THERE'S A bit of a wildlife surge going on in Dublin at the moment. Despite oil spillages and the melting of polar ice caps there are actually species whose numbers are increasing, writes ANN MARIE HOURIHANE
In the Eye On Naturecolumn in Saturday's Irish Timeswe learned that there could be a barn owl in the vicinity of Marlborough Road in Donnybrook, Dublin. But the first of these ascendant species is the fox, which is now more numerous in the town than it is in the country, or at least more visible.
And it is nice to see a fox calmly trotting across a city street at night, before slipping over a garden wall. The laneways of Dublin, particularly, could have been designed to provide shelter for foxes. The arrival of the wheelie bin, which was widely predicted to constitute a calamity for scavenging foxes, seems to have quite the opposite effect on their population.
But the Dublin laneway has been in existence for a couple of centuries, and foxes seem to be breeding like crazy right now. There has to be a new reason for their demographic triumph. Perhaps it is all the vacant lots which have encouraged them. All that abandoned stone, with the scutch grass marching over it, and plenty of unfinished hearths to curl up at. We could be seeing the arrival of the Nama foxes, who have the run of derelict building sites. Indeed, an adolescent fox – and they do seem to be very nosey – was seen wandering round a half-completed building down the road here, lit by the security lights. It was unclear whether the creature was trapped in there or not. It did not appear to be distressed. Foxes know what to do with empty office space.
But the big impact of the Nama fox has been in the residential market. They no longer seem to fear the proximity of humans, if they ever did. Earlier this year fox cubs were gambolling beside garden ponds in back gardens. They were sunning themselves on the roofs of suburban sheds. They were showing off shamelessly among the tasteful planting of prosperous apartment complexes. And they were welcomed. Couldn’t foxes be classed as positive equity? Never has a younger generation been so photographed, so videoed or so admired. Enthusiastic city dwellers spent whole evenings witnessing a mother sitting quietly as her cubs played around her. There were a lot of Attenborough moments.
And there was the added extra of seeing the Nama foxes with the remains of other animals sticking out of their mouths. Foxes are self-sufficient. They clean up your area. The city householder was delighted with them.
Of course we realise that cities have always had their wildlife – it’s just that we never see it, and that rats don’t count. Foxes are easy. Birds, on the other hand, are slippery, and would do your head in. Bring a bird sighting to the attention of a bird watcher and you are met with a long list of ifs, buts and maybes. The bird you saw could be an x, or it could be a female x which look completely different to the male x, or it could be teenage y, or it could be a z in winter plumage. You never know where you are with birds. The only birds you can safely identify are the robin, the male blackbird and the tree creeper, because it moves like a mouse.
A fox is an unmistakeable creature. However, even the most enthusiastic among us are beginning to feel that we may be seeing slightly too much of the Nama foxes now that the summer is ending, and they are pushing out the boundaries, looking for new territory. They have started to defecate outside the front doors of the apartments, and if there is one thing that even a city dweller is not prepared to step in it is fox excrement. A war is being waged, with bleach as the ultimate deterrent. The smart money is on the foxes.
The city throws light on a variety of species from time to time; in many ways that is what a city is for. Each creature gets its moment in the spotlight, and human motivation is usually clear. For example, on Saturday morning we saw a brief burgeoning of the sports dad, who was visible in both shopping centre creches and in park playgrounds. The sports dad was minding his children on his own, buying time so that he could watch the rugby match in peace later on. Although the sports dad may have wondered if the match had been worth it. (This talk about the sports dad is unconnected with last week’s column in defence of the single mother. Thanks to everyone who sent comments.) Yesterday, flocks of loyal fans from Mayo and Kerry landed briefly at Croke Park for the football; at the time of writing we cannot say how this short migration worked out for them.
The movements of wild animals are mysterious to us though; their comings and goings have always been imbued with meaning by ignorant humans. Maybe the Nama foxes will move on. Maybe they’re here for ever. There are rumours of a raccoon in Limerick. One can’t help feeling that that’s a good thing.