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General => General Discussion => Topic started by: GLV55 on June 12, 2017, 04:30:18 AM
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...live-trapping a bunch of foxes! We have a family of the critters living about a block away, and they are killing all of the chickens in the neighborhood. So far, we have trapped 4 out of 12 and released them together out in the woods, way out in the hills away from other chickens. That also means that we have had to dig down and put wire under all the coop fences to keep the foxes from digging under and getting to our hens. We are lucky and haven't lost any chickens yet, but many neighbors have had their flocks completely cleared out. Hopefully in a few days we will have most of them trapped and released, and I can get back to riding.
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You could combine your fox hunting with riding ya know...Tally Ho!! :D
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A few years ago I started shooting a documentary on wild foxes that moved into a county park around a chain of lakes near my town. I had a camera with night-vision and though I had a great night of shooting I discovered that my recording function was broke. In the days and weeks that followed I never saw the foxes again, and suspect the county may have trapped and removed them as well.
Despite being predators they're beautiful creatures, with a behavioral tendency that's somewhere between a coyote and a dog. One came up to me about 3-4 meters away for the food I brought out one night. Still wish I had that footage.
- Wolf
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...live-trapping a bunch of foxes! We have a family of the critters living about a block away, and they are killing all of the chickens in the neighborhood. So far, we have trapped 4 out of 12 and released them together out in the woods, way out in the hills away from other chickens. That also means that we have had to dig down and put wire under all the coop fences to keep the foxes from digging under and getting to our hens. We are lucky and haven't lost any chickens yet, but many neighbors have had their flocks completely cleared out. Hopefully in a few days we will have most of them trapped and released, and I can get back to riding.
Good luck there GL,
Will watch for score updates.
Have seen 2 in 40 yrs in these parts. Pretty animals...but understand the problem they are causing.
Stig
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We have red fox around here as well as coyotes and one rumored black panther (four-legged). Most people just shoot whatever they think is causing a problem. It is rural Tennessee so live with it! Kids went berserk years ago when the state got involved removing beaver (four-legged) by trapping under water and drowning. Got on TV and got them to live trap and relocate! Beaver came back in droves all over the deep south!
Karl
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They are beautiful creatures, and I really don't want to harm them at all. (Old softie, I guess) We are fortunate enough to have an abundance of wild land where they be released and thrive without having to encroach upon the local populace and their livestock. Wolf, I also had one come up to within 10 feet of me and we just had a stare-down for a few minutes. I would love to see some of your footage. I will keep updating the score, Stig. (Too rainy last night for man or beast to be out, so nothing today.) Tromper, my scooter wouldn't make it through the fields around here chasing the foxes. It does sound like fun, though.
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Can't say I blame them, I like chicken too, KFC, that is.
Mac
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Years back we liked our hens a lot.
They helped us provide quality food for our growing sons.
This is not a fox tale, though... and there is not a nice ending, either.
Family of raccoons cleaned out 13 hens and our rooster in about 3 weeks before I was able to tree a couple of them at night and bring em down with shorts by flashlight. Big ole coon... they were eatin good.
It's really a disappointment to eat storebought eggs after eating eggs from free range hens.
redk
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Years back we liked our hens a lot.
They helped us provide quality food for our growing sons...
Family of raccoons cleaned out 13 hens and our rooster in about 3 weeks before I was able to tree a couple of them at night and bring em down with shorts by flashlight...
It's really a disappointment to eat storebought eggs after eating eggs from free range hens.
redk
My daughter had a couple of her hens taken out by a raccoon...it wasn't pretty; they really left a big, bloody mess.
We also love our hens' eggs and would hate to lose them and be forced to go back to store-bought as well. We never have to guess about what, when, or how those eggs were produced.
Still setting the traps, but no more foxes the last few nights. Maybe they got the hint and trotted off to other areas. I will keep trying for a while, though, just to make sure.
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Big ole coon... they were eatin good.
At first I read that as "they were good eatin".
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;D ;D ;D
Quote from: Redk on June 14, 2017, 03:33:55 PM
Big ole coon... they were eatin good.
At first I read that as "they were good eatin".
;D ;D ;D
Ha ha, I did the same thing - had to do a double take and read it again.
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More pertinently, I remember hearing about somebody rigging up something so there'd be a moving light (the kind they'd use when they're out there) to keep lions away. I wonder if something like that would work with foxes or raccoons.
