Fox down ..... WARNING : Graphic content

[pepe1]

Great job, hope you get the other one.

 

[cmom]

I have eliminated some fox that killed some of my birds. They were mangy and stinky. Even if you eliminate both others will eventually show up. The same was for a bobcat that killed 14 birds one night I eliminated it and seen others since.

 

[McChooky]

I live in a very rural, heavily wooded 11 acre lot at the end of a 3/4 mile gravel road. The closest neighbor is about 1/2 mile away.

A couple of months ago I lost 2 birds to this fox and his mate. I also lost one at the end of last year, I suspect to the same pair.

I relegated the chooks to their 1/2 acre, fenced pen, with very limited, semi supervised free range time at the end of each day. The canines continued to terrorize the flock, and were frequently run off by the dogs. One shotgun was staged by the back door, another in my farm vehicle in the driveway.

Yesterday, while doing garden chores, I heard the unmistakable sounds of attack, and rushed toward the coop area, where the cries of distress were coming from. One fox continued to pursue the scattering birds, while the other disappeared into the thick brush.

The male pressed on, after the scattering chooks, paying little attention to me or my screams and waving arms. He literally gave me the middle finger as he trotted casually across the gravel driveway, barely glancing at me, with his attention focused on
the chicken dinner just in front of him.

I advanced toward the 12 gauge in the back of my farm truck, as he disappeared around the barn in hot pursuit. as I lost sight of him, the female reappeared in the driveway, just as I racked a round of 00 buck shot into the scattergun. As I took aim at the female, she once again vanished into the woods, affording no clear shot. She was gone !!!

Dammit !!!!!

Meanwhile, the dogs picked up either on the scent of the male, or the cries of the birds, and started to chase him back around the barn, causing him to abandon the chickens, and circle back to the driveway where fortunately, I was standing with the shotty, shouldered, and cocked and locked.

He passed through the yard at about 90 feet, just on the outer limits of the 00 buck, then onto the driveway and stopped and looked at me, then looked around one last time for a stray chicken.

Big mistake !!!

The shotgun thundered, and 3 of the 9, .32 caliber balls found their mark, and Mr. fox crumpled in the driveway like a bag of hammers !

Yay !!! One down, one to go .....

Unfortunately, my camera is on it's last leg, and didn't get any quality pictures, but got a couple of "good enough" pics of the offending beast. He weighed in at just under 30 pounds. Due to the time of day, the scraggly mange of his summer coat, and the near 90 degree temps, no skinning was done.

No chickens were injured in this attack.

One last chance to not look .....

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Tarasita inspecting the carcass .....

View attachment 2713781

Urinate in front of their dens and they'll move someplace safer with their kits.

 

[svh]

Urinate in front of their dens and they'll move someplace safer with their kits.

If I could only find the den .....

 

[ColtHandorf]

I guessed at the weight, and probably embellished a bit !

Ah hah! How big was the last fish you caught? lol

Good job though. The story was just dramatic enough and sounds like something completely frustrating. I'm glad you got off a shot and hit it if they've been causing you that much grief. I've only ever seen one at my place and it was scurrying along the back fence line on four acres. I couldn't even tell if it was a Grey or Red fox because of the lighting. All I could really see was the little bushy tail as it scurried along it's way.

Hopefully, the other accomplices have learned that you mean business and let you and the birds alone.