Red Fox in Barn at 0415

[centrarchid]

Fox invested roughly 1/2 hour and got little more than a few feathers. It was a waste of his time in many ways and risky.

 

[Howard E]

Have you trapped this guy before? He seems conditioned to know not to enter trap from the business end. If so, clever fellow!

If not, then perhaps he is taking the path of least resistance and focusing his effort right next to where the bait is vs. circling around to find an opening?

It may help to place the trap in a "tunnel" so the only opening presented to him is THE opening. Tunnel being something like placing live trap inside a garbage bag, or draping it with a tarp or blanket, etc. Top and all other sides covered or otherwise blocked off?

I kinda envy your kids. They are getting an educational opportunity not afforded to most.

 

[centrarchid]

The fox is an experimental subject / devil we know. Trap used is a dud, but he almost certainly had prior experiences with them when I was trapping raccoons last summer. Traps placed out periodically around perimeter to see who is probing. If he did get caught, then he would released at site of capture after some humiliating photographs. His value is showing me how to upgrade some of my management approaches.

 

[centrarchid]

Here is aftermath as sun came up. Holes dug easy to see and the ground here is hard to dig into. Note chick carcass still present.

Lucy checking everything out. Her tail is up.

She scent marked. Coyotes respect that effort, Red Fox does not.

 

[centrarchid]

Resetting camera and bait. Lucy worked area in poultry yard hard for over two hours scent marking in several locations. Lucy is not an average dog as far as fox is concerned. She is a mortal threat. Yet I bet fox will return tonight.

 

[centrarchid]

Either fox or Coyote just ran through between house and barn, not in area of interest. Both dogs escorted it off and scent marked a lot after event.

 

[Zinjifrah]

This reminds me of a friend who had a wolf-dog hybrid. Marvelous animal, not for someone who doesn't understand just how different wolf mentality is from dog mentality, down to basic body language. the woman had horses, and the hybrid never bothered them, but it liked to go out in the pasture and hunt rodents. The owner let weeds grow up along her electric fence, mostly because she was too lazy to keep them mowed. The hybrid had learned how to bypass the fence, by listening to the 'pops' of the wire on the weeds and jumping through between them.

 

[drumstick diva]

Fox are downright scary - so quiet. One hung around for a couple of years and then disappeared. I figured a car ran him over. But one day I was walking between houses (neighbors & ours) and so was the fox, coming from other direction. He turned in a flash and leaped two fences to escape. He didn't know how lucky he was. The yard he jumped into was home to a BIG Staffordshire Terrier, who unfortunately was in the house that time.

I know it was "our" fox because he had a mangy area on his left side of tail.

 

[centrarchid]

No evidence for return of fox last night. Chick carcass not touched and no sign in pictures taken at 30-second intervals.

 

[centrarchid]

Crap, somebody stole my fox. Has not returned for more than 2 days. Who ever has him out there should show him love. He likes baby rabbits and chick carcasses placed under cloths baskets.