Taxi driver calls for fox cull after finding brake cables chewed up in Worcester ParkFoxes with a taste for rubber have repeatedly chewed through the cables on a taxi, sparking a renewed call for a cull.
The taxi driver, who lives in Ardrossan Gardens, Worcester Park, said foxes have attacked his cables on four occasions and are so bold one even sauntered into his back room while his wife was reading a magazine.
Two years ago a neighbour who lives just in the same road had the brake lines on her car gnawed through twice and called for a cull.
Foxes are known to be attracted to rubber and it is not uncommon for them to bite car cables which can cause accidents as well as forcing drivers to spend money replacing the damaged parts.
On Monday the taxi driver, who did not want to be named, found the cable of his vehicle's anti-lock braking system (ABS), which prevents skidding and improves control by sensing over-braking, had been attacked.
Last Tuesday he discovered the ABS cables on the taxi had been chewed through.
And in September three cables, linked to the ABS, speedometer and taximeter, were also attacked.
He said: "There are so many foxes around and it’s got to be an animal with a strong bite. If I had not noticed what was going on, my passengers as well as myself would have been put in danger as well as any other road users.
"Safety of my passengers is my biggest concern.
"They are lovely to watch and very beautiful but they seem to be everywhere. I think culling is probably the best idea because there are so many."
Not only do foxes get into rubbish bins and create mess, but he said that a fox even walked into their back room about 18 months ago.
He said: "On a lovely summer evening and the French windows being open, my wife was looking at some magazines in the back room, when she felt a presence and on looking up saw a fox about three feet away.
"She grabbed a shoe and threw it at the fox, which at first took no notice but then slowly walked back into the garden."
In 2011 Erica Kirkpatrick, 54, who also lives in Ardrossan Gardens, called for foxes to be culled after finding a puddle of brake fluid under her car and her brake lines severed.
A few weeks later she once again spotted the tell-tale teeth marks and decided the only way to ensure her safety was to fit metal brake lines.
In 2009 a fox bit through a Morden cabbie's brake cable. Adam Sparkes, of Cardinal Avenue, alerted police after discovering the potentially life-threatening damage to his car.
source:
http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news ... chewed_up/
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