Halitosis Epidemic in Foxes

@WorDazza (15830)
Manchester, England
July 12, 2022 4:06pm CST
Researchers, who clearly have nothing better to do, have discovered that dog poo now forms a large part of the diet of foxes in the UK. Considering dog owners are supposed to pick up after their dog and dispose of the poo responsibly this news troubles me greatly. This must surely mean that not only can foxes open wheelie bins but they can also untie the knots in the poo bags. And there was me thinking it would be cats who developed opposable thumbs first. Hopefully the foxes will utilise their new thumbs to use a toothbrush after eating!!
10 people like this
6 responses
@Fleura (30172)
• United Kingdom
12 Jul 22
Well hello stranger! Good to see you, although I really could have done without this piece of information. I guess the foxes could be picking up dog poo from private land. Dog owners are only obliged to poo-pick in public places, so if they have dogs in a garden or yard or even a field, they can do what they want. I wonder if the foxes are adversely affected? I only recently discovered that cattle can get serious health problems spread via dog poo https://blogs.biomedcentral.com/bugbitten/2018/06/22/dog-poo-cause-abortions-cattle/
Menu SAVED: PAGE: ACTIVE AREA: Diseases found in dog poo can cause abortions in cattle and death in sheepNFU Scotland is urging members of the public to clean up after their dogs when walking on or near to agricultural land.Parasites found in some dog faec
4 people like this
@WorDazza (15830)
• Manchester, England
12 Jul 22
Hello you. Good to be back. I just seemed to fall out of the habit of being here. We're currently dealing with a particularly tragic situation at home (which I may talk about here one day) and I just felt I needed a distraction and this is it!! Anyhow, the article did say it did increase the risk of disease and parasite transmission. It also said that the DNA of the dog poo was very close to that of a foxes natural prey so some foxes were taking the easy option so to speak.
2 people like this
@Fleura (30172)
• United Kingdom
13 Jul 22
@WorDazza The DNA of poo? You mean poo is a living thing??
2 people like this
@Fleura (30172)
• United Kingdom
13 Jul 22
@WorDazza Sorry to hear you are having a tough time at home. I hope we can at least help to take your mind off it, whatever it is.
2 people like this
• United States
13 Jul 22
That is strange, I never knew that foxes did this. I believe you are right that their breath would not be pleasant.
3 people like this
@WorDazza (15830)
• Manchester, England
13 Jul 22
Apparently the DNA of dog poo is very similar to the DNA of foxes natural prey. Basically it's some foxes being too lazy to hunt.
3 people like this
@WorDazza (15830)
• Manchester, England
13 Jul 22
@misunderstood_zombie Mmmm. You make it sound so appetising. I'm almost tempted
3 people like this
• United States
13 Jul 22
@WorDazza I guess why hunt if a steaming plate of poo is just laying there.
3 people like this
• China
13 Jul 22
You have a sense of humour ! No way could the foxes brush their teeth,what they think about is how to utilise their new thumbs to find more dog poo.
1 person likes this
@WorDazza (15830)
• Manchester, England
13 Jul 22
You're probably right. I doubt foxes care too much about dental hygiene anyway
1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (79397)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
13 Jul 22
Interesting I think someone is not doing their job the dog owners or the foxes have learned something no one expected
2 people like this
@WorDazza (15830)
• Manchester, England
13 Jul 22
Looks like it's a combination of dog owners not being responsible and foxes being too lazy to hunt for their food.
2 people like this
@Inlemay (17713)
• South Africa
13 Jul 22
nevermind toothbrush - a breath mint! What a strange topic
2 people like this
@WorDazza (15830)
• Manchester, England
13 Jul 22
A Fox's Glacier Mint maybe?
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (338702)
• Rockingham, Australia
13 Jul 22
Obviously, foxes aren't finicky about what they eat! Why don't they just eat their own poo? It can't be much different.
2 people like this
@WorDazza (15830)
• Manchester, England
13 Jul 22
Apparently some animals do eat their own, rabbits being the biggest culprit on that one. According to the researchers it was previously unknown for an animal to eat another species' poo.
2 people like this
@WorDazza (15830)
• Manchester, England
13 Jul 22
@JudyEv I never knew that about rabbits. Maybe some sort of double digestive procedure requiring two passes to extract the required nutrients?? I do know that dogs occasionally do it but that's usually a sign there is some deficiency in their diet.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (338702)
• Rockingham, Australia
13 Jul 22
@WorDazza Rabbits need to apparently and horses will eat dung if sufficiently starving.
2 people like this