How do you know you caught the culprit?

[GiddyUpGo]

We lost our poor Fuzzy to a predator a couple of days ago. The day after it happened my neighbor came over and set a trap ... we set it up near the scene of the crime and baited it with Fuzzy’s feathers and some tuna. Last night we caught a gray fox in the trap. It ate all the tuna and it ate the feathers too. My neighbor says she’s very sure we got the culprit, but I’m still nervous about letting our chickens out again.

How do you know you got the right fox? Maybe should keep the chickens locked up for another week or two just to be safe?

Thank you all!

 

[sourland]

I'd reset the trap. You very well may have caught the culprit, but it may be half of a pair. Fox pair up around this time of year.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Unfortunately you don't know. I once shot 16 rabbits out of my garden before I got the last one that was eating my beans as they sprouted. Not all 16 were eating the beans as they sprouted, I had no way to know if the rabbits I shot were actually eating the beans but at least some were because it stopped happening.

I once had a skunk go through a pet door into my garage where the dogs slept at night. The skunk sprayed and got away. I trapped seven skunks in that area the next couple or weeks but I don't know if I ever got the one that actually sprayed. It was skunk mating season and the male skunks were on the prowl.

I once suspected I had a raccoon hanging around the chicken coop so I set a trap. I got a possum the first night. I set the trap again, and got a possum the next night. I set the trap again and got a raccoon. The fourth night I didn't get anything.

All these critters were permanently removed. They could not come back. I'm all in favor of permanently removing predators that are hunting my property. That certainly reduced predator pressure. But I don't consider it a permanent solution. Even if you get the one that is the current problem, if there is one there are more. It's not like any of these are going extinct. There ae new ones being born and setting out to look for their hunting grounds. The only really effective protection is barriers. Good barriers work whether you are there with a gun or have a trap set.

I would absolutely reset that trap. Are you sure a raccoon didn't get that chicken and the fox was just an unlucky passer by? Congratulations on getting that fox too, they are not easy.

I would also keep the chickens locked up for a while, more like a month than a week. If it were something other than that fox, make sure it knows there is not an easy meal just waiting for it.

 

[bill3607]

The Gray Fox actually mates for life. The only way a Gray Fox leaves his/her mate is if one dies. The dad also helps with the kits teaching them how to hunt. So, yes, there is another. Does not mean he or she will come back, but there is certainly more than one.

 

[GiddyUpGo]

Unfortunately you don't know. I once shot 16 rabbits out of my garden before I got the last one that was eating my beans as they sprouted. Not all 16 were eating the beans as they sprouted, I had no way to know if the rabbits I shot were actually eating the beans but at least some were because it stopped happening.

I once had a skunk go through a pet door into my garage where the dogs slept at night. The skunk sprayed and got away. I trapped seven skunks in that area the next couple or weeks but I don't know if I ever got the one that actually sprayed. It was skunk mating season and the male skunks were on the prowl.

I once suspected I had a raccoon hanging around the chicken coop so I set a trap. I got a possum the first night. I set the trap again, and got a possum the next night. I set the trap again and got a raccoon. The fourth night I didn't get anything.

All these critters were permanently removed. They could not come back. I'm all in favor of permanently removing predators that are hunting my property. That certainly reduced predator pressure. But I don't consider it a permanent solution. Even if you get the one that is the current problem, if there is one there are more. It's not like any of these are going extinct. There ae new ones being born and setting out to look for their hunting grounds. The only really effective protection is barriers. Good barriers work whether you are there with a gun or have a trap set.

I would absolutely reset that trap. Are you sure a raccoon didn't get that chicken and the fox was just an unlucky passer by? Congratulations on getting that fox too, they are not easy.

I would also keep the chickens locked up for a while, more like a month than a week. If it were something other than that fox, make sure it knows there is not an easy meal just waiting for it.

Yeah I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a raccoon. It happened during the day and it left behind nothing but a pile of feathers. I’ve never seen a raccoon around here during the day and my understanding is raccoons eat only parts of the chicken, though I guess I don’t really know since this was our first experience with a predator.

I did reset the trap so we’ll see what happens next ...

 

[CluckerFamily]

I would reset the trap to see if you get another one.

 

[WestTNriverrat]

Examining the stomach contents would be the only way to confirm you caught the culprit if caught soon enough after. I would think the feathers would take a little while to digest could be wrong tho.

 

[HawaiiCoyote]

I'd reset the trap. You very well may have caught the culprit, but it may be half of a pair. Fox pair up around this time of year.

I agree

 

[NatJ]

Examining the stomach contents would be the only way to confirm you caught the culprit if caught soon enough after. I would think the feathers would take a little while to digest could be wrong tho.

That wouldn't help this time:

We lost our poor Fuzzy to a predator a couple of days ago....we set [the trap] near the scene of the crime and baited it with Fuzzy’s feathers and some tuna. Last night we caught a gray fox in the trap. It ate all the tuna and it ate the feathers too.

The fox in the trap would have feathers in its stomach, because it ate the feathers that were used as bait. So examining the stomach contents of the trapped fox would find feathers, but would not tell whether it also killed the chicken several days before.

 

[WestTNriverrat]

That wouldn't help this time:


The fox in the trap would have feathers in its stomach, because it ate the feathers that were used as bait. So examining the stomach contents of the trapped fox would find feathers, but would not tell whether it also killed the chicken several days before.

True guess my reading comprehension failed me this time.