Foxes

[The Flying Tench]

Someone was telling me recently of a time when a fox came and killed 12 geese or chickens and just left them. I already knew that foxes kill for the sake of it, unlike most other animals. I started wondering why they evolved that way. You'd think a better solution for survival would be only to kill what they need to eat, cos that way there would be bigger food stocks remaining for next time.

 

Has anyone got any theories?

[garylee]

Read this:https://foxes-admin.channel4.com/features/do-foxes-kill-pleasure

[corydoras]

I'll propose a hypothesis, but I am not bold enough to claim that it is a theory.

 

They'll only do that in a domestic situation, in the wild a fox is lucky if he get's one. Also when you say that they "kill for the sake of it" you are making an anthropomorphization.

 

When Brown Bears are feeding on sallmon running up a river, they seldom eat all of the fish, they don't have time. They have to pile on the fat in order to survive hibernation so they only eat the bits of the fish that have most fat and leave the rest.

 

If you ever get the chance, go and visit the hydro electricity plant in Pitlochry when the salmon are running, You can go to the visitor centre and watch the salmon running up the fish ladder. You often see a salmon with a big chunk taken out, just behind the gills. I've been told that seals do this, I don't know if that is true or not.

[Steve Walker]

If foxes had evolved to feed optimally from chicken coops, they might have quite different strategies!

[corydoras]

True. I think a lot of peolpe misunderstand evolution,. Many can't grasp that there is no purpose, no design in evolution, no ladder, no "chain of being" it is more like a tree. If we could reset the evolutionary "clock" back to the time of the Cambrian Explosion and let it run again, it's unlikely that any of the plants and animals we see today would be here, and even less likely that Homo sapiens would have evolved.t

[Phone]

Cory,

 

That might be true execpt for Divine Providence.

 

Phone

[1superken]

Foxes kill to eat , thats their instinct , it s in their nature , put Foxes in a position where theres more than they can Eat they get confused but their instinct is still to kill . An extreme example maybe , but in essence its the same thing , throw things together that were once controlled

[corydoras]

Cory,

 

That might be true execpt for Divine Providence.

 

Phone

There is no need for that hypothesis.

Edited March 15, 2013 by corydoras

[chesters1]

Rather kill more than they can eat i suggest its kill lots but dont have the time to take them away.

I once watched a fox waste half an hour trying to carry off three apples but kept dropping the last one and starting again ,in the end something spooked it and it fled leaving one behind .had it have the sense to carry two and come back for two more it would have got many apples ,i presume it treats dead chickens like apples so you think its killing for kkllings sake but in reality its not using its head

Foxes do hide food burying it for later so i doubt they kill for the sake of killing anyway but ket confused when they get lucky with their chicken windfall

Edited March 15, 2013 by chesters1

[Andrew]

There is no need for that hypothesis.

 

 

Why, ? because it dos not suit you to see posts like that ?

Is there a need for your hypothesis Cory, always beating down any resemblance or a hint of a faith reply ?

Edited March 15, 2013 by Andrew