Fox Problems

[TheEggCollecter]

Hi everyone. Its one thing after another with predators lately. I swear these animals are all out get me and my birds. Fix the hawk problem, take care of the raccoons, and now Mr. Fox shows up. Two days ago i came home to devastation in the bantam coop, the small and most likely juvenile fox killed seven bantams in one attack and only left with two. I lost silkies, Mille fleurs, cochins, and frizzles. After keeping everyone locked up for a day i let all the birds stretch there legs when i got home this afternoon and soon found the fox chasing pullets in the backyard again. It took ten minutes of yelling and chasing to get this fox to leave. It is bold and had no problem with me getting ten feet near it. Does any one out there have any advice on how to take care of this problem.

 

[TheEggCollecter]

not the best quality but there he is.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Personally we would shoot it. That is quite bold.

 

[StewedMammal]

Shoot it. If it isn't afraid of you, he will keep coming back.

 

[Folly's place]

x3. Also fix your coop and run issues so no other predator can get in! Mary

 

[KYTinpusher]

Sorry about your losses.

What to do...

Depends... are you out in the country (shooting allowed), or in suburbia? It looks hungry, which would make it very bold and not scared by your presence. It will keep coming back until there is no more food available (i.e. your chickens are gone or secured) or until you kill or relocate it. Shooting it, if legal where you are, is probably the fastest way to deal with it.

In order to relocate it, you would have to trap it first. Fox are very difficult to catch in a live trap, but it can be done. Before you do, check your local laws about doing so. Most states require a permit to trap and relocate wild animals. You can look in the phone book for a licensed trapper to come and take care of the problem for you. I would urge you not to try to relocate it on your own. Without specific knowledge on relocating, you could be just passing your problem on to someone else, or condemning the poor animal to death anyway if he ends up in another fox's territory.

In some cities, animal control will lend you a live trap and dispose of the animal once you catch it. You just have to figure out how to get it to go in the live trap. There is a very good thread on this site somewhere with good instructions on camouflaging the trap. If you want to go this route, let me know and I'll try to find it.

Of course, making all your coops/runs predator proof would solve the problem, too, and in the long run will serve you better.

Good luck.

 

[Zinniah]

Wow that's scary, you will have to kill it. Unless you could find a way to release it in the middle of nowhere, where it wont bother anyone else. That would be hard to do and likely cost you a lot of money, a lot of animal control places wont do anything about it either.

 

[Folly's place]

It's illegal to relocate trapped critters; call your DNR if you are thinking about that as an option. It's not! Either shoot, trap and shoot, or rely on total confinement in a safe coop and run for your birds 24/7. Mary