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More pertinently, I remember hearing about somebody rigging up something so there'd be a moving light (the kind they'd use when they're out there) to keep lions away. I wonder if something like that would work with foxes or raccoons.
At this point, I'd be willing to try anything. We do have motion sensor lights that come on when they walk around that area, but it doesn't seem to phase them at all. They are more like, "Hey, thanks for the light - it was a little dark and I couldn't see the chickens real well." ;)
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More pertinently, I remember hearing about somebody rigging up something so there'd be a moving light (the kind they'd use when they're out there) to keep lions away. I wonder if something like that would work with foxes or raccoons.
Foxes, it might. They are real skittish. From what I've seen.
Coons get very bold and will get aggressive, too.
Be cautious !
redk
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Or they'll chase it like cats with a laser pointer :) (Get video if this happens)
Foxes, it might. They are real skittish. From what I've seen.
More pertinently, I remember hearing about somebody rigging up something so there'd be a moving light (the kind they'd use when they're out there) to keep lions away. I wonder if something like that would work with foxes or raccoons.
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UPDATE: We have only trapped one more of the smaller foxes and released it into the wilds with its siblings. I think the others might have moved on to other hunting grounds around here looking for easier prey. The neighbor might have had something to do with their dispersal - he drilled a hole in the floor of the shed under which the foxes were denned up and dropped in a large firecracker or four. We haven't seen any at night since this, so he might have sufficiently scared them off. Either way, I'm not spending a large amount of time setting/baiting/checking traps in the evening, so it's back to riding - finally! :)
Of course, now that I can spend some time riding again, the County Highway District is chip-sealing all the roads around us. So now I have to take a 3 mile detour to get around riding on all the gravel they put down; in another week they will topcoat it with a layer of tar, so that will take another week to dry out and not be slick as snot. OY! >:(
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We've got lots of red and grey fox here in the Texas hill country. I don't have any chickens so I let 'em be; they are great for keeping field mice and snakes away.
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A few days back I was working in my shop when I heard someone screaming bloody murder. When I looked I saw this huge red fox running across the road with something in it's mouth. Later I found out it was the lady two houses over. She caught the fox when the chickens went to making a lot of noise. She told me they had lost nearly three cage fulls of chickens. This all happened in broad day light. Hardly anybody around here keeps chickens anymore. My daughter who lives about two blocks from me has lost one puppy and two full grown goats over the last 3 or 4 years. She says it was coyotes that got her goats.. I guess they are all just trying to survive.
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All my neighbors who have chickens, goats, cats or sheep keep a good dog to fend off coyotes and other predators. Heelers and Catahoulas are the prized breeds. My Sadie is sudden death for snakes!
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We've got lots of red and grey fox here in the Texas hill country. I don't have any chickens so I let 'em be; they are great for keeping field mice and snakes away.
Oh, I would love it if they only ate the mice and snakes in the field across the road, I would just let them go about their lives. But they seem to prefer KFC. ;)
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A few days back I was working in my shop when I heard someone screaming bloody murder. When I looked I saw this huge red fox running across the road with something in it's mouth. Later I found out it was the lady two houses over. She caught the fox when the chickens went to making a lot of noise. She told me they had lost nearly three cage fulls of chickens. This all happened in broad day light. Hardly anybody around here keeps chickens anymore. My daughter who lives about two blocks from me has lost one puppy and two full grown goats over the last 3 or 4 years. She says it was coyotes that got her goats.. I guess they are all just trying to survive.
The same has happened here, too. Saw a fox about 3 weeks ago just strutting down the middle of the road in broad daylight with a chicken in its mouth. They were getting pretty brazen about it. They cleaned out approximately 30 chickens in our neighborhood in about a month. Luckily, we don't have coyotes this close to town, so the goats are safe for now.
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All my neighbors who have chickens, goats, cats or sheep keep a good dog to fend off coyotes and other predators. Heelers and Catahoulas are the prized breeds. My Sadie is sudden death for snakes!
Go Sadie! We have 4 dogs, but the Lab is over 13 years old and the other three are Chihuahua mixes that are about half the size of a young fox. Not much protection for the chickens, but they are a great early warning system, smelling the foxes whenever they come near and yapping their little fool heads off.