Foxes are not the killers the Hunters say they are

 A Close Encounter of the Furred kind

This week, I had an experience that will stay with me for the rest of my life. I had a face-to-face encounter, even if it was a few meters apart, with a fox. 

What I saw was not the vicious killer of cats and dogs the hunting fraternity says they are, all I saw was a poor animal scared as he tried to beg for scraps of food to feed his family.

Years ago, during a harsh winter, we lost one of our cat family. at the time, I put it down to a fox killer, though I didn't blame the fox as he had a family to feed. I now think what killed my cat was the teenager who callously shot her with an air rifle. During her last weeks, when she breathed she exhaled blood from an injury to her nose. This injury, along with the harshness of the winter was probably the cause of her death; allow the fox did was clean the body up.

Having seen a fox close, I know for sure what I have always thought is true, they are NOT killers, with their small muzzles they have no jaw strength to take down anything larger than a vole, or mouse.

The killers are the people who hunt foxes and badgers.