Life

Stephen Colton's Take on Nature: The persecuted fox knows secrets of survival

An madra rua, a native Irish species, is thought to have returned to Ireland after the last Ice Age
An madra rua, a native Irish species, is thought to have returned to Ireland after the last Ice Age An madra rua, a native Irish species, is thought to have returned to Ireland after the last Ice Age

THERE was a certain symmetry to my recent encounter with Vulpes vulpes as it ghosted across the road, caught in my car headlights, its long busy tail characteristically held out horizontally behind the rusty body.

I am presently reading the award-winning children’s novel, Run With The Wind with my Year 6 class, the first in a series of tales about a group of foxes, who with the assistance and guidance of a wise old fox called Sage Brush, search for "the secret of survival" in a world of many dangers.

Along the way they experience many adventures, learning as they go the necessary skills to survive.

Irish author Tom McCaughren transports us deep into their world and carries us with the foxes as they navigate dangerous territory, howling dogs and the attention of man.

McCaughren, from Ballymena, Co Antrim, a journalist by profession, worked for various newspapers during his career before finally becoming security correspondent for RTE television and radio. His love of the natural world and eye for detail are evident in the many nuanced descriptions of fox behaviour and the animals and plants which provide the setting for his story.

It’s hard to think of an animal which has endured a more difficult relationship with man than the red fox. Vilified and persecuted for centuries as a despised predator, it has also earned much respect for its legendary cunning, and resourcefulness, qualities which secure its place in our country lore.

An madra rua (red dog), a native Irish species, is thought to have returned to Ireland after the last Ice Age, around 10,000 years ago, probably crossing a land bridge of sorts from Europe.

However, bones of the red fox have only been found in archaeological sites from Neolithic times onwards, dating from around 5,000 years ago.

Although primarily a carnivore, it is a non-specialist, adept opportunist with an extremely varied diet which includes small mammals, game birds and invertebrates as well as fruits and berries, while coastal foxes will eat crabs and fish.

Not having any particular habitat requirements, foxes will thrive in a variety of locations where food and shelter are available, such as farmland, woodland, uplands and coastal areas. Mainly nocturnal, foxes are increasingly common in our towns and cities and although the fox population in Ireland is difficult to quantify accurately, most sources believe the figure is somewhere between 150,000 and 200,000.

In Irish legend, the fox has links to many people, from various saints to Mad Sweeney or Suibhne Geilt, the outcast king driven to a life of wandering. He writes with affection about, ‘Fox cubs scampering/Close to me in their play’. St Moling kept a fox which ate from his hand while St Kieran found company in a fox which visited him regularly and carried his psalter.

Rock carvings in the Celtic settlement of the Camonica valley in northern Italy depicting foxes being chased show how long this mammal has been running with the wind. In ancient Ireland too, the tale of Táin Bó Fraích (Cattle Raid Of Fraech) describes a great hunt organised by King Ailill and Queen Maedhbh.

For an animal so slight of frame the fox has shown remarkable resilience and guile to survive against all the odds.

Not surprising then that Old Sage Brush, in response to some sneering foxes, unconvinced he could guide them because of his blindness and advancing years, said: "It’s true, I am old and do not have the strength of a younger fox. But it’s not only a question of strength. If it was, a bull could catch a hare."