More and more foxes in the village

Created: 06/17/2022, 09:02

Not an uncommon picture in Unering: a fox searches for something to eat in a compost heap.

Game warden Klaus Peters appeals to the residents.

© Private

In Unering more and more foxes are coming into the settled areas.

Game warden Klaus Peters calls on the residents not to feed their pets outdoors - because that attracts the Reineke masters.

Unering -

"As a hunter, it's rare for me to be asked for help by villagers.

In the past three weeks, two have called me.” Game warden Klaus Peters says so, and the reason is foxes in inhabited areas in the Unering area.

A fox in the garden can have serious consequences, which is why Peters calls on the population to take precautions.

Foxes are increasingly being spotted in gardens and streets in broad daylight.

"Being able to watch a fox on the terrace is a nice experience for some, because they are usually shy and therefore rarely seen.

Since they are predominantly nocturnal and hunt mice for their main food in the forest or in the fields, you only see them on freshly mowed meadows.” However: If the fox finds patrons who actually do something good for the cats with cat food on the terrace, for example want to do, he loses his shyness and comes to the village.

“That leads to all sorts of problems,” emphasizes Peters.

“On the one hand, they try to catch pets like rabbits or poultry to raise their young with.

According to those affected, children no longer dare to go out when they see a fox.”

Peters sees the other problem in the spread of diseases that can also be dangerous for humans.

Since foxes are omnivores and therefore also eat fallen fruit and rummage in compost heaps, there is a risk that people will become infected with the lesser fox tapeworm - if left undetected, it can be fatal to humans.

Many years ago, the fox tapeworm was a big issue in the district because it was found in a large number of foxes during investigations.

In Seefeld, Peters recalls, it was almost 100 percent.

Vaccination with bait by 2014 reduced the spread by 95 percent.

Eight years later, a stronger spread cannot be ruled out, says Peters.

Nobody knows exactly, not even the district office, as a query there revealed.

The State Office for Health and Food Safety (LGL, lgl.bayern.de) assumes that every third to fourth fox has the tapeworm.

Instructions for action can be found on the LGL website – among other things, you should wash all fruit and mushrooms thoroughly, as it has not yet been clarified exactly how the tapeworm eggs get from the fox to the human being.

Pets that are sometimes outdoors should also be checked regularly.

But it is also about an animal disease: “Mange, which has been appearing massively for about 15 years, is also highly contagious for our dogs and cats.

Although these can be treated with medication, the fox dies miserably from it.

The denser the fox population, the faster the infection progresses.

In the end, all that remains is to kill the animals to put them out of the torment,” explains Peters.

Therefore: “For this reason, I appeal to the common sense and common sense of such patrons to feed their pets indoors or not leave any leftover food outside, thus not allowing foxes to become accustomed to village life.

The fox is a wild animal and does not belong in the villages.”