FOX IN THE DOCKS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 23 September 1939, Page 8

FOX IN THE DOCKS

WILD LIFE AMID BUSTLE

OF SHIPPING

A bustle of shipping and loading and discharging in the docks of the Port of London does not seem to deter wild life, an account of which is given in the August number of “The Port of London Authority Monthly.” “Pike, roach, bream and the übiquitous eel flourish in the Junction Dock, Willwall Docks; making full allowance for the deception apparently practised by all fish, there appears to be evidence of fish up to four pounds in weight in these docks. At the east end of the Rum Quay, a hawk has her nest, and ducks and swans are also to be found. Recently the King's Swanmaster removed two swans from the West India Docks; three days later they were back again. Their nest was made of old rope and straw, neatly held down by pieces of timber. During the summer an occasional budgerigar escaped from captivity is seen, but they are invariably killed off by the winter. “Almost as legendary as Aesop’s Reynard is the fox which has made nis home in these docks for some years. It is conjectured that his debut as a docker was made via a goods waggon from some country district. His lair 'is shared by a mongrel, and the pair usually make the round of the quays on Saturday afternoons and Sundays when the docks are idle. Ducklings, cygnets, garbage and an occasional unfortuante dock cat arc their principal diet.”