Rabbit rescued from jaws of fox (From News Shopper)

Foxy obviously wanted something to go with his garlic bread!

Hope poor bunny recovers from his ordeal and someone comes to claim him soon.

Poor bunny, glad it survived. Well done to the police officer too and for bothering the last time to stop for an injured fox.... they dont see bunnies as peoples pets they only see a good feed. I have rescue bunnies, cats and dogs and also feed the foxes.... my cats feed with the foxes .. thankfully this report wasnt one of bad press about them.. All animals deserve a chance, they dont ask to be born. Hope bunny and owner get reunited and soon xxxxxxx Nice report news shopper as always x

Poor bunny, glad it survived. Well done to the police officer too and for bothering the last time to stop for an injured fox.... they dont see bunnies as peoples pets they only see a good feed. I have rescue bunnies, cats and dogs and also feed the foxes.... my cats feed with the foxes .. thankfully this report wasnt one of bad press about them.. All animals deserve a chance, they dont ask to be born. Hope bunny and owner get reunited and soon xxxxxxx Nice report news shopper as always x

Threadworm - nice name ;)

LOL

Kate Theobald looks like she loves her "rabbit". ;)

Excuse me for being pedantic, Ms Smale, but as a journalist shouldn't you get the spelling right? That would be 'a grisly end'. Grizzly is a bear.

Threadworm wrote:
Poor bunny, glad it survived. Well done to the police officer too and for bothering the last time to stop for an injured fox.... they dont see bunnies as peoples pets they only see a good feed. I have rescue bunnies, cats and dogs and also feed the foxes.... my cats feed with the foxes .. thankfully this report wasnt one of bad press about them.. All animals deserve a chance, they dont ask to be born. Hope bunny and owner get reunited and soon xxxxxxx Nice report news shopper as always x

I also have rescued animals, birds and fish. However, feeding foxes is not a good idea. It makes them dependent on humans for food and unafraid of them, as well as cutting down their territory, thus encouraging more foxes to move in. When the fox is hungry it will approach humans for food, often aggressively, and then the media have a field day! I am very fond of foxes, and for this very reason will never feed them, however tempted I may be.

I am so looking forward to rabit stew - once the easter bunny has delivered all my easter eggs!

I have my views and you have yours. i will continue to feed the foxes as i always have done. foxes are not vicious to humans its the other way round.:-(

Witchkid wrote:

Threadworm wrote:
Poor bunny, glad it survived. Well done to the police officer too and for bothering the last time to stop for an injured fox.... they dont see bunnies as peoples pets they only see a good feed. I have rescue bunnies, cats and dogs and also feed the foxes.... my cats feed with the foxes .. thankfully this report wasnt one of bad press about them.. All animals deserve a chance, they dont ask to be born. Hope bunny and owner get reunited and soon xxxxxxx Nice report news shopper as always x

I also have rescued animals, birds and fish. However, feeding foxes is not a good idea. It makes them dependent on humans for food and unafraid of them, as well as cutting down their territory, thus encouraging more foxes to move in. When the fox is hungry it will approach humans for food, often aggressively, and then the media have a field day! I am very fond of foxes, and for this very reason will never feed them, however tempted I may be.

OK so i put food out in my garden for the wildlife - do i sit there 24/7and shoo away the foxes when the come to eat food because they are hungery. If you put food out then foxes will eat what ever and when ever they can. I cant honestly say i feed the foxes in particular but hey if they eat what i put out then they are not starving on rummaging around bins or pet enclosures for food! So are you saying we shouldnot put any food out for birds incase it encourages foxes. Well my garden and i will put food out and if any animal is hungrey they are welcome to food as i am not about to sit there all night and tell the foxes its not for them and expect them to starve! Same as if a begger came and searched my bin for food i wouldnt tell him sorry cant feed you as it might make you dependant on humans for food> These are wild animals and they have to forage for food to survive and if people want to help the wildlife survive by leaving out food then so be it, you cant differentiate who eats it

reptiles wrote:

Witchkid wrote:

Threadworm wrote:
Poor bunny, glad it survived. Well done to the police officer too and for bothering the last time to stop for an injured fox.... they dont see bunnies as peoples pets they only see a good feed. I have rescue bunnies, cats and dogs and also feed the foxes.... my cats feed with the foxes .. thankfully this report wasnt one of bad press about them.. All animals deserve a chance, they dont ask to be born. Hope bunny and owner get reunited and soon xxxxxxx Nice report news shopper as always x

I also have rescued animals, birds and fish. However, feeding foxes is not a good idea. It makes them dependent on humans for food and unafraid of them, as well as cutting down their territory, thus encouraging more foxes to move in. When the fox is hungry it will approach humans for food, often aggressively, and then the media have a field day! I am very fond of foxes, and for this very reason will never feed them, however tempted I may be.

