Fox Facts - Diet & Feeding

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The Diet of the Fox

Whilst foxes are carnivores (meat eaters) they are more accurately described as omnivores - they will eat anything. Exactly what a fox eats depends on it’s location. A rural fox will have a very different diet to a city fox. Foxes in the city will scavenge more from bins and other food left by humans, but a rural fox has to find it’s own food.
In a city like bristol more than 60 percent of food is scavenged. But, in Wiltshire, almost 75 percent of food is lagomorphs (rabbits and hares). This is a big difference in diet between rural and urban foxes.

As well as the difference it the foxes diet between locations, the time of year will also change what a fox eats. For example, earthworms are more common in the first half of the year, eggs and young birds in spring and fruit in the autumn.

A typical fox diet might include:

Fruits & Vegetables
Earthworms
Insects
Wild Mammals
Pet Mammals
Wild Birds
Pet Birds
Scavenged meat, bones and fat
Bird’s Eggs
Domestic Stock
Dead animals (including other foxes)
Plants such as grass and soil to aid with digestion

Feeding Foxes

Many people choose to feed foxes, either to attract a fox to their garden or because they think that a fox looks hungry and can’t find enough food. One thing, is that urban foxes are certainly not starving. But, if you do choose to feed foxes you need to know what to feed them:

Foxes enjoy cheese, boiled potatoes, chicken carcasses, meat bones, meat and fat scraps and bread (especially covered in gravy). You can also put out whole eggs still in their shells will foxes will often store for later.

Remember to take away food which starts to rot, and stop feeding if rats are attracted. But, feeding foxes can bring hours of entertainment whilst you watch them.