How to get rid of fox?

[aprophet]

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They do not hibernate almost nothing does in Va more of a torpor thing going on for most animals. look up the part about trapping the rules are different, game animals are taken care of by either the landowner or their agent in Va. domestic or companion animals are taken care of by animal control agencies in the various localities. I trap and dispatch fox all winter long they are quiet active. Northern Va is quiet different then the rest of the state I was not sure which county you are in. Grey fox are easy to catch in cage traps if the cage is large enough. Red fox are caught quicker and easier with coil spring traps.

http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/hunting/regulations/furbearertrapping.asp

 

[slackwater]

Yep, foxes do not hibernate around here (hence why foxhunting - on horseback - is a fall/winter/early spring sport). And, generally, protecting yourself from nuisance animals does not fall into the same category as "hunting" them.

Another option - do you have a local "coon hunters" association? We do, and they are always looking for places to hunt (for free!). They will come down several nights in a row, and we tell them to shoot anything that's not a domestic pet. We're due to have them come out...I can definitely tell the difference in the local coon, fox & possum population.

 

[pgpoultry]

Urban foxes are not shy of people as they live on human food most of the time and know exactly where to find it.

When we lived in a city foxes would stroll up and down our garden path and look casually at our rabbit. (They favoured our dustbin over him). He died of old age not fox attack.

We now live in the country and the rural fox is a shy animal, but he raids hen coops at night and even by day when the vixen has cubs to feed. Our solution (not practical for everyone I am sure) is
a) Chicken friendly dog...one hen now sleeps with him. He likes to chase anything off that interferes with his order.
b) A goat.....foxes do not like the smell of goats and the smell of the goat also helps to mask the smell of the poultry. We have a particularly malodorous intact pygmy billy goat. His smell tends to keep everything at bay!

We live in Wales where we do have a (legal) gun but have never needed to use it. That the strategies above work is evidenced by the fact that our neighbours have had a number of fox attacks on their hens, but we (fingers crossed) have been lucky so far.

Sandie

 

[Lollipop]

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That`s correct. A .22 bullit in the center top of the head knocks them flat. You have to make sure the gun muzzle is pointed between the wire. This calls for very close range. I have an old .22 and usually lay the muzzle right on the wire and line up the head before I shoot. Never a problem with ricochet and only one shot. Actually, if you live in a neighborhood, .22 CB Shorts sound like a twig snapping and are just as affective at that range. They contain an extremely small powder charge.
DO NOT consider relocating the animal. It is illegal most everywhere and besides, you wouldn`t want someone to dump their preditors at your house either..........Pop

 

[High Roost Ranch]

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You obviously haven't the cats I do. Mine have found via a broken egg that they like whole eggs too. My live traps are set around the clock as well... usually to catch one of those egg sucking cats of mine.

 

[High Roost Ranch]

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I'm almost afraid to ask... but I will with eyes covered. What became of the bobcat? I personally hold them to a different level than a fox. I could not destroy a bobcat where I can a fox. If I were to ever catch a bobcat, I'd turn it over to Fish & Game.

Speaking of foxes, coons, bobcats, etc... here's one for ya. We had a 6 foot gator come up into our poultry area last year during breeding season for gators. Mind you I'm on a 50 acre cattle ranch and the nearest water source is a river filled with gators but about 1/3 mile away via crow flight. It nearly got my swan. Boy oh boy now that was a ruckus that lasted most of the day. The birds would not settle down after that. Even a butterfly would set them off. And the dogs? Good grief, you'd have thought the gator was munching on them one by one, they went off with a sound I've never heard them make before or since. Except our Dogue de Bordeaux, she was going to walk up and sniff noses with that gator. She was such a dunce. Had the trappers come out and remove it. So someone has a nice new pair of gator skin boots, belt and wallet.

 

[Lollipop]

Quote:
I'm almost afraid to ask... but I will with eyes covered. What became of the bobcat? I personally hold them to a different level than a fox. I could not destroy a bobcat where I can a fox. If I were to ever catch a bobcat, I'd turn it over to Fish & Game.

Speaking of foxes, coons, bobcats, etc... here's one for ya. We had a 6 foot gator come up into our poultry area last year during breeding season for gators. Mind you I'm on a 50 acre cattle ranch and the nearest water source is a river filled with gators but about 1/3 mile away via crow flight. It nearly got my swan. Boy oh boy now that was a ruckus that lasted most of the day. The birds would not settle down after that. Even a butterfly would set them off. And the dogs? Good grief, you'd have thought the gator was munching on them one by one, they went off with a sound I've never heard them make before or since. Except our Dogue de Bordeaux, she was going to walk up and sniff noses with that gator. She was such a dunce. Had the trappers come out and remove it. So someone has a nice new pair of gator skin boots, belt and wallet.

When that cat was caught, it had just carried off one of my last two Brazilian cocks. It returned the next night and pulled all it could of one of my two remaining Brazilian hens through the wire. The night I caught it, I used the remains of the hen (pictured in the bait compartment) as bait. I didn`t give it a second thought about eliminating that predator.

The gator, on the other hand, would have ended up in the fry pan. I love wild gator, but the farm raised stuff you get in restaraunts isn`t tasty at al, to me. That one would not have gotten away.........Pop

 

[Miltonchix]

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I don't get it when I read threads like this one. You have chickens. You protect them. A firearm is not an EVIL thing. It is a tool just like your hammer. And a hammer can be just as lethal. The only firearm that has killed anyone was improperly handled,secured,maintained, or otherwise misused. It IS AN INANIMATE OBJECT WITH NO ABILITY TO THINK OR ACT!! But dang handy to have when...........................the foxes show up. Or, heaven forbid, worse.

 

[aprophet]

Quote:
I don't get it when I read threads like this one. You have chickens. You protect them. A firearm is not an EVIL thing. It is a tool just like your hammer. And a hammer can be just as lethal. The only firearm that has killed anyone was improperly handled,secured,maintained, or otherwise misused. It IS AN INANIMATE OBJECT WITH NO ABILITY TO THINK OR ACT!! But dang handy to have when...........................the foxes show up. Or, heaven forbid, worse.

Some folks simply cannot use guns for dispatch. I trap both in urban and suburban settings when I dispatch animals all year long I rarely use firearms mostly because I choose not to put holes in the pelts I sell. When I am able to use guns it is like you say they are merely one of many tools at my disposal. Northern Va is quiet built up urbanized some folks just grew up without guns and theY are not familiar / comfortable being around them.

 

[jimmythechicken]

bobcat arefar worse then foxs to me i have bobcats stalk me an my dogs in the backyard at night when i take them out .they are on lesh an are brittanys but i have had bobcats just seeing there eyes an outline sneeking up on use to dark to shot but when i trap one i do not let him go would not be able to live with myself if a bobcat i had let go eat someones little pet or even would prob go after small kids playing in yard if hungry enough.you all have to remeber the man is still the number 1 predator an we should not feel bad about that.an i love the 3 s's