OK. It seems there are many new folks here that have questions about predators. There is so much helpful information here on BYC and it seems everytime I log on I learn something. I see lots of questions about Foxes in particular the past few weeks. This is because the Fox is coming out of his winter doldrums, probably very hungry, preparing to breed, and that is why reports have increased, because they are moving about during the day and making noise people don't recognize. Here in Connecticut, Fox are legal to hunt during February, mostly because they are so active. For me the fox belongs here. He was here before me, he eats his own weight in rodents, and is a natural part of the eco system. Like Raccoons, Opossum, Hawks, Owls, Eagles etc... they are a beautiful and natural part of the environment, and control many unwanted pests, and occasionally each other. Coyotes and domestic cats are intruders here, not natural, and are considered rodents to be exterminated. I own 2 cats and they are kept indoors. Our coyotes here are 15-20% timber wolf, much larger than the ones out west. Try as they might, I have placed heavy gauge fence deep in the ground around my pens, light the pens at night, keep a good netting over the top, clean up around the place, trap rodents, and practice good hygiene. I don't kill anything natural I am not going to eat unless like rodents, it presents the danger of disease, or is a danger to my family, or sometimes, when a predator learns how to get to my birds. I don't kill for sport or fun, and take no pleasure in it , nor do I kill on site (except for rodents). I had a fox living on my land all this winter. I would see him at night, sometimes in the early morning, I could see his tracks in the snow, along the pens and barn, and he was welcome to hang out, unmolested, catching whatever mice he could, maybe the occasional spilled feed, it was a symbiotic relationship, and even during hunting and trapping season, he was protected on my land. Then the door to the mallard pen, weakened from snow, ice, moisture, etc, warped just enough so Mr. Fox got a head in the pen and dragged out one of my prize males. A drake, show quality, which I had been feeding and caring for, several years. A prized breeder. The story in the snow was plain to see, tracks, blood, feathers, a fox being a fox. 5 days left in Fox season. The result is the photo below. I did not want to do it, and once I dropped him, I felt a tinge of guilt and sorrow, but it was a necessary evil.