OK so i put food out in my garden for the wildlife - do i sit there 24/7and shoo away the foxes when the come to eat food because they are hungery. If you put food out then foxes will eat what ever and when ever they can. I cant honestly say i feed the foxes in particular but hey if they eat what i put out then they are not starving on rummaging around bins or pet enclosures for food! So are you saying we shouldnot put any food out for birds incase it encourages foxes. Well my garden and i will put food out and if any animal is hungrey they are welcome to food as i am not about to sit there all night and tell the foxes its not for them and expect them to starve! Same as if a begger came and searched my bin for food i wouldnt tell him sorry cant feed you as it might make you dependant on humans for food> These are wild animals and they have to forage for food to survive and if people want to help the wildlife survive by leaving out food then so be it, you cant differentiate who eats it

Food put out in general is not what causes the problem. I feed birds and woodmice in my garden, and even had a solitary rat in my shed for a while which grew up there from a stranded baby! My point is that these animals do not associate me with their food supply and remain completely wild. The problems arise when people try to tame foxes by feeding them as they would their pets. The fox learns that the human is the source of food and will then be unafraid to pester other humans to feed it. The 'garlic bread' episode reported here a while back is a classic case in point. I have a sparrow which was hand-raised and now lives with my colony in the garden. As a baby she sat on my shoulder and pulled at my ear for food, but once she was adopted by the colony she became wild again. I only recognise her by her markings, not her behaviour.

Any responsible wildlife rescue place would tell you the same thing. Once you imprint a wild animal, you destroy its ability to survive in the wild, So, by all means put out food for foxes, just don't feed them as though they were pets, as Threadworm obviously does.

What a complete IDIOT you are YOUR FEEDING RATS..... the foxes will not go near humans, the food is put OUT for all to eat, birds FOXES badgers etc... your feeding filthy RATS the biggest germ carriers there are. They are not MY pets, they have been around where I live for years but still run when they see a human. They have been here for years and years unlike your RAT. Now thats a dangerous rodent to feed as it may well get tame approach an unsuspecting child and bite them..... who is the irresponsible one now....?????? Im just off to get the collar and lead for my foxes!!!!!!

I feed birds and woodmice in my garden, and even had a solitary rat in my shed for a while which grew up there from a stranded baby! AS threadworm said not a good idea as a rat is small enough to get into your house and feed on any left over crumbs and can nest there. They are full of disease like Weil's disease, which could be potentialy fatal. I keep snakes and i would NEVER feed any wild rat to my animals as it could kill them! Rats can be bought as pets but are usually white/black and obviously are well looked after and get injections to stop them getting carrying any nasty diseases. They are very friendly and understand and can be trained. So by feeding a wild rat and letting it nest and live in your shed is ar far worse than feeding or letting foxes feed in your garden. wild rats urinate and if say a young child/baby played in the garden and crawled where a wild rat had urinated ....well no need to say what the consequences could be. You stranded baby rat now knows where to come for food but it is not domesticated and if it does not find its way into your home and chew things its babies might! By the sounds of it you were putting food out especially for this rat in your shed for it to know where to live. Sorry just seems you are condoning what someone else does but doing something even worse yourself.
Yes you could say all wild life is virmin - no harm in feeding anything BUT encouraging it to live in your shed and make a home is perhaps not a good idea!

How sweet, what a lovely Policeman, wish I was the rabbit!

Threadworm wrote:
What a complete IDIOT you are YOUR FEEDING RATS..... the foxes will not go near humans, the food is put OUT for all to eat, birds FOXES badgers etc... your feeding filthy RATS the biggest germ carriers there are. They are not MY pets, they have been around where I live for years but still run when they see a human. They have been here for years and years unlike your RAT. Now thats a dangerous rodent to feed as it may well get tame approach an unsuspecting child and bite them..... who is the irresponsible one now....?????? Im just off to get the collar and lead for my foxes!!!!!!

