To 152047, I think the text on the fox web site I linked to answers your questions - pie charts are great visualisations but don't explain anything by themselves.

Foxes are highly adaptable and it stands to reason that they will eat more rats in London where there is a much higher population of these rodents. The site also explains how the diet variation and indeed presence of foxes is influenced by the predominant layout of housing and gardens - this, as well as many other factors, will also influence the variations between Bristol and London.

If you want another source, with more detail than you might care for, try this:
http://www.wildlifeonline.me.uk/red_fox.html#feeding

A selected quote from there:

The science is out there, you can look up the references if you wish. Or contact the Mammal Group at the University of Bristol who maintain the first link I posted. I, for one, am convinced that foxes do indeed eat rats and it is highly plausible that they would eat lots where they are abundant.

I'm sorry if I gave the impression that urban foxes are shy (I was referring to country foxes who have good reason to stear clear of humans) - they most certainly are not, a little too friendly in fact.

FWIW, I agree with Tinkerbell, like any wild animal they are a joy to watch.

They also happen to be the top predator - biogeography tells us that we should look after those. That doesn't mean that we should feed them though.

This post was last modified: 23-02-2012 12:10 PM by lacb.