The Fox and the Cat: Sometimes they do not agree

The diet of suburban foxes has been studied by analysing 200 scats collected monthly between July 2016 and July 2017, along fixed itineraries around two villages in central Italy. A significant seasonal variation in the diet was found. Fruits (berries) and coleopterans prevailed in the warm months and were replaced by feral domestic cats (mostly kittens) in the cold ones. The local overwhelming importance of the domestic cat in diet confirms the opportunistic feeding behaviour of red foxes, which may switch their diet towards easily accessible food categories, when preferred items are poorly available. (C) 2018 Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Saugetierkunde. Published by Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.