fox and gun

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fox and gun
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Woodburner

Joined: 28 Apr 2006
Posts: 2904
Location: Essex

Posted: Mon May 18, 15 10:55 pm Post subject: fox and gun

Sorry, not the pub . . .

I won't go into the gory details, but its bad enough for me to abort my first proper holiday since the fibre frenzy . . . I was over three hours drive away, four hours ago.
It isn't deterred by the multiple electric wires, so it's got to go. Should be easy to catch or possibly just shoot from the bedroom, it's that fearless! But I haven't got a gun . . .
Ages ago someone relatively local offered to assist with such a problem but it really was ages ago, and I can't even remember which forums the person used. I've checked private messages ttboma on all the ones I can remember using to no avail.

Pilsbury

Joined: 13 Dec 2004
Posts: 5645
Location: East london/Essex

Posted: Tue May 19, 15 6:12 am Post subject:
Ask tahir, he has a shooter on his land but i dont know if its just air rifle, he is close enough to you thst his gun might be able to help.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46233
Location: yes

Posted: Tue May 19, 15 9:55 am Post subject:
sorry to hear this ,a decent trap can be bought or made . shooting can be effective and very effective at the scene of a recent "crime"as they will return for the rest/ones they could not carry. either way once it is gone you will need to be ready for the next one as they dont leave "resources" unclaimed for long.

Woodburner

Joined: 28 Apr 2006
Posts: 2904
Location: Essex

Posted: Tue May 19, 15 1:53 pm Post subject:
The leccy fence works against our local foxes, and to my knowledge against at least one (also very fearless) passer through. This is another though, and is damned near tame, and is desperate enogh not to care about a zap or two! It's got to go! Permanently! I actually saw it myslef this morning while I was making the trap. It's nearly finished, now. I'll pm Tahir thanks

Lloyd

Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 2699

Posted: Wed May 20, 15 10:43 pm Post subject:
Speaking as a shooter, I'd say that in this instance detterrence is better as if you kill it, another will immediately move in to fill the vaccuum created. If you can, high fences with brickwork several feet below. Roof coverring Big zaps Strong male human scent around ( piss?) Chooks secured after dusk and before dawn Maybe some alarm mines if the area permits. An Alpaca to guard them.

Woodburner

Joined: 28 Apr 2006
Posts: 2904
Location: Essex

Posted: Thu May 21, 15 7:03 pm Post subject:

I've not had any problems for 6 years, since I set up the electric fencing, and I've never had a problem with the resident foxes, even before I got the leccy fence.
I never see the local ones; somehow, they're not that brazen, despite a neighbour feeding them.
A couple of months ago I actually saw another fearless fox, broad daylight, 8 or 9 in the morning, in the next door garden, not really bothered by my yelling at it, but trotted off anyway. It didn't cause any trouble though, and I've not seen it again, so presumeably it was deterrred by the leccy. It was distinctively marked, so easily identifiable, and not one of 'the neighbour's foxes'.
I don't mind passers by, as long as they don't stop for lunch . . .
This one seems not to care about getting zapped and has actually been along a gap of about 18-20 inches with the leccy fence in the middle . . .

eta once it's gone I will be contacting the RSPCA to make sure they don't try relocating (any more) foxes to this area.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46233
Location: yes

Posted: Thu May 21, 15 9:37 pm Post subject:

ar15 +nightsight

cage trap ,a choice of suitable firearms.

the relocation thing is legal but daft.

ps im an ex horsey /dogs fox hunt sab as i think that is cruel,ineffective and nowt to do with vermin control.especially as i can think of several "hunts"that collected foxes from elsewhere to have a victim to chase on a given day .

apparently they are not vermin(unlike grey squizzers which are popular pets in our local park) so the options are kill ,exclude,or post the poor thing to a strange land and make it somebody else's problem.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46233
Location: yes

Posted: Thu May 21, 15 9:58 pm Post subject:
foxy kit ?

Woodburner

Joined: 28 Apr 2006
Posts: 2904
Location: Essex

Posted: Fri May 22, 15 7:28 am Post subject:

dpack wrote:

So very true.
I find it ironic, and somewhat amusing, that before the ban we used to hear foxes all the time, but now a fox bark is a rare sound.
eta forgot to say the reason being that the farmers used to leave foxes 'for the hunt', now they just shoot them.

I'm not pro fox hunt, but I find it hard to raise much sympathy for a fox that gets caught by the hounds, after all, it dies the same way that it kills . . .

Woodburner

Joined: 28 Apr 2006
Posts: 2904
Location: Essex

Posted: Fri May 22, 15 2:24 pm Post subject:

Holy carp! this thing is fearless!
Inside the leccy fence, I got that close to it, two steps more and I could have grabbed it!!! I realised I couldn't or it would bite me so I looked around for a suitable club. As I broke it down to size the fox started moving, and trotted off through the (now open) gate and the neighbour's gardens.

So, I think I need to put the dead chickens out one by one to keep it interested, til the nice man with a gun can get here.

(the chooks are safe but cramped)

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Fri May 22, 15 3:35 pm Post subject:
It does sound like it's been semi-domesticated, either by being fed or living very close to people. You could ask at your local gun club but it would be quickest to hire a local pest controller unless you know someone.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46233
Location: yes

Posted: Sat May 23, 15 1:45 am Post subject:
bait the trap ,traps dont sleep . if it is that comfortable with humans etc etc . get a sniper to help give it the respect of a kind death asap, that one needs to go.

Woodburner

Joined: 28 Apr 2006
Posts: 2904
Location: Essex

Posted: Sat May 23, 15 7:54 am Post subject:

Trap is baited but it's not interested. No scratch marks in ground outside the trap - not trying to get to the bait.

I think it's been hand raised. Our local foxes are fed by a neighbour, but they still stay out of sight.

It's definitely got to 'go', but it's really rather sad, someone has spent a lot of time with this creature to make it so tame, and I know from my experience with the Harris hawk, how awesome a feeling it is to tame a wild creature, but they are predators and must be kept responsibly, not let loose again. (In fact, I could have got the owner of the hawk into a fair bit of trouble if I had been so inclined.)
Even when I kill a chicken it makes me sad because it's so trusting, and they're easy to tame. It's useful for chickens (and hawks) to be tame though, but what on Earth use is a tame fox?

Woodburner

Joined: 28 Apr 2006
Posts: 2904
Location: Essex

Posted: Tue May 26, 15 9:01 am Post subject:

Well there's been no sign of it since I walked up to it inside the leccy fence. No interest in bait or dead chicken inside the leccy, or a mysteriouly dead baby rabbit just outside it, no pheasant alarm calls the last couple of days either.
I'll keep the chooks penned up for a few days/a week more, while I put a second electric fence around the silkies area, before I let them out properly again.
I'd rather have seen it dead, so much less faff and worry, plus the chooks could get their freedom back straight away.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46233
Location: yes

Posted: Tue May 26, 15 11:41 am Post subject:
perhaps it had many enemies perhaps it had friends with an escape line it might just be clever like my latest rat

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