"my cats feed with the foxes" was your original post, which suggests that your foxes are tame, or perhaps your cats are feral? For your information, I did not 'feed filthy rats'. There was one solitary baby rat which took refuge in my shed and came out to eat bird food, and she certainly wasn't tame. Once she was full grown, she moved out and I have not seen her or any other rat since.

By the way, good manners cost nothing, but if you feel you wish to post another abusive rant in response, feel free.

reptiles wrote:
I feed birds and woodmice in my garden, and even had a solitary rat in my shed for a while which grew up there from a stranded baby! AS threadworm said not a good idea as a rat is small enough to get into your house and feed on any left over crumbs and can nest there. They are full of disease like Weil's disease, which could be potentialy fatal. I keep snakes and i would NEVER feed any wild rat to my animals as it could kill them! Rats can be bought as pets but are usually white/black and obviously are well looked after and get injections to stop them getting carrying any nasty diseases. They are very friendly and understand and can be trained. So by feeding a wild rat and letting it nest and live in your shed is ar far worse than feeding or letting foxes feed in your garden. wild rats urinate and if say a young child/baby played in the garden and crawled where a wild rat had urinated ....well no need to say what the consequences could be. You stranded baby rat now knows where to come for food but it is not domesticated and if it does not find its way into your home and chew things its babies might! By the sounds of it you were putting food out especially for this rat in your shed for it to know where to live. Sorry just seems you are condoning what someone else does but doing something even worse yourself.
Yes you could say all wild life is virmin - no harm in feeding anything BUT encouraging it to live in your shed and make a home is perhaps not a good idea!

I take your point, but as I have replied to Threadworm, I did not feed this rat. It came out to eat birdfood and was certainly not tame. When it grew up, it moved out and I have not seen it or any other rat since. I left it where it was because the alternative would have been to kill it.

Over the years, I have kept and bred pet rats, so know what intelligent creatures they are. I have also kept snakes, and agree with you that they should not be fed live rats. I always bought frozen rodents of varying sizes for mine, apart from one very large Burmese, who had a freshly killed rabbit from my butcher once a month!

As far as I am concerned, wildlife is not vermin. If one defines 'vermin' as something which carries and spreads disease, and destroys its own and other habitats and species, then I think humans fit the bill better than any other creature.

I don't suppose now would be a good time to mention that I rescued a False Widow spider from being frozen to death and it now lives in my greenhouse? *waits for screams*.

witchkid out of interest was the rabbit skinned if you bought it from a butchers? which technically is not their natural food as they would not have skinned or prepared - plus that would be more expensive than say a reptile shop. I did NOT say they should not be fed live rats - rather not be fed wild ones. In there natural habitat they would feed on live foods and not dead ones as we feed. It is also NOT illegal to feed live as long as you do not do it for show! I know people that feed live as they feel its more natural for the animal- each to their own. I feed live food to my lizards - obviously As for your false widow - rather you than me as a bit could be rather nasty i imagine

Reptiles: The butcher I used to buy the rabbits from was a farm shop. I would order the rabbit and he'd keep it out the back of the shop and kill it quickly and humanely when I arrived to collect, so it was still warm and intact when I got it home for my snake. She was pretty big and weighed more than me eventually, so I had to rehome her. Mind you, I didn't have to carry her about, she used to follow me like a dog when it came to giving her a bath!

The False Widow isn't a problem, as I know where it is. They spin a very recognisable web, but yes, the bite can be painful - rather like a bee sting. I was bitten once by a small one when I almost sat on it. Can't blame the spider, it was only defending itself. I designed my garden as a wildlife area and I am the only person who goes into it, so there's no danger to anyone else. It's nice though when you get rare species like Hornet Hoverflies and Elephant Hawkmoths visiting!

Witchkid: yes they can get rather large. Ive got a dwarf burm she is only 8-9 ft - her dad was 7-8ft so at age 5 cant see her getting much bigger -thankfully. couldnt cope with a 20ft burm.
Anyways getting back to the story, i saw a fox sitting in my garden the other day sunbathing after it ate some bread. Wonder if anyone claimed the rabbit