Red fox spotted!

[shannon84]

Those red lights are absolutely a waste of time and money!  Now if you add some green lights with them and it's Christmas time.....

We know animals eyes glow at night when shined with a light.  When do you suppose an animal ever sees a predator's eyes glowing like something out of a Steven King movie?

The red lights are right up there with the super duper sound emitter that we can't hear but every animal out there can hear it.  And, it's supposed to be so annoying to them that they won't come near your place.  Sheeesh!

If you have predators, in most cases you must kill them or build an enclosure that is very strong.

Foxes are always hungry and very curious animals and, both traits make them very catchable.  The simplest videos on YouTube will show you how to make a set that will catch foxes relatively quickly and effectively. 

that figures I wasted my money....... I'll watch some YouTube videos then ugh just had a red tail hawk watching my chickens. It's like no peace always having to worry. Thank you though for the info!!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

The fox only needs to get lucky once to score a chicken dinner, while you one the other hand must be lucky every day to prevent loses to the fox.

 

[bigoledude]

That's right George. But dead foxes will eat no chickens. Nor will they produce any baby foxes.

Steel leg traps like this will work fine.

http://www.rpoutdoors.com/viccoilsprin.html

Victor 1.75 4 Coiled Coilspring

5 3/8 jawspread for fox, badger, bobcat, lynx, nutria, coon, coyote and Possum.
0478

$16.00, 6/$89.00, 12/$169.99

This same company also sells snares. I REALLY like these.

http://www.rpoutdoors.com/qk66snares.html

$1.79 a snare!
Made with 1/16 inch cable. It is plenty stout enough to catch any fox out there. Again, watch some YouTube videos on "How to snare foxes and coyotes". These professional trappers will give you the very best ideas on how to place and, set snares. The same techniques work equally well on both foxes and coyotes but, you can use smaller wire for foxes. You can set dozens of them very inexpensively. If you are the least bit handy with tools, you can buy the snare components and make your own. I catch coyotes by setting my snares where they are crawling under a fence or squeezing between objects. You can even create a sort of funnel by strategically placing twigs to guide them right into your snare.

A game cam will give you perfect information on the times the fox is visiting. A well-placed shot from a .22 will solve your fox problem. Walmart sells pellet rifles for a little over $100 dollars that work very well at shorter distances. Pellet rifles are much quieter. Just be sure to buy the ones that shoot over 1000 feet-per-second. You have a choice of pellet size. I like .22 caliber pellets. A little slower but has the mass to punch into the vitals.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

That's right George. But dead foxes will eat no chickens. Nor will they produce any baby foxes.

Steel leg traps like this will work fine.

http://www.rpoutdoors.com/viccoilsprin.html

Victor 1.75 4 Coiled Coilspring

5 3/8 jawspread for fox, badger, bobcat, lynx, nutria, coon, coyote and Possum.
0478

$16.00, 6/$89.00, 12/$169.99

This same company also sells snares. I REALLY like these.

http://www.rpoutdoors.com/qk66snares.html

$1.79 a snare!
Made with 1/16 inch cable. It is plenty stout enough to catch any fox out there. Again, watch some YouTube videos on "How to snare foxes and coyotes". These professional trappers will give you the very best ideas on how to place and, set snares. The same techniques work equally well on both foxes and coyotes but, you can use smaller wire for foxes. You can set dozens of them very inexpensively. If you are the least bit handy with tools, you can buy the snare components and make your own. I catch coyotes by setting my snares where they are crawling under a fence or squeezing between objects. You can even create a sort of funnel by strategically placing twigs to guide them right into your snare.

A game cam will give you perfect information on the times the fox is visiting. A well-placed shot from a .22 will solve your fox problem. Walmart sells pellet rifles for a little over $100 dollars that work very well at shorter distances. Pellet rifles are much quieter. Just be sure to buy the ones that shoot over 1000 feet-per-second. You have a choice of pellet size. I like .22 caliber pellets. A little slower but has the mass to punch into the vitals.

I met a Cajun fellow down in Sunset, La. once who assured me that red fox tasted just like chicken.

 

[bigoledude]

That is hilarious George!!! I must admit that we Cajuns (I am pure French Cajun) have a reputation for eating lots of stuff that most folks would consider odd. I've never heard of anyone eating fox though.

But, I do eat things like alligator, muskrat, nutria, gar fish and Asian carp! There are many other things I eat that some folks wouldn't even consider.

I've eaten raccoon but I don't think I could bring myself to the point of eating a nasty-smiling possum. They just look so nasty. I've never seen one crawling out of a dead cow's carcass like many claim to have seen. But, I have seen them sitting in the middle of a hidden nest of rotten eggs and just loving every disgusting lap-up of the foul stinking stuff.

Ray

 

[shannon84]

Sorry you all I didn't see all the responses. But the other night something killed a wild rabbit directly in front of the coop. Only leaving behind chunks of rabbit hair. What predator would that be?

 

[aart]

Sorry you all I didn't see all the responses. But the other night something killed a wild rabbit directly in front of the coop. Only leaving behind chunks of rabbit hair. What predator would that be?

Could well be that fox you saw....or a coyote.
Got access to a game cam?

 

[shannon84]

Could well be that fox you saw....or a coyote.
Got access to a game cam?

I'm going to go purchase one ASAP. Well I'm not sure if that was the same fox because one got down the road in front on a neighbors house that has chickens as well. Maybe it's a different one. Do I set a trap when I see what type of predator it is? I'm thinking about setting one tonight.

 

[shannon84]

So depressed right now a fox got all 3 of my hens. THIS was my first time raising CHICKENS. Poor things happened between 5-5 30 PM any suggestions for next to around is greatly appreciated my backyard is totally fenced we think the fox squeezed under

I'm so sorry about your hens

 

[aart]

Quote: Trapping fox can be difficult....and you can't kill them all, so better to make sure your coop is secure.
They may never even try to get into your coop.....might change your free ranging plans tho.
Probably more than one around....the cam is just a thing of interest to see what's out there.