大象传媒

Most of us in Britain now live in towns, where animals are seen not as a resource but as neighbours. In winter, Britain is invaded by thousands of gulls from northern Europe, attracted by our relatively mild climate and our rubbish. Foxes have also adapted well to landfill life and winter is when foxes start to establish new territories in readiness for their winter mating season. They do this by scent marking with their urine which has a distinctive musky odour and contains hormones that tells others about their sex and status. Rubbing along the markers spreads the message. Dog foxes are particularly territorial and leave messages at nose height to make them conspicuous. In the winter, family groups start to break up and last season's cubs fight to stake out their territory. Foxes have adapted well to the modern world.