>( I'm am super ticked!!! Fox is still here...GRR!

[chubbydog811]

We have been having a fox or 2 living around us for the past 2-3 months. We have tried humanely trapping, and shooting with no luck.
It wasn't much of an issue until today - I think they are getting VERY desperate now..

We went out this morning to find feathers EVERYWHERE! My mum found one duck missing, one with its chest ripped off, one with a broken hock, and one with a slight gimp. These guys are locked in a dog crate at night that is wrapped in plastic - he pulled them THROUGH the grate! Next I checked the chickens that are locked in the horse stall...He got in the stall, took 9 of them (!!!) and injured a handful more...Of course, all of my Millis that I have been desperately waiting to lay! He took all hens but one

So we got over that alright, we found some of the old foot traps that we are going to set out either tonight or tomorrow night, and went on with our day - which included making our small coops crazy predator proof. Though I'm betting there are two, and they wont be back till tomorrow... (you need to realize, they are coming out at all hours of the day!!)

We have a student over today to help us out around the farm, and she comes up to me after playing with the goats, and tells me that my goat's ear was missing!!!! I go out and check, and sure enough, the fox bit half of her ear off! I know it was him - there's nothing sharp in her pen that would have made a round-ish cut like that, and no sign of any blood or her ear anywhere! She is a Nubian, so you can get a better idea of how much ear he took off!

Anyway, I needed to vent...I have been wicked stressed today because of this...It's just so frustrating! It's one thing to go after small chickens and ducks, but the goats??!?! SERIOUSLY!

GRRR....I really need to find someone who has experience killing these....And as a note - this is war between us and the fox. I can garauntee you, he will not come out alive!

 

[Turner]

You may have Fox around but I have not know of a Fox biting or trying to get a goat, particularly a Nub which is a big goat - could be you are dealing with several things? One may be a Coyote etc. I know Fox will take chickens and ducks but....Do you see tracks anywhere? Good Luck!

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

A fox will be too timid to take on a goat. I think you have a bigger canine on the prowl.

 

[mxpres]

sounds as if you may have more than one type predator.A fox won't go after a large goat,when they kill a chicken they usually grab it and run,sounds like you may have a raccoon getting your birds with all the damage that has been done,I am wondering,how secure was your horse stall?

 

[chubbydog811]

I'm thinking that the bigger prey was a nasty horse that is pastured next to the goats...That is the ONLY reasonable explanation for this! There is a 4 1/2 foot wooden fence - 3 boards, chain-link, and electric, so I have no idea how he could have done it, but it's the only thing that makes sense right now. The goats rarely go near that fence line, but I will take that over a possibly rabid fox any day!

We haven't actually looked for tracks, but it is definitely a fox that is harassing us...We have seen him at least once a day almost every day for the past almost 3 months.
The stall was, what I though, secure enough to keep a fox out...I had boards on either side so that there was no gap between the wall and the door, and had something pushed up so that it couldn't open, and a large brooder box pushed up against it...He pushed the boards down, squeezed though, and went right on in. The is the first time we have ever had a problem with it (out of the at least 50 birds through out the year that have passed through that stall) It is my "in between" stall...Where the birds go if they are too big to be in the brooder box, but too small to be with the rest of the flock.

Does anyone have any new advice on how to get rid of it? We are going to take another day to sit out there and bait him with a crated rooster (intentions being we shoot the fox before he harms the rooster). We also will be setting the foot traps tomorrow or the day after, and hope that he isn't too smart for them...
I thought about poison, but then thought about the part of him spreading the poison everywhere until it kills him kind of made me uneasy about it...Is there any type of poison like material that would kill him quicker than 2 weeks, with out spreading it and possibly killing animals that weren't intended to be killed??

Forgot to add - the goat pen that has the now half eared goat - it is the baby pen, so they are all under 5 months old...

 

[aprophet]

Quote:

 

[halo]

Im not sure that a fox would be able to grab and pull something thru a grate; that sounds much more raccoon-ish to me. They have paws that can reach thru something like that and pull them thru. A fox doesnt.

Also, how do you know this is a fox doing this, and not coyotes?

 

[Keara]

Been dealing with fox here in Vermont too. We shot it, but are expecting more as we figure the only reason it would be taking so many chickens is because it has a mate with kits out there somewhere. I think I will be out with the 22 this holiday weekend waiting for the very hungry mate to be back for more. I've heard hanging bait (ie chicken), to draw the fox in to shoot, works well. Though to be honest I have to look up if that is legal.
Our main plan, though is to build a fox proof daytime run. Just for some of our chickens so that on any given day we will not lose all of them.

 

[crazy chook]

We used to have a fox come round, it managed to get in and kiledl most the chickens. They would bite the heads off the ducks and just leave the bodies.

We Shot the darn thing! Haven't had another since!

 

[Mark & Nique]

"...These guys are locked in a dog crate at night that is wrapped in plastic - he pulled them THROUGH the grate!..."

This sounds too much like a raccoon to be a fox. Male raccoons can reach over 30 lbs. I would try a cage trap, a big one!

Good luck!