Fox deterrent

[arrowti]

Last night my dog was barking her head off at something in the dark, I grabbed the flashlight and walked around a bit and saw nothing. This morning a massive red fox (well, golden brown coloured) was sitting on our yard. We chased it off.

I took my dog out and walked around the edge of our property and fences, and she marked all over the place. Of course, the drake saw her and started to chase us (he hates the dog) and we ended up walking around the fence with an army (5) of ducks following us because the females all follow the drake. I heard a noise and saw a wild female turkey crashing through the trees squawking in panic. She calmed down as we went closer and left, clucking a bit as though trying to find something (we raise turkeys ourselves so we recognize the noises). Didn't see a fox, but wondered if her flock had been attacked or maybe her nest if she was nesting.

I'm going to take the dog around the property every day so the fox knows it's her territory (worked before) but I'm worried it might come around Friday when I'm at work. What else can work as a deterrent? We have a fence but it's only 4 ft high and a fox that size may well be able to leap over it.

 

[peterlund]

Your dog has the idea "covered"so to speak. Foxes are sneaky. And very quick. They also remember where easy prey lives.... making it hard is the key, but i have only had luck with a rifle....

 

[The Angry Hen]

The best recipe to stop those little rascals is this:

BULLETS

 

[Howard E]

Neighbors living on both sides of me claim they have seen a fox in our yard. Both houses are less than 150 yards from ours. Neighbor to the west claims mamma fox was raising a pack of kits under a shed no more than 100 yards or so from my chicken house. So at least one, if not two families of them in the neighborhood. Yet I've never seen one and I'm the one with chickens.......birds that run around in the yard during the day and have done so for the past year. None of them have been lost to a fox, or anything else.
So what is my fox deterrent? An electric fence. Four hot wires, lowest about 5 inches off the deck and each additional wire about 5 inches above the one below it. Highest about 20 inches or so. No gates, I just step over it. As near as I can tell, that fence keeps my birds in and repels all boarders......and does so 24/7........so I don't have to be around with gun cocked and at the ready.
The fence protects them by day and tight coop protects them at night.

 

[arrowti]

Hey people! No sign of mr. fox (yet). We do have guns (although I wouldn't use it because I can't aim worth a damn, but I do have a crossbow) however, everyone has a job during the day. Might go with a live trap in the woods - something not-dangerous so our cat(s) or something else doesn't get killed in it.

I like your fencing. We actually have electric fencing all around the birds, but as bad luck would have it, we had a major windstorm a few days ago and it knocked some trees down and cut out the fence in a few places (no electricity now!). We'll get it fixed this weekend and hope the birds hold through until then.