Is there still a healthy population of foxes and rabbits in the UK?

Question

Australia has a fox problem , as we do with rabbits . Should this untapped resource of vermon , be sent back to its own country , or wiped out to extinction , in a foreign land

Answer 1

No.... smoking has become prevalent in both feral populations, and too much macdonalds is causing an obesity problem in rabbits and hares- weasels and ferrets are doing well though

Answer 2

Urban foxes are becomming a menace with large numbers of them roaming the streets at night in search of food that is thrown away from fast food customers. In the countryside, I notice less than was common a few years ago. Many farmers are now shooting them. Small deer have managed to get across the M25 which circles the outskirts of London and are becomming established within ten miles of central London. Rabbits are scarce this year but a few are sticking their heads above the grass. Every few years they become prolific but then myxomatosis sets in and the populations are decimated again. I wrote the following six years ago:

Myxomatosis.


The small rabbit sat alone and forlorn in the long grass,
Awaiting the fox and death.

His oozing eyes, almost closed, made him unable to see.
What other fate could possibly await him?

This foreign disease that caused him his agony,
Was imported into this country by man to kill vermin.

As a boy I watched and cried, as tens of thousands of rabbits died,
To save the farmers’ corn and other crops.

Anyone who saw the scene of total devastation in the countryside,
Will never lose the memory.

It was in 1953 while the world cheered the new Queen,
That man’s inhumanity first appeared in this country.

He had conquered Everest, climbed the highest mountain,
Yet descended to new depths of cruelty.

It is now spring 2000, and I still see the results of that injustice,
When will it ever end?

A plague on the man or woman who caused the plague
That destroyed many a poor mans’ dinner.

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Answer 3

Yes this year in particular I have (to my delight)seen more rabbits and foxes than I have for quite a few years.I live in the West Country.

Answer 4

We have swarms of rabbits, but they aren't native to Britain, they are from Spain, imported by the Romans.
Foxes are in decline, their population was stable until traditional hunting methods were banned and replaced by shooting which is causing the decline.

Answer 5

Yes, there are TOO many of both.

Answer 6

what a thought less thought, do you look deep enough in the Mirror?