at the time, he said that the welfare of these badger setts was concerning.

"He also told me that the development of the land either side of the M32 would adversely impact the badger setts there. He used to have an arrangement with Highways to collect the dead badgers on the road and he used to determine the cause of death, not always a road traffic accident, possibly run over afterwards in some cases.

"Mike was a very calm, very scientific person, very accurate in everything he did. He kept exacting records of every location and case. He was working on a thorough map of badger setts in the wider Bristol region, when sadly he died. He was connected to the Somerset Badger Group and so it is possible that they have his old record books. His wife was extremely nice and understanding that he spent so much of his free time saving badgers and other wildlife. It may be that she kept the record books, I just don't know. But he had logged extensive records of all the badger setts in this area, including the ones at *******. (There are probably photos of me in them, holding measurement rulers up to my ankles in mud, on cold winter days!)

"It might be that your group already know all this and maybe have the records. 

"I feel I have to pass this info on to responsible younger/ more active people as I am getting on in age now and I feel I have to pass it on in order to help the wildlife that I have tried to help and protect for so many years."

Quite honestly I would love for any dead badgers to undergo post mortems but unless there are suspicious circumstances our hands are tied by Health & Safety Executive "because" of the BTB 'threat'.

We will, however, continue to monitor and record.

 

Is There Evidence That Climate Change Is Affecting Fox Breeding Season?

I have already noted the fact that warmer weather is affecting wildlife and how it may also be helping harmful bacteria survive.  The warmer weather is also affecting breeding seasons.

I do not, obviously, just study foxes in Bristol, but also keep an eye on fox groups and posts there and elsewhere. This means that I get to learn and see a lot more than the "average internet surfer".  

I have heard of quite young cubs in November -which was ridiculed and "probably just a quite small fox" but then the same was said about someone who reported fox cubs in January. How ridiculous. Or is it?

Sarah Mills was asked to help remove some foxes that were living under a floor.  She got there and put her camera under the floor to see how many foxes were there -the broken sausage you can see in the video was to lure them out from hiding.  Imagine her surprise in finding tiny fox cubs.

In this case the tenant was not going to have them removed!  Messing around with an active den with cubs is also illegal but the tenant put any such thought aside. There are actually a lot of nice people out there.  By July, of course, traditionally, the year's cubs should be dispersing so this vixen had her cubs late which means breeding season was late.

Hopefully, more people will report late or early litters and photograph and film them. But it seems to be another change in foxes we are seeing in the UK.   

As I have noted previously, town and city foxes have no shortage of food -rats and mice in abundance as well as cat food left out overnight, fast food dumped on pavements and in parks and, of course, feeders.  Mating seasons are based on there being a plentiful supply of prey/food and good weather. Good weather + a good supply of food =No need to regulate breeding.  Despite what people think there is a "balance to nature" and we know that in leaner years some species do not breed because survival of young would be poor to zero.  

If we remember that foxes are good gauges of the environment then this early and late breeding as well as how health issues arise in them shows just how the environment is changing.  I think that, if people keep an eye open and monitor things more closely, we will see far more "out of season" breeding and cubs.

While we still have foxes.

Why Is Leptospirosis Killing So Many Fox Cubs?

 

We have, in Bristol, another possible case of leptospirosis Weil's Disease). I write "possible" since until it has undergone a post mortem and various tests nothing is conclusive.  

If I go by what some rescues say then every year fox cubs are dying with symptoms such as convulsions, collapse, their whole system shutting down and jaundice.

Every year.

I ask what the post mortems concluded and without fail I am told that they do not have foxes undergo PMs -if disease or poisoning is suspected then the post mortems are free of charge if you contact the nearest Animal Plant Health Agency office and explain. You will, however, have to transport the body yourself as there is no collection service.

Some shrug off the annual deaths as "canine hepatitis" or "distemper" despite the fact that we have had neither of these in UK foxes to date.  As one told me: "We will decide to submit any such dead animal when we think it necessary" and then told me it was all canine hepatitis. Just as rescues told me that "adenovirus is rampant in UK foxes" yet, many post mortems later we have had no adenovirus in Bristol foxes. It's just an easy dismissal of deaths to cut back on doing something about them.

But why cubs every year -and for how long has this been going one?  For the latter the response is simply "we do not know" because no one has been recording fox deaths or the ages of those foxes. If this has been going on at the same time as hunting and idiots out shooting foxes for 'fun' every night then it explains why the UK fox population is now needing to be considered for Red Listing rather like the hedgehog was/is.

The high number of vixen cubs is worrying since they are the ones that would rear the next generation. Shooters have no concern whether it is a dog or vixen they shoot or a cub; they just kill for 'fun'. As hunts found in the past, though even when writing about it and explaining the situation it just never sank into their own brains; you kill vixens -where do future foxes come from? You kill cubs -no adult foxes later on, Killing a vixen to prove that she was pregnant because someone challenged a persons statement that she was pregnant....

This is how people killed off the UK/Irelands original fox types by the 1830s and importing foxes had begun long before and after that. Since the early 1900s (say post 1914) foxes could not be imported and released for hunting.  Mange (introduced by hunts through importing under poor conditions) seen in one fox meant every fox in the area was killed "in case" (just import more).  We have seen near extinction of new UK foxes a number of times -1925 and the 1950s seeing them teetering on the brink.

The foxes we have left now are it and many thousands die on roads every year and hundreds shot for 'fun' while lung and heart worm and verminous pneumonia claim many others. You cannot keep killing a species (just one of many that people are still wiping out in the UK) and expect it to survive. Badgers are already teetering on that cliff of extinction.

