Householders urged to stop feeding urban foxes after attack on baby Householders were urged to stop feeding urban foxes after a baby was said to have had its finger bitten off by a rogue animal. The baby was recovering in hospital after reportedly having a finger bitten off by a fox that went into the child's bedroom in Lewisham, South East London. Surgeons re-attached the finger after, it was claimed, the mother pulled the fox off. The attack, described as "incredibly rare," but there are rising fears that foxes are losing their fear of people in towns and cities where their numbers have swelled over recent decades, One of the reasons for their success is thought to be the willingness of householders to put out food for them. RSPCA spokesperson Klare Kennett said she was aware that some people leave sausages and other treats for foxes in their back gardens as they would for a pet. "The problem is that people are feeding them," she said. They're putting food out for them in their back gardens - then one thing leads to another, and they're surprised when they go inside their homes. Richard Moseley, from the British Pest Control Association, told the BBC: "What we are finding is that as people feed foxes and encourage foxes to come closer to their properties... they are becoming tamer and people do have to remember that at the end of the day they are still a wild animal." Tim Stevens, the councillor at Bromley Council responsible for public protection and safety, said that while the alleged attack had occurred in Lewisham, foxes have been problematic in the area for years. "The most important thing is not to feed them," he said. I'm certainly aware of people who admit to feeding foxes in their back yards. He would like to see a cull, as Boris Johnson has advocated, but said it would only work if foxes were slaughtered across London in a co-ordinated programme. The RSPCA has warned that as soon as a cull started, other foxes would move in from surrounding areas. Fox expert John Bryant, of the Humane Wildlife Deterrence Association, said: "Experience shows culling urban foxes doesn't work because unless you can get a massive percentage of them then the survivors breed back within one season." Trevor Williams, director of the Fox Project charity, suggested the Lewisham fox could have been affected by a chemical contained in grit spread in icy conditions. "We've been admitting an inordinate number of rescued foxes since New Year that appear docile, unafraid and usually so disorientated they are unable to recognise food or water," he said. It's only a theory, but it might explain this unusual incident - unusual when one considers how few fox attacks are reported. In one of the few known previous attacks on humans by foxes, nine-month-old twins Isabella and Lola Koupparis suffered severe bites in their cots in Hackney in 2010.