It is almpost depressing to note that since I first set up EAR and the Fox and Wild cats project things have not gotten any better. I tend to hear far more about escaped wolfdogs and silver foxes than genuine large cats these days.
The problem seems to be that people just do not "get animals" even if they think they do. I've seen footage of an idiot who thought he had a pet black panther and at one point he turned hios back to it -it rushed at him but he turned in time (what a hoot!)
Look at "The Lion Whisperer" and he KNOWS how to treat leopards -with respect and ALWAYS watching where they are.
I see people hand feeding badgers and my reaction is very rude. Even the "gentle swan" taking food from your hand can at times be painful so imagine a badger snatching food and your fingers getting in the way.
People coaxing wild foxes in to take food from their hands are another problem. I really hate seeing people get foxes used to humans and even teaching a fox to come out from cover with a whistle. I'd love to give a fox a smooth and tickle but NEVER a wild fox because they need to know never to trust people.
I'm sure that more than a few fox feeders who hand feed "their" foxes get the odd nip or two. People attract foxes and badgers to their gardens and then "The bloody things have a den under my decking!" or "I found fox crap on my patio!" THEN foxes are a bloody nuisance and problem.
No.
The PEOPLE are the problem because they are domesticating fgoxes with no idea about the animal.
Animals tend to trust me. I do not giove off any "threat vibes". I talk in a certain tone and I know how to let cats and dogs check me out and the various ways to communicate to them that I am friendly. In the past it has taken me up to 6 months to get a visiting cat to trust me.
"I don't touch you, you don't touch me" tends to be a good policy .
Even with Bella the cat now living next door but owning the gardens here, it took months after I found she was living under the conifer trees to let me get near her and talk (food bribery). I made the mistake of getting distracted as I put her food in a dish and on going indoors found that she had (without me noticing so her claws WERE sharp) left three long scratches on my hand. Even after all of these years I know she'll be smoothed but watch the tails, ears and that tell tale eye movement. She still has the wild streak (even with her humans next door!).
People take on pet or rescued red foxes or buy a silver fox or wolfdog and they have no idea what they are letting themselves in for (especially during mating season). I've seen how incredibly good and fast foxes are at digging and a garden fence is no obstacle to dig under or jump up on top of or even climb -I've seen that (cats actually reaching up to undo door catches was an eye opener to me!).
Wolfdogs getting out and having to fend for themselves in the wild for more than a year are not going to fair well against a farmer or shooter who fancies himself as a hunter or wanting a trophy kill -even if livestock are never attacked -Lemur shot by a farmer as it was near his sheep and looked "unususual" and an arctic fox shot by a farmer because "it looked unusual"; something that looks like a wolf....
People need a lot more education on animals and some certainly need to be taught how to home and look after their 'pets'!
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