OMG I'm shaking!! Fox was just chasing my ducks!!

[Dances with Ducks]

Quote:
It was red, never heard of calling them before. Do you have a device that makes the rabbit sound or do you mimic it yourself?
My husband wants to trap it and take it somewhere. Not sure I like that idea, seems like there will just be more. We live in an area called fox hill and I think it was named that for a good reason.
I'm sure this one will be back though.

About that hawk MysticalMom, I think what they do with ducks is just remove the head to eat. Awfull thought huh?
Nature is so ruthless at times.
I know a lady with a Great Pyreenese (sp?) who says the dog keeps the hawks away. Holderread puts geese in with the free ranging ducks for that purpose. But if they are crazy enought to attack while you are right there what's gonna stop them except overhead fencing?

 

[Dances with Ducks]

Now my husband wants to get rid of the electric fence and replace it with a chain link kennel. He thinks we can get used panel off of Craig's list to cover the area of the current pen, which is a pretty big and irregular shape, approx 30 x 20.
Do fox climb six foot chain link fences?
We deal with raccoons too, but we could run electric on top for them.
I guess if fox can jump 7 ft it has to be covered somehow with more chain link, and major supports. What a project!

The ground is frozen so I don't think they can dig under it right now, is that correct?
We would have to get an apron buried asap.

I've got today to work on this, storm blowing in on Sunday.
Uggh! I just want to lengthen the poles and add more hot wire!
Going out to measure.

 

[puredelite]

Don't know if a fox can actually jump 7 ft. but can climb over a fence that high with ease. 'Specially a grey fox as they can just run up a tree like a squirrel. Foxes are intelligent and can learn to slip under a hot wire or jump over it. Most any sporting goods store sells mouth varmint calls and my advice is to get one and a 22 cal. rifle or shotgun and take care of the problem once and for all. Your ducks will thank you for it!

 

[tinychicky]

i'm sorry! foxes can be so nastly.

 

[BlacksheepCardigans]

Canids are usually very good about respecting electric fences - you need to figure out where he got through it. He probably used the same hole to get out. Or maybe I'm misunderstanding and it's not electronetting - if it's stranded, you really need to change to netting or to a solid fence.

A fox in daylight and doing that clumsy a job means it was probably one of this last year's babies; an adult would have been much more savvy. So yeah, you can kill it, but you wouldn't solve the problem. Another baby will take its place or the grownups will be back when it's night time and will take them silently the way foxes usually do.

A grown fox will respect kennel fencing (that's what we have for our birds and there's a den less than a hundred feet away; we see foxes on a daily basis sometimes) but they may try to climb it if they're desperate. You can defeat them by having a floppy piece at the top - http://www.nrm.gov.au/projects/sa/eyrp/2006-05photos.html is a great picture of what I'm talking about. They have to have something to brace their bodies against and a floppy bit will stop them. You can also run a hot wire along the top of the fence, an inch or so to the outside. Of course, if you have fox you have raccoons too, so you'll need to use the chain link PLUS a closer-spaced wire on the inside.

 

[Dances with Ducks]

Quote:
Thanks for the info.
Makes me think maybe hubby is right about using dog panels if we can securely cover it. That can't happen in one day though.
The bottom of the pen we have is just slatted wooden fencing two feet high, guess they will get past that soon enough too.
I live in town and can't shoot at it. I read that trapping a fox isn't too easy either.

 

[Dances with Ducks]

Thanks for the guidance with this situation everyone! This forum is amazing for making a wealth of knowledge from the experienced people available to the people just learning the ropes.

So now I've brought our first installment of dog panels home, 4 ten footers, one with a gate.
That gate has at least a two inch gap around it, fine for fox but I worry about a young raccoon.
Does anyone have a good solution for dealing with that gap?

Also what about putting the apron around the bottom when the ground is frozen?
Can the fox dig into the frozen ground or are we safe until it thaws?

 

[dmiravalle]

It helps to condition the predators to the hot wire, we have a "fake" area set up and string little pieces of bacon on it. (Hee Hee)

 

[Dances with Ducks]

Hee hee!! Might try that! We are going to keep some of the hotwire, have to figure out how to incorporate it into the new setup.

 

[dmiravalle]

We have ALL predators here, so I know what you are feeling. We use welded wire dog kennel panels instead of chain link (more expensive though). If you use chain link make sure you put a smaller holed wire around it as well, they will pull the chickens through, especially racoons!