I Have a Fox Problem

[teringeorge]

I’m lost...

Why is trapping a fox illegal?

What state ( assuming the USA) is the OP in?

They are a valued pelted animal. Trapped for it's fur. Thus a trapping season (winter) when their fur is the thickest and longest. Permit needed for trapping like a hunter needs a permit to kill a deer. Hope this helps

 

[roosterhavoc]

It’s almost always legal to trap a nuisance animal killing livestock. Check your individual state laws if you’re that concerned about it. There’s so much misinformation being spread around it’s unreal.

 

[teringeorge]

Fox is a furbearer species and therefore technically illegal to trsp without the proper permit and during the season. However, if it were my chickens at my house, i would set a "box" trap baited with sardines or tunafish. Once you catch him and possibly other would be predators (raccoons, skunks, opossum etc) call wildlife control for removal or relocate yourself. Live traps are indiscriminate and like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get. Most wildlife officers understand this and will help you with a nuisance animal. But technically illegal so your call.

We have all sorts of predators from bear to bobcat that wander through the yard every night and have only ever lost 1 bird. That was in the middle of the day while chickens are free to roam the yard and woods. Night time safety has been achieved with an elevated coop, welded wire (no chicken wire) and latches on every point of entry. Our "adolescent" birds (up to 4 mos) are raised in a flight pen (8' x 30') that is welded wire to 7ft high with chicken wire ceiling. Base of fence is anchored by 6x6 timbers buried in the ground. Inside the flight pen they have an elevated coop with additional locks so even if fox gets in the pen they cant get in the coop.

If animal control won't help, and your uncomfortable addressing the situation yourself, beef up security with heavier wire and ground anchorage.
Photo shows the coop for free range adults on right and flight pen for adolescents on left

Call state first. It is illegal in many states to relocate certain animals.

Fox is a furbearer species and therefore technically illegal to trsp without the proper permit and during the season. However, if it were my chickens at my house, i would set a "box" trap baited with sardines or tunafish. Once you catch him and possibly other would be predators (raccoons, skunks, opossum etc) call wildlife control for removal or relocate yourself. Live traps are indiscriminate and like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get. Most wildlife officers understand this and will help you with a nuisance animal. But technically illegal so your call.

We have all sorts of predators from bear to bobcat that wander through the yard every night and have only ever lost 1 bird. That was in the middle of the day while chickens are free to roam the yard and woods. Night time safety has been achieved with an elevated coop, welded wire (no chicken wire) and latches on every point of entry. Our "adolescent" birds (up to 4 mos) are raised in a flight pen (8' x 30') that is welded wire to 7ft high with chicken wire ceiling. Base of fence is anchored by 6x6 timbers buried in the ground. Inside the flight pen they have an elevated coop with additional locks so even if fox gets in the pen they cant get in the coop.

If animal control won't help, and your uncomfortable addressing the situation yourself, beef up security with heavier wire and ground anchorage.
Photo shows the coop for free range adults on right and flight pen for adolescents on left

 

[Folly's place]

State or province regulations vary, so look up and/ or call to learn what's legal where you live. There's no universal rule that covers everyone here!
Mary

 

[OhZark Biddies]

They are a valued pelted animal. Trapped for it's fur. Thus a trapping season (winter) when their fur is the thickest and longest. Permit needed for trapping like a hunter needs a permit to kill a deer. Hope this helps

Yeah, I get how furbearer seasons and permits work, but I’m aware that most places allow folks to protect their livestock...

but I did not see any of the pertinent information stated before I asked.... it seemed as if there were some errant assumptions being made... so I asked

 

[Clifton sanders]

You cannot trap a fox. Illegal. Store bought coop Mistake #1 ( made this mistake also). How did it get in?? Did you bury the wire 18 inches out from your enclosure? Did it get under the fence? I have fox and it just watched my girls, it found out it was WAY too much trouble to try to get in. I have an enclosed 12x 24ft garden, their coop is inside, the fence is 6ft high, I have hardware cloth around the perimeter and buried 18 inches out. I've had Chickens going on 3 yrs, not ONE predator death. After my first year I realized I was in OVER my head, I studied and built my own coop.

I can agree. I had a fox last summer. I buried the hardware cloth and then placed large rocks around the entire perimeter. The fix came back almost every day at different times for about 3 months. It left empty handed. I have a video of it sitting at the back of the coop watching. No further losses. Store bought coops are too flimsy.

 

[ampljf2000]

I only just started raising chickens. My chicks are about 4 months old. I have a store bought coop and I made an extra outside pen/run for them out of chicken wire (mistake #1). I only let them out in the chicken wire area when I'm home so I can keep an ear/eye out for them. I saw a fox on our property last week but it didn't go near the chicks. Today I saw another one, I think it was a different one. The fox snatched 3 of my 4 chicks. I'm pretty sure it was coming after the last one because when I went out to check on them I saw it running away and only one chick remained. I have 2 questions:
1. What is the best type of trap I can use to get him? I saw someone mention a spring trap in another post.

2. My friend has a farm with 20-30 chickens of all ages. Do you think she'd be better off there or would they pick on her for being new?

I don't feel comfortable bringing more chickens on my property until I have a better setup which I'll start working on this weekend. There are farms w/ chickens all around my property so it didn't occur to me that there'd be a predator issue.

Thank you so much! Sorry for such a long post.

Hello, l live in rural virginia and have purchased an electric fence from Premier Fencing. The fence shocks ground critters and foxes will not go into our enclosure. The fence is 50 square feet, and we move it around since its portable. I can't recommend it more highly. Premier Fencing

 

[Milkshakeroo]

Those actually do work for people who dont have to worry much about predators. But for my family, we went large and built our own. We used spare fencing and wood we had around the house and its served us well.

That is true. In Australia we don’t have air predators and only have to worry about introduced foxes and the occasional egg eating goanna. I am grateful for this as my coop is only partially predator proof.

 

[pelicanchook]

I'm really surprised to see no mention of Nite Guard solar lights, wonderful American invention as fox deterrents. I live in Australia, right on the edge of a flood plain, so plenty of foxes around. I have used the Nite Guard solar lights around my chicken coop for over 10 years now, and have never had a fox try to get in during the night. The lights last for ages, and are well worth the cost of importing into Australia. I learnt about Nite Guards from my daughter in LA, who uses them to keep racoons and coyotes away from her coop. (NB - look up genuine Nite Guards from MN - is that Minnesota? - you can get cheap copies on eBay which are useless)

 

[fawnda]

You can't blame predators for leaving an easy meal out for them You can try killing and trapping them, but you're going to spend a lot of time killing and trapping things and where there's a predator void, another one will move in to fill the void. Also, trapping anything in the spring and summer will surely render the babies of what you trapped orphans and lead to a slow and sad death, as most babies born in the spring need their mother/father until at least the end of the summer in the northern hemisphere. Smarter and less work to just build a predator proof pen for your flock. It really does not take a fortune to have a predator-proof enclosure. Good recommendations HERE