Foxes savour lizards and seafood

A READER who is very fond of her cats has contacted me because she has spotted a fox in the garden and is worried it might kill the cats.

As far as I’m aware there is no authenticated record of a fox killing a cat. A lot of scientific work has been done on the diet of foxes. Most of this is done by analysing their faeces and I have never heard of cat bones turning up.

On the other hand, another reader has been keeping me updated for years on the friendship between his cat and a local vixen. He started feeding the fox when it appeared on his doorstep as a young and starving animal. Because of his help it has thrived and reared several litters of cubs. The friendship between the fox and the cat developed slowly but they are now completely relaxed in each other’s presence and will feed out of the same bowl.