Nature Red in Tooth and Claw

[ffutures]

Yesterday - was woken by a woodpecker drilling holes in the neighbour's trees at about 6 AM.

Looked out of the window, saw a fox lying on the roof of another neighbour's shed, having an early morning sunbathe. Not sure if it's the same one I've seen before, looked a little younger so I suspect it's one of the cubs they reared at the back of our garden a year or two ago.

Went to work, spent an enthralling morning preparing for next week's practical exams, at lunch time went out and noticed a magpie attacking a pigeon. Seemed to be pecking it quite viciously, the pigeon looked VERY scared and confused. Clapped my hands a couple of times and the magpie hopped off, but I suspect it came back once I'd gone.

Today - bloody woodpecker woke me at about 5.30 AM

Who says that there's no wildlife in London?

Comments

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Friends of mine live in Rotherhithe. There are literally packs (at least families) of foxes roaming the area.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Don't think we've any packs around, I'm in Bayswater, which is pretty much all residential, they'd have to be living in people's gardens and that many would be a bit conspicuous.

General theory is that they come into London along the railways (I'm next to the main line into Paddington) and spread out from there. So the gardens of my street are the first place they can find to make a home once they leave the tracks.

Not bothered by it, they don't seem to do much harm and they and the cats determinedly ignore each other. I suspect that we would have trouble with rats and mice if they weren't around.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

*nods* Unless they upturn your bins in the search of food or you hold chickens/similar in your garden, they shouldn't be any trouble. And you're most likely right about rodents.

There's quite a bit of common greenland in Rotherhithe so I assume the foxes find shelter there. Sometime last year I took the wrong nightbus and had to walk quite a bit and happened across three separate groups of foxes, it was quite remarkable, we don't get that many at home.
My parents' house is one of the last of the town, meaning that behind the house, after about 800m worth of meadows there's a huge forest stretching far into the Czech Republic. We get foxes wandering about but don't have any problems, either.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

There's a lot of restaurants a few streets away, heading towards Kensington Gardens & Hyde Park, wouldn't surprise me if their bins are on their foraging route. There's no sign that they're into the bins more locally, maybe because Westminster insists on everything being bagged - just wish they'd come up with biodegradable bin bags etc..