CompSci student bitten by fox after feeding it McNuggets
- Reference: 1593147424
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/06/26/compsci_students_bitten_by_fox/
- Source link:
Foxes are not native to Australia but were introduced so they could be hunted. The animals have, predictably, become feral pests that devour local wildlife.
And now they’re after computing students, too.
As [1]reported in University of New South Wales student rag Newsworthy , Computer Science student CJ Wong was wandering across the campus with a bagful of McDonalds food one evening when he spotted a fox that was undaunted by his presence and appeared friendly, so he offered it a Chicken McNugget.
His reward was a hasty nip.
Computer Engineering student Liz Willer saw what is thought to be one of at least three campus foxes, thought it was cute and tried to stroke it. She, too, was bitten for her troubles.
The minor injuries inflicted on the two students and a third victim were deemed sufficiently serious to justify tetanus shots at a nearby hospital.
The bites were all administered two weekends ago and it has now emerged that they have prompted the University to hatch plans to move on its skulk * of foxes.
University authorities will attempt to reduce debris in the hope that trims campus rodent populations and causes foxes to move elsewhere of their own accord. The University is adjacent to a racecourse on which prey can probably be found, and close to a large urban park full of birds, waterfowl, occasional rabbits and some rather fearsome eels.
If those temptations aren’t sufficient once the campus has been rid of rodents, it’s likely the foxes will be euthanised as that’s the fate of feral pests once caught in Australia.
Students have voiced opposition to that idea on grounds that the foxes are a distinctive feature of campus life. ®
* Collective nouns for foxes include “skulk” or “leash” according to no less an authority that the [2]Oxford English Dictionary . The former is obviously too cool to ignore.
Sponsored: [3]Free Hands-on Training: Anthos Service Mesh
[1] https://www.newsworthy.org.au/fox-on-the-run-from-campus-security-2646173048.html
[2] https://www.lexico.com/definition/skulk
[3] https://go.theregister.com/tl/1956/-9050/free-hands-on-training-anthos-service-mesh?td=wptl1956
The Fox obviously has good taste
Feeing it McNuggets! Where is the beef! (sic)
Shows that even suppsoedly dumb animals have better morals when it comes to food that we do. IMHO, nothing that McD's serves qualifies as proper food.
Let the downvoting begin but in my area, the whole place was better when they were closed. Now their discarded containers litter the streets once again. If anything it is worse than before.
Seems crazy to rid a place of wild animals because some students failed to appreciate the "wild" part.
Seems crazy that they haven't already tried to eradicate them
This is why we can't have nice things.
They're not domesticated right, they're still wild animals even if they happen to live on and around a campus. I am baffled by people who think they can interact with random animals like they can with their pets.
Several years ago, my local university had to cut down what was basically a very small forest on campus and erect a few fences. Deer liked to hang out in the wooded area (as did people) and inevitably students would try to pet the deer or feed them (despite signs) and to no ones surprise some got hurt either as a result of getting to close or deer getting aggressive having associated people with food.
Foxes, rabbits, toads, et al
No place in Aus.
Not native.
Not dangerous enough.
♫ who let the foxes in? Doop Doop Doop Doop Doop ♫