The biggest issue with fighting pests, is that they evolve. No matter what type of removal technique the pest control industry comes up with, pests often eventually adapt to it. At that point, the technique becomes much less effective, and we have to modify products and methods accordingly. The best example of this is the cockroach, an insect that is almost completely immune to many types of pesticide. However, a surprising pest that is doing some evolving of its own is the urban fox. Yes, according to scientists, urban foxes are evolving in some unusual ways.
Why exactly are urban foxes are changing?
The reason why this is happening isn’t in reaction to poisons or pest control. Foxes are evolving not because we’re trying to get rid of them. It’s actually the complete opposite. You see, compared to rural foxes urban foxes are adapting because they’re spending more time around humans, and evolving to take maximum advantage of our urban human environments. In this way, they are becoming more like cats and dogs.
First of all, their behaviour patterns seem to be changing. According to a recent article on the BBC website, which reports on a study carried out by the University of Glasgow, researchers have discovered many new things about foxes are evolving in urban settings. To start with, foxes have almost completely lost their fear of humans. For example, the article mentions several instances where foxes stole food from humans without any fear at all. In the past, this would have been unthinkable. Foxes are evolving a deeper affinity for humans, and becoming closer to domestication than ever before.
Urban foxes are even evolving in physical ways
Even more fascinating, urban foxes now have smaller snouts and increased biting strength than they had previously. This makes it easier for them to do things like chew their way through dustbins, and forage for food. Obviously at this point foxes become pests.
These foxes also have smaller brains. This is happening because they now require less effort to survive, hence the loss in brain power. Scientists have also found that these foxes are less agile. This is because they no longer require the agility needed to catch live prey in the wild.
That being said, the University of Glasgow study stressed that although foxes are evolving they are still potentially dangerous. These pests are far from domesticated in the way cats and dogs are. This means you should still treat them like wild animals. They still need professional fox pest control in London and other cuties if the become a nuisance. Do not attempt to approach urban foxes like you would a tame animal.