red fox hunting in field chickens watch dog chases

centrarchid

Crossing the Road
15 Years
Sep 19, 2009
27,614
22,437
986
Holts Summit, Missouri
While I was at back porch door I noticed dog had come into house and gone up stairs where he can look out onto back pasture from an elevated position provided by rear window. After a few minutes dog got all excited and started barking. I called him downstairs and he bolted out door with hair on his back standing up. He raced into pasture going after something I could not see at first until he got within a hundred feet of his target. It was a red fox hunting voles. Scoob chased it off hard then started back tracking checking I am guessing where fox had been. Chickens were on side of yard where they could see the whole thing but they made no sounds. Multiple red foxes hunt my property but only one seems to target my birds and Scoob has gotten pretty good at keeping it (female I think) from taking any birds for nearly a month and a half. Birds help by making a racket alerting dog of fox and birds quickly retreat to front yard (games and red jungle fowl fly into trees or onto house) where Scoob seems to be trying to blind side fox. Either same fox or another does not go after birds in and around cockyard as those birds seemed not to be alarmed by fox. We have seen fox near pens before but it (they) have always been after voles instead.
 
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He does not have to kill fox so long as fox does not go after chickens. Next year a second dog will be acquired which will in all likelihood deny foxes opportunity to even hunt voles on my patch. It is kind of interesting to note that predators do not always go after the birds even when all appears right for such. Others seem dead set and would clean me out of free-ranging dominiques if dog did not prevent it. Racoons can not say no to chicken.
 

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