Best way to trap a fox?

[MillersFarm]

Trap a fox? Good luck.. Your best bet is to wait outside early in the morning with a rifle.. I wouldn't use a 22. for long distance though, savage B-mag rifles are pretty good for long distance shooting.

 

[Cyprus]

Trap a fox? Good luck.. Your best bet is to wait outside early in the morning with a rifle.. I wouldn't use a 22. for long distance though, savage B-mag rifles are pretty good for long distance shooting.

I can't shoot. I live in a Culdesac.
Technically, I can only shoot into my field which is 1/5 of my property and not where the fox is coming from.

 

[Lonesome Dough]

We didn’t know you had trapper friends... did you mention that previously?

By all means get those folks on it pronto!

yeah kind of an important little tidbit. you're friends are probably fur trappers(that don't have liability insurance) and only have footholds or snares/cable restraints, not very safe in a neighborhood. Here in MT I can't use either within 1000 feet of an occupied dwelling without going through a bunch of red tape. It generally takes an oversize cage to catch a fox and they probably don't have that either. Yes it costs money to hire one of us, it costs to hire a plumber and electrician too but you would pay that in a heartbeat if you knew nothing about pipes and wires and you know nothing about fox trapping, soooooooooo!

 

[Cyprus]

I get your point but I'm still not parting with up to $1000.
Very few things in my life would be worth that large of a sum.

 

[Lonesome Dough]

the grammar/spelling police in action. people are trying to help and all I see is attitude.
GOOD LUCK.

 

[Cyprus]

the grammar/spelling police in action. people are trying to help and all I see is attitude.
GOOD LUCK.

Thanks. I'll figure this out.

 

[OhZark Biddies]

I was thinking about this thread this morning when I went out and found an opossum in a trap... I checked my camera and after the possum was in the trap, a raccoon came by and cleaned up the rest of the bait (cantaloupe guts and rinds).

I've always been told that the best teacher for trapping is the animal you're trying to trap, and the best way to get that animal to teach you, these days it with a camera.

But the problem with cameras can be that you have to check them to get the card, and that means disturbing the area and leaving scent, etc. But around the house or the coop you're already doing that, so it's likely not as big a deal.

So there was someone on this thread that recommended setting up your trap and wiring it open, and then "chumming" it for a while with bait, so that the fox gets used to going into the trap for the bait, and then once it's doing that regularly, you unwire the trap and set it ready to catch...

That's not bad advice, but the problem you have with that approach is the other critters: coons, possums, cats, skunks, etc. Often you'll draw them in first, and so they get the bait as well, and then it can be hard to ensure that you get the fox and not the other "non target" critters. And if you do what happens is Mr. Fox sees Mr. Coon in the trap, and gets educated, and then gets trap shy.

So with all that in mind, I'd say get a game camera and try baiting to see what you get. If you all you see are the foxes, then set the trap live and go for it.

But you can begin to see why the fox can be difficult to trap... they educate themselves.

The link that describes using the chickens as a live decoy, is not a bad idea either, but be very careful about how you set that up too or you could have a troop of raccoons come in and you catch the first one, and the others go to work on the "tunnel" and take that cage apart and kill your chickens.

The main point I intended to make, is to set up a game camera and see what you've got going on, and that will inform you a great deal about what steps to take for success.

 

[MROO]

We could. Our barn is equipped for that. But I would think a fox would just dig under an electric fence.

Chicken fences should really have a below ground barrier, as well. What are the chances you could bury some hardware cloth around your coop and/or run?

 

[Cyprus]

Can you get help with your local ACO? I would try trapping it, then perhaps bring the trap to a secluded area on the property and using a well placed .22 to the head. Aim up through the base of the head, where back of head meets spine, posterior to anterior. Since you will be above the animal, you can direct your shot in a safe direction. Is there a place on your property where you can safely shoot? If that's not an option, you may have to pay a local exterminator to deal with it. That may be an expensive undertaking as there are most likely more than one.

Somehow I missed this post.
I can fire towards my hay field.

 

[Cyprus]

Chicken fences should really have a below ground barrier, as well. What are the chances you could bury some hardware cloth around your coop and/or run?

I can do that. I would just need to go get hardware cloth.