dealing with a FOX.. erghhh

[twilightgecko]

interesting to hear about the nite guard thing.. i've had people tell me they are useless. so it's good to hear from others that use it.. i caught the fox last night on camera, facing the other side of the house.. looks like she saw the IR flash of red on the camera.. the photos show her turn and leave down the deer trail.. which incidentally comes back up around the property behind the chicken coop..

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

interesting to hear about the nite guard thing.. i've had people tell me they are useless. so it's good to hear from others that use it.. i caught the fox last night on camera, facing the other side of the house.. looks like she saw the IR flash of red on the camera.. the photos show her turn and leave down the deer trail.. which incidentally comes back up around the property behind the chicken coop..
View attachment 1186043

I have found the Nite Guard very helpful. Some people put a Nite Guard on each side of their coop to keep predators away. I’ve found the best thing to be in my personal experience to be to have your coop with a large attached run surrounded by a perimeter fence (think fenced backyard).

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

I think the term is 'shoot, shovel, shut up' The 3 S's.

There is always going to be a big chasm between hunters/protectors and non-hunters. Not all shots are clean kills no matter how badly that you want them to be. It bites but it happens and you always cannot follow the animal you have wounded to give it a killing shot. I shot a ground hog once that was threatening one of our dogs. Went back to reload, came back, ground hog was gone and I couldn't find it.Hated it but it happens.

When you live on a farm you get a different POV about things. I have spent a lot of money on my birds, just as our Amish neighbors have spent a lot on their goats, cattle, sheep and horses. Yet each year the Amish men get together in January and go on a predator drive and shoot. Then try to take out all the small and large predators that they can before lambing/calving/kidding season. From what I've heard, not every first shot is a lethal shot and one of the predators they shot was a mountain lion. It took three shots to dispatch it.

Each infant taken by predators (I've heard nightmare stories of a coyote dragging a lamb across a pasture, tearing at it all the while, torturing it before it is killed and it's mother helplessly following) is money out of their pockets and food out of their large family's mouths. Each chicken taken means no eggs and no fried chicken for Sunday dinner.

We understand that predators need to go. Period. There are hundreds of miles of forrest timber around us that they are welcome to hunt on all they want, including our own timber. But bother my chickens, all you four footed foxes, raccoons, possums, coyotes and yes, mountain lions and you will die. True I will try my best to give you a quick and clean death but if I don't, at least I know that you will not be back to kill my livestock.

My unspoken contract with wildlife is that unless you are a deer, or threaten my husband, myself or one of our dogs, I will not hunt you in your home or threaten you. But bother my family, my pets or my chickens and all bets are off.

I'm glad you got a shot at the fox. Even if wounded and recovers, it knows that you are now a threat and will probably avoid your territory. Only a fox knows how a fox thinks so keep your eyes open and stay alert.

Sorry if I've stepped on toes but this is my humble opinion and I am entitled to it.

I totally agree with you Microchick about the fact that if the predator enters your non forest property and threatens you or your family you have a full right to shoot it. No one would say not to shoot a fox if it kept hanging out by a daycare park full of toddlers. With chickens you’re just trying to protect your investment and in most cases your feathered pets.

 

[twilightgecko]

We understand that predators need to go. Period. There are hundreds of miles of forre
Sorry if I've stepped on toes but this is my humble opinion and I am entitled to it.

you couldn't have said that better.. the whole post.. completely agree.. we have 6 acres of woods and many hunter friends.. they have asked to hunt deer and turkey on our land.. NO.. they cause no harm and i quite enjoy their proximity.. but harm us and ours and i have to make a difficult decision.. i would never take killing lightly.. i am a native american, my dad raised us and kept us fed on hunted animals.. every kill, you say a prayer and give thanks over it.. i don't know that i will actually even be able to kill this fox.. it's an internal dilemma.. the fox is my totem.. but when i hold my hens and i have promised to keep them safe.. i am heartbroken over it..

