What Do London Foxes Eat?
What Do London Foxes Eat?
Hello everyone, and welcome to Wild City Kids! I'm Chloe, and today we are talking about those fluffy, red neighbors we see trotting down our streets... London foxes! With us is fox expert, Stefany! Hi Stefany!
Hi Chloe! I'm so happy to be here. I love talking about our clever little city foxes!
So, Stefany, my first question is: what do these city foxes actually eat? Do they have a favorite food?
They sure do! London foxes are what we call 'omnivores'. That is a big word that just means they eat almost anything—both meat and plants! They are super adaptable.
Wow, so they aren't picky eaters at all! But if they had to choose, what is their absolute favorite?
Their absolute favorite meal is juicy small rodents, like mice and rats. And they have an amazing superpower to help them catch them!
A superpower? Tell us, tell us!
They have incredible hearing. A fox can hear a tiny mouse squeaking from one hundred meters away! That is as long as a whole football pitch!
No way! That is unbelievable. And they hunt in the dark, right?
Yes! They actually have much better eyesight at night than during the day. It helps them spot moving snacks in the pitch black.
So, how much food does a hungry fox need to find every day?
A single fox needs to eat about 500 grams of food every day to stay healthy and strong. That is about the same weight as five medium apples!
Five apples worth of food! Speaking of apples, do they eat fruit too?
They do! Especially in autumn and winter. They love eating berries, fallen apples, and plums from gardens and parks.
Yum! What about creepy crawlies? Do they eat bugs?
Oh, definitely. If they are exploring a garden, they will happily munch on earthworms, crunchy insects, and even wiggly frogs!
Eww, frogs! But hey, a hungry fox can't be too picky!
Exactly! And they have also learned that humans leave behind lots of tasty leftovers. They love searching near restaurant rubbish bins for yummy scraps.
Ah, the classic bin raiders! But wait, how do baby foxes learn to find all this food?
Baby foxes are called kits! They learn to hunt by watching their clever mother catch food, and then they practice by pouncing on their siblings.
Aww, that sounds so cute! Pouncing practice!
It is! But they can be very greedy too. If a fox finds a chicken in a garden, it can eat the whole chicken in just a few minutes!
Whoa, that is one fast dinner! Well, Stefany, thank you so much for sharing all these amazing fox facts with us today!
You're so welcome, Chloe! Keep your ears open for those squeaks, kids!
And thank you to all our listeners! See you next time on Wild City Kids! Bye!