My first Fox attack that ended in a kill

[Mygirls20]

Thanks frigginchi lol dont know if thats a good or bad theme song

I hope no one on here thinks of me as a mean cold hearted person sorry if I came off that way to anyone.

 

[frigginchi]

Song is about handling bidness to those who wronged you. Or at least that is my interpretation.

 

[Mygirls20]

Ya makes sense Thanks again for all your help might need it again if these stupid coyotes dont stay away from my porch. I must have like a all predators welcome here sign out somewhere. Its really frustrating

 

[Steemroo]

Shellz, Be glad you have a clean gov't that seems to work. I didn't mean to sound - and wa not - upset. We're just in different countries. And it's not all bad down here.

Gratz mygirls, nice rifle - glad you took the critter out.

Soler - you are entitled to your opinion, of course, but pls do not trap and release elsewhere. You just ,make the pest someone else's problem. That's rude, wrong & maybe illegal in your area. We're not advocating the death of all varmits - but when one gets this bold, it has to go. Can't you see that?. Yeah, we all use fencing, hardware cloth & coops - but fearless critters can defeat those if allowed time & access.. What if folks want to pasture birds? In some cases you gotta TCB - period - and just toughen up.

Fearless coyotes are attacking human children in cities now.. Why? Urban humans are wusses- the animals no longer respect us.

I have neighbors who live trap MICE and release them - am I going to have to learn to live with mosquitos and stop swatting them? More will come after me. Why not share my blood? Where does it stop?

You got to stop over-empathizing for individual critters, especially when the species has plenty of room to live and numbers, as is the case here.

 

[Shellz]

Super job! And when you get your gun, it will be over quickly. This is for the best!

 

[Shellz]

Whoa, the new posts rolled in after mine! I missed a bunch!

OMG, I love your gun! Me want! Hubby thinks we're done buying guns. But honey, we don't have anything in a semi-auto, lol!

I totally feel for you MyGirls! I know we seem to get excitable when we think we have to take care of business, but when it comes down to it, there are a lot of mixed emotions. We NEED to take an animal out sometimes, and then we reflect on what we have done to it. I never enjoy it either. There's so much build-up to the final event, we need to release that. Don't know about the men in this regard, but i think its more emotional for women, as we are supposed to be the nurturers. Good for you for showing your children respect for the fox. It was a job that needed to be done. We can't think of animas as above us. Well done, I say! Now go get the coyotes!
Yeah, yotes are biting kids in some public parks in Canada too! Since they are not a native species where I live, folks kill as many as they legally can! Luckily for me, I can do the same on my property. Being a newb at it doesn't help, but I'm sure learning!
Hey Steemroo, what is TCB? I free range in warmer months, & into fall they go into the woods a bit. You just can't beat the eggs from these girls! Yummy! So, I'm not about to let foxes ruin it for me this year! Wanna hear something weird? Somebody actually tamed a fox kit on their chicken farm. When it grew up, still tame, it kept the other foxes away & it didn't bother the chickens! I imagine this fox lived the life of Reilly, & never felt the need to leave. Not advocating this, just throwing that out there. There was a pic too. Wish I knew where I found that!

 

[ocap]

I cant relocate animals in my area I will get a fine. I have tried everything to scare this fox away. I am not trying to sound angry but I have fought myself over whether to kill this fox or not for the past week. I have two young children and this fox is being hand fed by someone. Its not just about my chickens anymore its about my girls as well. The other day we were outside and this thing came right up to my youngest freaked her out. Animals are wild and not meant to be pets and this one is way to comfy with humans. Sorry if I come off to be excited to kill it but I am I am glad its over I am glad I now have a rifle to protect my family (especially when my husband is out of town) if you read this thread from the start all the way through you will see this isnt all a game to me. and after I shot the fox tonight I cried. I dont enjoy taking a animals life. I have re-enforced my coop its tighter then fort knox and I doubt anything will get in... But when I have my kids to worry about I will kill whatever doesnt stay away from them. Yes feel bad for the fox thats fine but what about the chicken it killed? (my daughter fav) and what about my kids safety when a fox is coming up on your porch it HAS to go. sorry

I also called a wildlife officer and they told me they wouldnt come out and trap it or relocate it for me and to shoot it.

anyways those are my thoughts I didnt take any offence to what you said but this is my side of the story

I have kept up with your thread and agree with you.

Sometimes you cannot report your neighbors for fear of their reaction, if they were smart they never would never have started feeding predators.

I live in bear country and do not even put out bird seed.

 

[Shellz]

I stopped the wild bird feeding last year. Turns out there's a disease transmitted by doves that can get to your chickens. Also, the robins here started building nests & some were filled with mites! Yuck! Also preds like owls & small hawks started dining on the small birds that rested in a hedge by back door. Feeding wild birds, (for me anyway) just got complicated in my free ranging flock plans. I had the joy of learning about the beautiful, wild birds that came for the first 2 years anyway. I still see them, from time to time, in their own natural habitat.

 

[Mygirls20]

I have kept up with your thread and agree with you.

Sometimes you cannot report your neighbors for fear of their reaction, if they were smart they never would never have started feeding predators.

I live in bear country and do not even put out bird seed.

Thank you it was a hard thing to do. My girls woke up this morning the ground is still frozen so we couldnt bury it but we did say a prayer and I hope my kids understand what I did to protect them and the chickens Its sad really I think if this fox wasnt so "ok" about being around humans he wouldnt have needed to be killed. In the end my chickens were safe but my kids were not and they are the most important thing. I now have 5-7 coyotes that are being fed by this guy to that I am now going to have to deal with

We also have bears they should be waking up soon and I worry about them hopefully they will stay away

There is also a neighborhood mountain lion I am sure the guy feeds that too. I have lived in CO all my life and never seen once just walking through the nieghborhood before. I doubt that it is any threat to my chickens but again it is to my family. (and possibly the future goats and sheep I will be getting)

Co-living with wildlife is always the dream thing to do but sometimes you have to take care of business. I use to live out east (in CO) and nobody gave anyone a hard time when it was calving season and everyone was shooting all the coyotes to save the freshly born calves. Its hard for me to grow up one way (and still feel bad enough when I have to kill something) then have a ton of people tell me its the wrong thing to do.

Now if I would have tied the fox to a post and played the lets see how many times we can shoot it before it dies game then I understand peoples anger. But I did a point blank head shot while the fox was eating some dog food that I dumped into the trap. He was dead before he knew it. It was a clean kill he didnt make any noise and only tensed up some just because thats what they do when they die. (sorry for the details but I want everyone to know it was a clean kill)

anyways thats my rant last night none of my lights went on so I am hoping and praying he didnt have a mate and that I can have some breathing time


Thanks again to everyone for their help

 

[Mygirls20]

Super job! And when you get your gun, it will be over quickly. This is for the best!

They called me last night said I could come pick it up I was going to wait till today but my hubby said that he didnt want the fox staying in the trap overnight so I had to drive down and pick it up. It was for the best it snowed last night and even though I planned on killing it I didnt want it to have to stay in the trap for another 14+ hours.

I love my gun though its very light which is nice for me. It was louder then I expected it to be but still nice to have. I am going to do some target practice this week get the sights right so if I do have to shoot something from far away I hit my mark. Nothing is worse then shooting something and having to listen to it scream and watch it flop around till you kill it.

Also I want my husband to shoot it a few times so he can get comfortable its time to break in the city boy he is almost 30 and has never shot a gun before thats just crazy in my mind lol