DEEP down, we city dwellers love our urban foxes, and this spring Tufnell Park has a rare new recruit among its foxy ranks. 
The vulpine visitor was spotted by community ranger Lawrence O’Brien wandering along Dartmouth Park Hill. The snowy fox is likely to have inherited a recessive albino gene from parents, who are probably both an ordinary red colour. The recent snowy weather will have been perfect for the fantastic frosty fox and must have helped it out-fox its red brothers and sisters at times.
There have been other reports of peculiar fox sightings over the last few weeks. An intrepid traveller fox spotted on the station platform and another lone fox cub was seen cowering away from passing buses in Finsbury Park.
Wildlife lovers
One Holloway wildlife lover was stunned to see five adult foxes simultaneously in St Mary’s Churchyard off Holloway Road. Adult foxes rarely gather together in one place, so the churchyard congregation remains somewhat of a mystery. In the snow-covered park they must have appeared more like a wolf pack wandering down from the even more frozen north.
Islington Council wildlife experts say the New Year to early spring marks the time of year when foxes are most active as their mating season commences.
Throughout December, foxes become more vocal in defending their territories. From New Year to early March household dogs vie for the vixen’s attention and the young adults from last year’s litters begin to disperse to find new territories.
This spring has brought some other new wildlife to Islington parks and waterways. Green woodpeckers have been seen tapping away on the trees around the Dartmouth Park Reservoir while numerous crayfish have been observed in the Regents Park Canal for the first time.
Image credit – flickr.com
Beautiful fox. We had one in Surrey last year that was pure blond but not albino. She was really pretty.
If the Tories are elected, David Cameron had pledged to repeal the hunting act. There is no case for repeal. Hunt numbers are up all over the country. Drag hunting is legal. The sense of community, pageantry, heritage, and jobs are all still intact and yet these disgraceful people can’t manage to enjoy themselves unless they are terrifying and killing animals.
If you support the hunting act, please get your names on the R.O.A.R. (Register Online Against Repeal), an ‘all party’ list at: http://www.campaignfordecency.org.uk
Please make your voices heard!
It’s quite true, if Cameron gets in and has his way this fox cub and millions more stand a very high chance of being ripped apart by hounds trained to kill. And it might not be just foxes, hares and stags that are killed by the hunt, your cat or small dog could just as easily be in the wrong place at the wrong time and be taken by the pack, the hunts have no control over the hounds and they run riot over private propery, roads, rail tracks or anywhere the scent takes them. The above site as recommended by mhayworth is a darned good idea to show them what WE, the electorate, want which in my case is NO repeal of the hunting ban.