Understanding the role of urine marking in the\ud territorial systems of wild mammals can be difficult, especiallymfor nocturnal cryptic species. Even for common species, such as the red fox Vulpes vulpes, a comprehensive\ud analysis of seasonal and sex differences has not been carried out. Using 6 years of infra-red video monitoring, we compared marking rates between months and between sexes.\ud Urine marking was significantly lower during summer\ud (June–August). Males urine marked significantly more frequently than females during late summer and autumn, but not winter. Males marked more frequently than females also\ud during March. There was no increase during the breeding\ud season for either sex. Our results correlate with previous\ud partial data but demonstrate how urine marking rates vary\ud across the year. They also further support the greater role of males in fox territorial maintenance. Urine marking is lowest during summer when territorial intrusions are least, whilst the higher male urine marking rate in March reflects the,period when females are denning. Overall, our results provide the first comprehensive analysis of red fox urine\ud marking rates, contributing to a greater understanding of\ud territoriality and olfactory communication

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Food provided by householders represents a key resource for urban red foxes Vulpes vulpes.Using long-term video footage, we examined how patterns of feeding site attendance varied with season, sex and likely residence status. For foxes attending frequently (>15%) we found feeding site attendance highest for females in spring, probably because of feeding dependent young, and lowest for both sexes in autumn because of changes in seasonal food abundance or in time spent in other activities. For infrequent attenders (<15%), females attended most often in autumn and winter, coinciding with the dispersal period. Male attendance was not higher during the breeding season. Our combined results show how feeding site attendance changes throughout the year relative to potential intrinsic and extrinsic factors.

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