Fox and cat playing together

[Andyvon]

I saw this last night and I'm sure it is very usual. Has anyone else seen or heard of this before?

I go for a six mile walk every night as I'm an insomniac. Last night I was in town nearing home at about 2.30am when I came across a fox and cat on a large grassy mound. The night was warm and the road was quiet and lit by streetlights. The cat and fox had 'frozen' when I appeared and I stopped too about 7 or 8 yards away. After about a minute the two resumed what they were doing. While I watched, the cat started to creep up on the fox who stood watching it getting closer. When the cat was about two feet from the fox, the fox jumped in the air and the cat did the same. They then 'boxed' with their paws for a few seconds and then scampered round and round chasing each other in a circle. After about 10 seconds they stopped and did the whole thing over again. I watched for a few minutes and then walked away while they continued to play.

I told my aunt this today and she said that cats and foxes grow up in the same environment (peoples' gardens etc) so I shouldn't be too surprised. I could also tell that the cat and fox were youngsters so maybe they won't play and associate so closely when they get older. What struck me was how neither animal was concerned by my presence. It's understandable of the cat - but the fox wasn't bothered either! Both animals were having a whale of a time.

Was this an unusual thing to see or is it more common than I think?

[micmak]

I wish I had seen it andy. I adore cats and love the fox.

[ELVIS68]

I`ve often seen a fox and a cat in the street and totally ignore each other, I`d have thought the fox would see the cat as a nice meal

[wildwood]

They've probably been playing since the fox was a cub. Lucky you, seeing two different species having fun.

[237SJ]

I think you were quite privilaged to have witnessed that. I`ve seen cats outside my house sitting with foxes and not taking much notice of each other. I had a cat who lived with me in the city and was used to foxes as they lived in the same environment. Then the cat went to live with my Mum in Devon and I was always a bit worried as the cat wasn`t worried about the foxes, but the country foxes would have had her guts for garters! Didn`t happen thankfully

[Greedyfly]

What a great thing to see. I would feel very lucky to have seen such a thing. Also its good to keep busy whilst not sleeping. It used to drive me insane sitting in the house all night bored!

[20SilkCut]

How wonderful....i wish you had got some photos or a video of them playing together...

[LoftyLottie]

How wonderful to have witnessed this. You are so lucky. I live in the middle of the countryside and we rarely see foxes. They don't show themselves in the countryside and are not so brave.

[boxtops]

someone posted a youtube clip of something similar a few weeks back. My concern (being a cat owner) would be possible swapping of fleas....

[LoftyLottie]

We had a cat who was taken by a fox during a particularly hard winter when snow was on the ground. The cat was partially sighted. I still like foxes though - I suppose it was desparate for food. Fox came back the next night for the other cat but it fought back and we managed to get to it and the fox ran off. The cat was so traumatised it was ill for three weeks. Very unusual for foxes to attack cats though.

[ELVIS68]

LoftyLottie, I too live out in the sticks and have only seen a fox once in the 4 years I`ve lived here, it was alot bigger than the ones I see in the city and it scared the sh!t out of me

[LoftyLottie]

Perhaps it was a wolf Elvis! We do see them occasionally run down at the side of the road. I suppose country foxes don't need to come into gardens - plenty of food in the wild for them and they just never need to go near humans so remain much wilder.

[ELVIS68]

If country foxes are bigger that must mean they eat better, ie rabbits, chickens etc

Surely the urban foxes still have that instinct in them to kill prey ie cats, rather than rip open bin bags and eat sh!tty nappies and kfc leftovers?

[LoftyLottie]

They have probably got lazier Elvis and dustbins are like going to McDonalds or having a kebab! We have plenty of rabbits, pheasants and partridge around us for them to take their pick. It's very unusual for them to take cats and a healthy cat will fight back unlike a rabbit or a daft pheasant!

[ELVIS68]

Saw a documentary about urban foxes and each fox keeps the same route every night when they go out looking for food

Just another piece of useless information I keep in my head

[Andyvon]

Thanks for the answers everyone. I thought I was lucky to see the two playing and it seems I was. I think the fact the two were quite young had something to do with it as most young animals love to play.

I got back from tonight's walk about an hour ago and I saw two more foxes. I usually see two or three each night and I'm sure they are the same ones in each area. What has struck me recently is how most foxes seem to have lost all fear of people in just the last three or four years. Tonight I walked past a fox rooting around in the verge on the other side of the road. It took no notice of me at all. Last week I saw another fox standing on the path ahead of me looking at me walking towards it. Rather than slink off as they used to, this one then plonked itself down and started washing it's stomach! As I walked past it just looked up at me without the least concern and when I looked back it was following me! I think the reason must be that so many people in towns are feeding foxes now and encouraging them to come closer and closer to their houses - or even inside - that foxes no longer see people as a threat but as a food source. I think that's what happened last week with the fox getting in someone's house and attacking the twins. That was terrible of course but I still think they are beautiful animals and I could never hurt one.

Incidentally, I also see lots of badgers, owls and other animals at night on roads that are a thunder of traffic during the day. I'm sure there are more foxes and badgers about now. Occasionally, I even see deer but they run off into the fields when they see me! Neighbours don't believe me when I tell them.

[Andyvon]

Thankyou Greedyfly. I'm pleased you seem to know what it's like. I used to go half mad trying to sleep and I won't go the pill route. I only get about 2 or 3 hours a night and then I suddenly hit a wall once a fortnight when my brain stops functioning and then I sleep for about 14 hours. Then it's another two weeks of 2 or 3 hours. I've just learned to fill the hours now. I do my walk every night (even the police know me now and don't stop me any more) I often go for long drives, collate my photos, read books etc. I've been like that since my twenties and I'm 48 now.

[DrFilth]

andy have you not got a small digital camera with movie mode so that you can film things you see.
up to yesterday i had seen i dead squirrel on the road, no foxes, hedgehogs etc in the gardens for over a year
then yesterday saw a cat chasing a squirrel down the street , under cars and over walls .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsUN-lXotgc

[paddywak]

I'm like noth, I live in the sticks and I've walked my dogs at different times of the day for all my life and I've never seen a badger in the wild, deer, foxes every thing else I see quite often but the only badgers I've see are dead ones on the roadside and one a friend had taken into the RSPCA after she found it injured in a field