Urbanisation is the fastest form of landscape transformation on the planet, but our understanding of how wildlife responds to such changes is still in its infancy. Red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) are renowned for thriving in urban settings where they have many opportunities to exploit food within or in close proximity to a wide variety of human-made objects (e.g., litter and contents of outdoor bins). The visibility of such behaviour has likely contributed to urban foxes being labelled as bolder, cunning, and a general nuisance to people. Studies in other animals show that frequent exposure to novel objects can sometimes lead them to overcome their aversion to unfamiliar objects in general (e.g., stimulus generalisation). However, it is unclear whether this applies to the willingness of urban fox populations to exploit food-related objects, particularly when they are first discovered and hence the most novel. To test whether urbanisation encourages wild foxes to exploit food-related objects, we administered eight types of novel objects containing food to 87 free-ranging foxes across a large urban-rural gradient (one object per location). One fox approached and exploited an object in the first instance, while the remaining 86 foxes avoided them. After two weeks, five foxes exploited the objects, while another 13 foxes touched the objects but quit before gaining access. Urban variables (e.g., road, greenspace, and human population density) did not predict whether foxes acknowledged or touched the objects, but their likelihood of touching them was predicted by the type of novel object encountered. When objects were absent, foxes willingly consumed the food. Thus, as with rural populations, urban foxes in the current study displayed an initial aversion to novel objects, suggesting that increased access to food-related objects through urbanisation does not necessarily encourage all foxes to exploit such resources when first discovered. Other factors are needed to overcome their initial aversion, which may have important implications for changing the general perception and management of this species.

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