This is why we are trying to find out what is killing foxes and leptospirosis has been the big surprise.  Although known in foxes outside the UK those foxes tend to show some immunity to lepto as well as babesia why are UK foxes dying from lepto?

There are a number of factors and one may well be that the healthier foxes that would breed new, stronger generations with immunity are being killed off. The second may well be environmental.  Rats are a foxes main prey in towns and cities and they kill hundreds each every year and are possibly the best pest control you can get. Rats carry a lot of diseases but, healthy foxes should build up an immunity to those.

In the past we had colder winters (very few of them in the last 20+ years) and as no one was checking dead foxes we cannot know if more died during/following cold winters as do after mild winters.  The cold used to freeze the ground and to an extent kill off bacteria, etc., and heavy rains would dilute any remaining. Cold and wet winters seem to be good for keeping down infection outbreaks in theory.  The reality is that we get the opposite.

Warmer winters and no freezing of the ground creates, I believe, pockets of bacteria that run rife. 

We know that there is no shortage of food for foxes -mice, rats, insects, fruit, etc. as well as littered food. There are also feeders and this has other effects (for another post) but it means that in some ways a fox diet is changing. They should not be fed a large amount every day and the "healthy looking" foxes I see on social media get lots of "Likes" but they are obese. A fox is supposed to look "rangey" as they are hunters and need to dart through and around obstacles to catch prey.

Weather is, however, another contributor since we are seeing butterflies, bees, ladybirds and many other insects that should be dormant out and amount in November, January and so on. I keep a watch on all local wildlife and I know for a fact that hedgehogs are also affected by milder winters. I make sure that they get enough supplemental food that they have a good weight for hibernation. In the last 10 years I have seen hogs out and about in November, December, January and February when it was warmer and wet. Most people tend to think winter months means they are not about but they are.

So, yes, the changes in climate are having an effect on wildlife as well as other aspects of life and I believe that the reason so many cubs are dying from lepto is because of this change. The freezing temperatures can kill off the bacteria within minutes as they are fragile (they also die in dry heat, etc.)  Because of this, leptospirosis cases are supposedly less common in the winter, with most cases occurring during the summer and autumn. 

Cubs are exposed to the infection at an early age before they have reached adulthood and

 build up an immunity. Sadly, the financial backing is not there for such research as It is "just foxes."

On Treating Infections, Facial Injuries and Mange In Foxes In Situ: The Successes

  Foxes are probably the toughest animals you can find. Even when they are gasping their final breaths they are fighting and we have seen some terrible injuries that foxes have recovered from.

In Bristol, the focus of studies, Sarah Mills (The Bristol Fox Lady) very early on decided that it was best to treat foxes with mange in situ rather than trap, treat and release. Before this any fox deemed (depending upon who was "deeming" at the time) to have 30% mange -on tail and rump- was caught and put down. It is horrific to look back and see how many such foxes died when all it would have taken to keep them alive and well was the patience to treat.

Treating an animal in situ means that there is no stress. No trapping and treating or human presence to add stress. Foxes treated in the wild actually heal quickly because there is no stress and they eat the food with meds and after that carry on as they should do. I have seen a completely bald fox that there was even suggestions to trap and put down. In cold and wind and rain Sarah Mills went out and treated the fox, a vixen, which is now healthy and has a new coat.

We have had bad, infected facial wounds and these are far more common than people think -our post mortems have shown that the facial injuries are the results of being swiped by cars. The pathologist carrying out the work is the best we could have gotten. One fox, a vixen, had a facial wound and the idea was to trap and if untreatable put to sleep. However, she had cubs so they would be orphaned.

Reported 21st may

Clavaseptin(antibiotic) started 22nd may for 10days Whilst being fed puppy food defrosted chick's small amounts of liver and manuka honey. Last photo with regrowth of fur, etc is 15th July.

It takes time and patience and once Sarah is made aware of a fox needing treatment it and its treatments and end results are all noted down.  It provides Sarah with the records that she needs but for those with an interest in wildlife rescue and treatment it shows that no animal, in this case foxes, should be given up on and "putting To Sleep" is an easy way out but not helping foxes. This vixen has raised cubs and will, hopefully, have more next year. Important since fox numbers have declined dramatically.

The next fox was marked for trapping and, sadly, being PTS. However, it was an obstinate little thing and again showed that they will not give up. It evaded traps in two gardens and as you can see in the first clip it was able to move fast. It was decided that, until it was caught it should be treated and the important thing here is that locals were feeding it. The food meant that it kept its strength up and that helped its recovery.

08 07 2024 First video clip received.

11 07 2024  And after 3 days of 4ml Metacam...I had to re-watch this several times.

07 08 2024 finally...it is now being treated for mange.

Here is something which I would have not known were I not keeping an eye on rescue pages and fox groups: there were two almost exactly the same cases in southern England.  As with the Bristol one there was no access to roads so none of the foxes were hit by cars. There was no blood or wounds so they were not attacked by other foxes or dogs.  Each fox recovered, albeit with slight limps, in a similar time to the Bristol fox.

What was going on?  My best guess was either some type of knock to the spine causing inflammation and temporary paralysis or, based on the Bristol post mortem work, some type of virus or infection causing the paralysis. Thankfully, we will not know  since he will not be subject to a post mortem examination but be another fox mystery.  I do wonder how many foxes displayed the same symptoms were PTS before being given a chance to recover.

As much as we learn from the post mortems we learn an equal amount from treatment in the wild from facial injuries, mange, infections and so on. The old idea of "They have to be treated inhouse" is outdated. For speedier and stress free treatment and faster recoveries in situ treatment appears to be best. And Sarah is always willing to pass on what she has learnt.