A study of fox (Vulpes vulpes) visits to farm buildings in Southwest England and the implications for disease management

摘要: Farm buildings may offer foraging opportunities for wild mammals, which result in economic losses and the potential disease transmission to livestock. Effective management reduce such risks requires knowledge of behaviour wildlife visiting buildings. Remote surveillance was used monitor red fox (Vulpes vulpes) activity on cattle farms Southwest England over a period 2 years. Frequent visits were observed throughout year, during foxes excreted scent-marked stored feed. This carries pathogen cattle. Fox positively correlated with maximum temperature preceding 24 h, most frequent where absent. The frequency varied widely amongst farms, potentially reflecting variation local farm practices. On some involved contamination environment infectious pathogens. Risks onward domestic animals could be managed by imposing tighter biosecurity measures.