Is it an act of grace or a mass deer murder?
11 grudnia, 2018Co zrobić z lisem w mieście?
18 grudnia, 2018I remember when I was a child I saw in the countryside large posters informing about obligatory vaccinations against rabies. They were practically everywhere – at bus stops, on billboards, even at some farmers gates.
Those poster showed a big, dangerous dog with the saliva inside its mouth. Rabies was a serious problem and as I remember, everyone tried to approach the vaccination with seriousness and reliability. On the day of vaccination the whole village moved with its dogs to the meeting point to met the wet. I was also taught not to approach animals that did not show fear of man. Everyone was afraid of a fox that carried that dangerous disease. If this one appeared in the village, a hunter appeared just behind him.
It was not enough and that is why in the nineties it was decided by Polish government to start the action of lecturing vaccines for foxes. Vaccines were dropped from planes twice a year – in spring and autumn practically eliminated the rabies problem of the fox. From 2003 to 2017, there were 7 cases of rabies in the Silesian Province, with only one case involving fox. For comparison, only in 1980 there were 650 cases of rabies in foxes countrywide. Vaccines have had a positive effect.
The relief was felt not only by people, but also by the foxes that began to reproducing and destroying the population of small game. They are in villages, in cities and are not afraid of people. The photo you see below was taken by my wife this autumn on our terrace when I went to collect some mushrooms. He spent a few good minutes on our backyard, and made a nap in my neighbour’s garden. Personally, I saw this fox two more times – first and last.
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Such meetings with foxes became an everyday reality not only in the countryside but also in large cities.
An example of a place like Kołobrzeg where fox is a huge problem. According to the wp.pl portal, foxes can be found at every step – they feed in trash bins, walks through park paths and reproduce making a real fox invasion to this city. After the fox bit one of the residents, city councilors decided to take care of them and put some fox live traps in which within two weeks they caught up 13 foxes. The captured foxes were taken outside the city to the forest. However, it does not solve the problem. That’s why the city authorities are considering another, more effective solution consisting to put foxes down. It turns out, that for eco-terrorists such a solution is not an option and as you can guess officials from Kolobrzeg met a great wave of hate.
Eco terrorists can not imagine how to kill foxes or any other wild animals. As they say, “nature will regulate itself”. Unfortunately no, and we’ve seen it many times. An example is the Netherlands, where it was allowed to reproduce geese uncontrolled which threatened the lives of people, and now there is a problem with a huge deer population about which I wrote on my blog some time ago. So if we used rabies vaccines, the fox lost its natural enemy and there is no chance for him to any natural regulation of the species. The foxes reproduce at an alarming rate destroying the population of small game, approaching our homes without showing fear of the human being. Contact with a fox can end very badly for humans, because foxes also equals parasites such as the echinococcus which causes echinococcosis – a very dangerous disease.
I am not clairvoyant and I do not know how things will go in Kolobrzeg. I know, that we can expect media mess, protests from eco terrorists and an even bigger wave of hate on the internet for the idea of reducing the fox population in city.
I know and understand that the fox population is too big and needs reduction. Foxes are a threat to our health and life. Fakt.pl wrote „If someone has not seen a fox” live „, he can safely come to Kołobrzeg …”, but I strongly advise no to do such visits. Kołobrzeg is worth a visit because of the sea, the lighthouse, the beach or the pier, and the fox is definitely better and healthier to wear in the form of real ecological fur or a winter hat.
Happy Hunting!
P.S. at the moment when I finish writing these words, the State Forests in Piotrkow Trybunalski informed that the Center for Rehabilitation of Wild Animals had found an unconscious fox that lay for two days by the roadside. He had an x-ray and let me quote it, „the race with time has begun.” The animal was unconscious for four days. During that time, the personnel and the doctor took care of him almost constantly. Bleeding from the intestines stopped and the fox opened his eyes on the fifth day. The broken jaw did not allow him to take solid food so he received meat cocktails.
Let me leave it without any comment ……