Things you may not know about the fox

Things you may not know about the common fox

Foxes are easier to see in the wild when their cubs are born in May - July. Here's a handy guide to the behaviour you are most likely to see. How quickly do fox cubs grow?

Newborn fox cubs are blind, deaf, dark-grey in colour and weigh about 120g.

For much of the year, foxes are difficult to see in the wild. But when their cubs are born between May and July, they are vocal and more active during the day, hunting, playing or just relaxing in the sun.

Here is the key characteristics and some of the behaviour you are likely to see. After 14 days, their eyes open. Their pupils are slate-blue. Guard hairs appear, giving cubs a fuzzy appearance. They have small, floppy ears and weigh about 350g.

After four weeks, the cub’s pupils are grey flecked with brown. The muzzle starts to lengthen. White fur appears around the mouth and patches of red on the face.

How do you tell if a fox is male or female?

Dog foxes and vixens are hard to tell apart, though dogs are generally about one fifth heavier. The dogs also have broader, slightly more domed heads.

During winter (when mating), the male’s testes visibly protrude between his hind-legs, but these regress and are hard to see in summer.

When lactating, the vixen’s eight teats are obvious, and her belly fur is brick red (it’s normally white or grey).

In late winter, the vixen digs out several potential breeding earths. In rural areas, these will be in banks, at woodland edges or under piles of sticks or drystone walls. In urban areas, they can also be in or under sheds and buildings. The coat is still woolly, but the ears are now erect.

After eight weeks, the pupils become amber-coloured and the cub’s face approaches adult proportions. Its fur is largely adult colour but still looks woolly

Throughout the summer, cubs are very similar to adults but have thinner coats and a lankier appearance.

They become indistinguishable from the adults by late September or early October, once their winter coats are fully grown.

From late September, the family group breaks up and some or all of the cubs disperse.

What do fox cubs eat? Do foxes live alone or in groups?

Cubs are suckled for the first four weeks, then progressively weaned until seven weeks old (though they are occasionally still suckling at 14 weeks). Foxes live in social groups – three or four adults are quite common (though 10 were recorded in one Bristol group). These consist of equal numbers of dogs and vixens.

Generally, only one vixen breeds, but occasionally up to three do. Cubs can be reared separately, but may also be pooled together in one large litter.

They hunt earthworms and insects as soon as they emerge from their earth (at four weeks), but these form only a very small proportion of their diet.

Adults bring back larger mammals and birds for the cubs, but they themselves feed more on small prey such as mice and voles. Cubs are cautious until they start foraging for themselves. Mid-March is the peak time for births. The average litter size is four or five, but eight is not uncommon. For the first few weeks, the vixen spends most of her time with the cubs and relies on the male to bring her food.

In gardens, they may hide in flowerbeds while the adults collect food. Youngsters have high energy-needs – adults caring for a litter can look very thin.

Both dogs and vixens provision their cubs, who beg for food by rushing over excitedly. They hold their bodies low to the ground, wag their tails rapidly, nuzzle the adult’s mouth and whine.

Cubs fight over access to food. They arch their backs, raise their hackles and hold their heads low while making high-pitched ‘kek-kek-kekking’ noises. Tugs-of-war help to break open carcasses – the cubs’ teeth are too weak to tackle intact prey.

Cubs start to forage for themselves in July. Thereafter, they compete with adults for food, who may push them off a kill. They tend to go for easy-to-catch prey such as insects and earthworms while slowly developing their hunting skills. There is no obvious sign as to which earth has been used for breeding until the cubs emerge at about four weeks old – usually late April or early May. Food remains then accumulate around and inside the earth.

Unless disturbed, cubs stay in their natal earth until early June, though they may abandon it earlier in hot weather. From early June, they lie up above ground at rendez-vous sites in dense cover such as a bramble or thorn patch or in piles of rubbish.

Researchers believe there are around 16 foxes per square kilometre living in Bristol, which is one the highest concentrations in Britain after Bournemouth and London. It comes after new findings suggested the number of foxes living in UK towns and cities had risen to 150,000, equivalent to one fox for every 300 people.

Expert help is at hand for Somerset parents struggling with family relationships, with many experiencing further tensions as a result of the pandemic and lockdown restrictions.

Twin Group, an award winning provider of people-centred services, has received additional Government funding to extend the Reducing Parental Conflict pilot for another year. This suite of free programmes aims to help participants improve communication between themselves and the other parent.

Branded Happy Families, Happy Futures, this inclusive intervention has been designed for parents, who are in a relationship or separated; includes both step and adoptive parents; and those who have caring responsibilities such as grandparents and other individuals where there is a residence order. There is also support for expectant parents in a relationship or who may be separated.

Since its launch in 2019, the programme has helped more than 400 participants and is managed by local partners throughout the South West of England. In Somerset the intervention is delivered by Home-Start and Exeter Community Initiatives.

Individual sessions are managed by local partners who provide skilled facilitators to help participants evaluate their relationship with the other parent, and improve ways of communicating, to ultimately benefit their children. We are also urging parents to register an interest with their professional support contact if they feel that such an intervention could benefit them or simply send an email to RPCEnquiries@twinuk.com ”

INTERVENTIONS EXPLAINED

There are four types of intervention available depending on the family’s individual circumstances:

Family Transitions Triple P: advice and guidance to deflect the pressure of divorce or separation away from children.

Incredible Years Inc. Advance: support and techniques for parents working together to do the best for their children in their early years.

Within My Reach: helping parents to understand healthy relationships and the positive impact for their children.

NEW APPEAL

Now Twin Group is launching a two-fold appeal to both potential participants and professional practitioners who are in contact with parents.

“There is no doubt that the pandemic has put an extraordinary strain on many family relationships,” said Samantha Stevens, Contract and Partnership Manager with Twin Group. “We are now promoting that this effective and groundbreaking programme has been extended for another year.

“We are alerting professional practitioners, health visitors and social workers for example, or those involved in another capacity with families, such as teachers, to continue to Family Check-Up: building parents’ skills to support positive behaviour in their children.

The local delivery partners are: Exeter Community Initiatives; Home-Start; and Whitehead-Ross Education and Consulting.

PARTICIPANT PRAISE

“The course has really helped me understand not only my child’s, but also my own reactions to certain situations. A worthwhile course tailored around my own time, in the comfort of my own home.” “Thank you very much for understanding and never judging us. You have really helped me and us as a family and, hopefully, made us a lot stronger as a family. We could not be more thankful.” Samantha Stevens added: “The Happy Families, Happy Futures programme can be very effective at helping couples to improve how they communicate and reduce conflict within the family. During the pandemic we have changed our mode of delivery to online sessions which have proved very successful with participants and enabled us to continue our much needed service during lockdown. “However, it is important to stress that this programme is not appropriate for parents dealing with incidents of domestic abuse, where there is an imbalance of power and one partner may feel fearful of the other.”