 

[microchick]

you couldn't have said that better.. the whole post.. completely agree.. we have 6 acres of woods and many hunter friends.. they have asked to hunt deer and turkey on our land.. NO.. they cause no harm and i quite enjoy their proximity.. but harm us and ours and i have to make a difficult decision.. i would never take killing lightly.. i am a native american, my dad raised us and kept us fed on hunted animals.. every kill, you say a prayer and give thanks over it.. i don't know that i will actually even be able to kill this fox.. it's an internal dilemma.. the fox is my totem.. but when i hold my hens and i have promised to keep them safe.. i am heartbroken over it..

My mother was quarter Cherokee. I totally hear you. I feel a deep connection to nature and at the same time a deep sense of protectiveness over the almost 30 acres that we have borrowed while we are here on this earth. I do the same thing when I hunt, even when I have to put a bird down from Marek's I say a prayer for it's spirit to fly free. I refuse to let anyone hunt turkey. We do hunt deer but mainly to protect our orchard and arbor. We have never killed one. This year we aren't even hunting. We are just not that hungry to warrant killing a deer.

Please don't be heart broken over the decision you have to make. When and if the time comes, your totem will guide you, and will understand what ever you decide.

 

[Trish1974]

but when i hold my hens and i have promised to keep them safe..

Exactly! I think when you choose to keep such vulnerable animals like poultry you need to do whatever you have to do to keep them safe.

 

[MollySunshine]

This is truly an interesting read. I personally haven't had a predator problem in the seemingly long duration of 1+years of keeping chickies. Keeping my fingers crossed that they remain at bay. The closest I've come is to have hawks circle them while free ranging. I make my presence known and they eventually fly to over my neighbors yard. Let the hawk feed over there, as I say.
I read several differences of opinion spoken as to how to handle your situation and it's refreshing to read respect given to those differences.
Personally, I couldn't kill anything. Maybe in defense of my chickies if I caught something out there I would. Perhaps the instinct of protecting my own would override. Hopefully I won't experience a time to prove this theory out. My neighbor will shoot anything that enters his yard and is perceived as a threat to his animals. Heck, maybe that's why I see nothing in my own space!
I have the predator eyes around my coops but I have to check out this cam.

 

[twilightgecko]

last night she was back.. i don't know if this is the original fox.. this one seems to have less matted fur [than the coloured photo] and she is holding her back foot up in all the newest photos.. camera snapped 65..

 

[microchick]

Fox are such beautiful animals. You could be looking at a pair or a female with kits.

When we were living in Illinois, DH and I were out in the yard one spring afternoon and suddenly a rabbit emerged from the timber and ran right by us. Not 5 seconds later a fox appeared, hot on it's tail. The fox saw us, hesitated. Looked at us, looked at the retreating rabbit, back at us and suddenly decided that it's belly was empty enough that it was worth risking our wrath and took out back after the rabbit. Moments later, they repeated the exercise. Once again that fox considered running from us or running after the rabbit and took out after the rabbit. That was the last we saw of them.

It's never easy to take an predator's life. It is always in the back of my mind that the predator is just doing what it is programmed to do. And so am I when I am protecting my chickens or our dogs and cats.

 

[chickencheeper]

thanks for the quick responses.. i free range my chickens.. i live on 6 acres, most of it woods. i have been clearing brush further and further from my house, so the fox pretty much has to come out in the open.. by the camera photos, this fox had to have grabbed my hen from under the porch.. so it isn't scared of noises and people smells..

my hens have been pretty much sticking close to the house.. after their first flock mate got taken, they haven't ventured into the woods at all..

i have caught foxes on cam in the past, but always at night, and they have never tried to get in the coop.. my girls are always secure at night and they've just wandered thru.. no issues..

so one during the day, brazen and it's not the right time of year to see foxes during the day, usually in spring when feeding kits [or is that pups?] i did notice the missing fur.. i know rabies is documented in my area of upstate NY.. we had a rabid coyote attack on dogs and people.. even a rabid deer near me.. i was really looking for any signs of rabies in the photo.. i'll attach another photo.. View attachment 1182527

anyway, i will kill it given the chance.. or opportunity.. i've tried setting salmon out [something stinky] and nothing.. sneaky bastard..

i really don't want to fence yet.. still so much brush and land to clear.. the ground is all slate and terribly uneven..

thanks for the ideas..

Not to get of track... but what’s happening with Celeste the owl? Ps sorry for your loss.