Hunger hits hardest in winter, foxes search miles for scraps
London, 4 December 2025 – Wildlife rescuers and countryside watchers across Britain are reporting an alarming rise in starving urban and rural foxes this winter as freezing temperatures and heavy frost make natural food almost impossible to find.

Normally elusive creatures, red foxes have been spotted in broad daylight rummaging through bins, scavenging roadkill dozens of miles from their usual territories, and even approaching houses in desperate search for calories. Wildlife hospitals in Sussex, Yorkshire and the Scottish Borders say the number of emaciated foxes brought in during November is already double last year’s figures.

“It’s the worst I’ve seen in 20 years,” said Sarah Kennedy, manager at the Fox Rescue South East. “These animals are coming in skeletal – ribs showing, eyes sunken. The ground is iron-hard, worms and insects are deep underground, hedgerow berries were poor this autumn, and rabbits are staying in their burrows. They’re burning far more energy than they can take in.”
Thermal camera footage from the Chilterns this week showed foxes travelling up to eight miles in a single night – three times their normal winter range – just to find a handful of scraps.”
Experts warn that prolonged sub-zero temperatures forecast for the coming weeks could lead to widespread deaths unless householders leave out small amounts of suitable food (plain cooked meat, tinned dog food, or specialist fox supplements) and fresh water. Leaving out bread, milk or salted foods can do more harm than good.

The British Trust for Ornithology has also noted a sharp drop in small mammal and earthworm activity, leaving foxes – normally efficient hunters – with almost nothing to eat in many areas.
One resident in rural Derbyshire filmed a young vixen collapsing from exhaustion in her garden after raiding a compost heap for vegetable peelings. “She was skin and bone,” the homeowner said. “You could see every rib. It really brings home how brutal winter can be, even for animals we think of as tough survivors.”
Wildlife charities are urging the public not to feed foxes in summer (when they can easily find food and it encourages nuisance behaviour) but say targeted, responsible feeding during extreme cold snaps can prevent unnecessary suffering.

As one rescuer put it: “Foxes have lived alongside us for centuries. In a winter this harsh, a little kindness can be the difference between life and death.”