This attack raised many questions about urban foxes—about whether they were getting bolder, more numerous, or hungrier; in short, whether they are more dangerous now—and caused much speculation as to the reason behind the animal’s behaviour, including that it might have been a cub or suffering from toxoplasmosis.

In the International Fund for Animal Welfare's 2006 report After the Hunt—The Future of Foxes in Britain, Stephen Harris and Phil Baker concluded: “Like most wild mammals, foxes carry a range of diseases. There is no current evidence that these pose a significant disease risk to humans and/or domestic animals, although more monitoring is ...

There have also been some suggestions in the press that foxes are unafraid of dogs and, in February 2011, TV presenter Ben Fogle reputedly “rugby tackled” a fox that chased his elderly Labrador near his home in London. The connotation from this appears to be that this makes foxes more dangerous.

A Red fox suffering from a severe sarcoptic mange infection. This disease, caused by a prolific burrowing mite, is common in British foxes and can lead to substantial mortality. - Credit: Caroline Gould. Angiostrongylus vasorum (canine heartworm) and Sarcoptes scabiei (mange mite) are also important parasites of foxes that can be passed to ...

Foxes may also accumulate heavy metals and various toxic chemicals (e.g., PCBs, pesticides, etc.) and a study of 192 foxes collected from the Swiss city of Zurich and its suburbs during 1999 and 2000 found PCBs in the fatty tissues of all animals along with various pesticides; 70% tested positive for dieldrin, while 34% contained traces of DDT.

Mites were freely interchangeable between foxes, dogs and coyote-dog hybrids; but skunks, rabbits, grey foxes, raccoons, opossums, rodents and cats all failed to sustain the infection. Indeed, transfer of var. vulpes mites to cats is rare and, on their Fox Website, the Bristol University biologists point out that between 1973 and 2006 there ...

In her 2014 book, The Carnivore Way, Christina Eisenberg mentions that cougars (Puma concolor) “prey on mesopredators such as foxes”, although she doesn't say whether this includes feeding on the carcass or how often it occurs. Overall, it is fair to say that foxes have very few true predators and, more generally, predators rarely eat other ...

There are reports from the wild of foxes, badgers and even bears dying after having consumed too much chocolate. When you consider that chocolate also tends to be high in sugar and fat, the safest option is to avoid giving chocolate to any non-human animals.

I have frequently heard it said that feeding foxes is a bad idea, usually based on two lines of reasoning: 1. Foxes will become dependent upon the food source and starve if said food is removed. 2. Foxes fed by humans are likely to readily lose any fear they have of people and may even approach strangers looking for food. Foxes waiting to be fed.

About half of Britain’s foxes are believed to carry the Toxocara canis roundworm that can be dangerous to pregnant women, but there are no data to suggest foxes are a significant source of infection for dogs or people and the disease is rare in humans.