They’re furtive, fur-wrapped and sport noses so pointy one might be moved to ask for details of their Harley Street surgeon. No, I’m not describing Chelsea trophy wives, but rather the roughly 10,000 estimated representatives of the Vulpes vulpes species living in the capital. Notorious sightings of the common red fox include on various TFL buses, at the Pure Gym in Catford and in a kimono-loving, baseball-bat-toting lawyer’s back garden. If you missed the headlines, I’ll spare you the gory details.
To say these bouncy, opportunistic foragers cleave opinion is an understatement. Yes, they can carry such exotic diseases as mange, flystrike, canine distemper and tapeworm. Yes, they might dig up your prize lettuces and freesias in search of toothsome voles and mice, ransack your bins and emit an ungodly screech when in heat. Yes, the Daily Mail has branded them an “urban menace” – but if you ask me, that is reason enough to be pro-fox.
This time of year is when you are most likely to spot cubs – all oversized ears, bright eyes and bushy tails – taking tentative first steps into the world. I was blessed one spring by their playful, clumsy antics in my north London garden, where I watched them explore the world in tantalisingly close reach. Every encounter felt like being transported into a Studio Ghibli film – great helpings of magic and whimsy in a city that rarely affords us such innocent wonder.
Before you reach for the nearest bat to deal with our local “nuisance” (or, like my cat-whispering neighbour, lure one into your car and drive it to Epping Forest), remind yourself that we’ve been encroaching on their habitat since World War I. Fox populations are naturally self-regulating, which means their numbers won’t explode, and several charities will send out free treatment for mange. If, like me, you fall hard for a fox, you’re in good company. The wily canids are scrappy, resilient and oddly endearing – true Londoners at heart.
This article first appeared in the third issue of Broadsheet London's magazine. Here's where to find a copy.
