About

Foxes are mammals from the dog family. They are nocturnal, which means they mostly come out at night.

A male fox is called a dog, tod or reynard. A female fox is called a vixen. A baby fox is called a cub, kit or pup. A group of foxes is called a skulk, leash or earth.

Habitat

Foxes often sleep out in the open, or might live in underground burrow systems called "earths" or "dens". In the UK, they are found throughout mainland Britain, be it countryside or towns.

The ones we see in London are red foxes. Foxes have rarely been spotted at The UP Garden but we can tell they have visited us from the holes they dug under our west boundary and their attempts to dig up our planters! That's why we have netting around them sometimes.

What does it need?

Foxes aren't picky eaters! They are omnivores which means they eat anything - rodents and birds (they are expert hunters), frogs, earthworms, berries and fruit. They also scavenge for food in bins - keep your bin lids closed and don't leave out any bin bags!

What needs it?

In the UK and much of Europe, the only predators of the red fox are the Eurasian eagle owl (largely absent from the UK since the 1700s) and the golden eagle (within the UK, only found in Scotland).

Humans are the main predators of foxes in the UK: mostly farmers to protect their livestock, or fox hunters for 'leisure'.

Foxes help to control the population of their prey, like rabbits and rodents. They also help to disperse seeds by eating fruit.

Fun fact!

Foxes have amazing hearing; it is said they can hear a watch ticking nearly 40m away.

See a video here, and learn more here!