Hunted fox ambling as usual  Characteristics Worldwide there are many breeds of foxes, but in the UK only the Red  Fox. They are about 24 inches long from nose to start of tail and 13 inches  high at the shoulder, weighing some 16 pounds and living to about 12 years if lucky enough not to be run over or shot. On the European Continent  many populations are infected by Rabies. Mercifully this dreadful disease  has not reached the UK. Diet is normally rabbits, small mammals, beetles and fruit. But they are adaptable in all their characteristics, including their diet. They hunt for their food or pleasure ( they are fond of the  excitement of killing all of a run full of chickens). They move furtively  and stealthily, only calling to each other during the mating season around mid-winter. Their call can be frightening; somewhere between a tom cat's  screaming and a dog's bark. They move by day and night, being much less  nocturnal than many people think. Full use is made of any cover or smelly ground available; particularly tarmac roads. Pregnant or lactating vixens are nearly always safe from hounds because they have very little scent. Some 5 Cubs per litter are born in the spring usually in holes in the  ground ("earths"), which are rarely dug by foxes (the great opportunists) who prefer to make use of old badger setts, rabbit holes, hollows under  trees or buildings etc. At three months, about mid-summer, the cubs start  to hunt for themselves. By late August they are fully independent efficient  killers. They are remarkably calm when hunted as can be seen in the photo  above of a fox crossing a ride while being hunted in a wood; indeed they  appear to amble along until hounds get close.   Numbers The total population in the UK is probably over one million. Foxhunting in the UK killed only about 18,000 foxes each year out of a total toll  of unnatural deaths of some 200,000, mostly from shooting and road accidents.  Although this proportion may be thought to be insignificant; in fact, it is vital to the stabilization of the size of fox populations where farmers' property is at risk if populations grow too large and other controls  do not cope e.g. where there are few main roads and few game shoots. Thus,  although Hunting is primarily for the thrills of the chase, it does serve  a vital purpose in helping to protect the property of many farmers.