Trapping a fox- impossible? Alternative is poison?

[WillieBoy]

If you use a live trap, wear gloves so the fox doesn't smell your human scent.Do the same thing when putting in a can of cat food or whatever your going to use. I think a fox would have to be really hungry to live trap. I know some have caught the fox in live traps, but i think most would avoid them.
I'm not to keen on poisons either, i'd try to shoot it, as mentioned keep a 22 or something handy. Good luck..!

 

[cluckcluck42]

Quote:
Good idea. I never would have thought of that.

I think we are going to buy a trap and at least give it a try. You never know, maybe one day we will have a raccoon problem and it will come in handy.

We have a 22 rifle here just in case but I have a feeling we will never be able to catch him that way. Oh well.

 

[ivan3]

Do a search here on fox trapping. There are several threads with pics of foxes in boxes. We've shot more than we've trapped, the Reds are pretty brazen as a rule.

 

[sewchick]

Quote:
I agree. I am not sure why you would feel the need to trap or poison a fox for killing chickens that were left unprotected and outside a secure coop or run. IMO, that is like dangling candy in front of a baby, and I am not particularly mushy about predators. I just believe that it is MY responsibility to keep my chickens secure. This is not a predator that's digging under your run or breaking into your henhouse. The chickens were outside at night, making them prime and easy targets for predators. Removing one fox will not stop the carnage. Just a new one will come along for the free buffet.

Whether you remove this fox or not, you have two choices. If you decide to continue free ranging, you going to have to accustom yourself to some losses. Or you can butcher the roos and keep your flock in the secure run.

A fox cam into our yard in broad daylight and got some of our chickens. I do blame myself for not having a run. I have one now and have 0 losses in 4 months. We never caught anything in the darn trap we bought. Bigggg waste of money as far as we were concerned. They are hard to shoot. Very hard. That fox would pass through the area a couple times a day. How do I know....because of the chicken loss. I did keep an eye out but the darn thing would come up from the swamp sneak behind the coop nab them. I have not seen it in months since I have a pen built. I am not going to take any chances either. Next summer I will fence in the whole yard. I have no problems shooting anything that messes with my chickens provided I can get a good shot. I am still angry for losing my best hen. It was a giant gray cochin. Best hen in the house. I think I would be sick if it gets my silkie girls. I only have two of them and they are my best chickens. You might look up snares. Sometimes they work. I think youtube has some videos on it. They might not be legal in your state so make sure first.

 

[theFox]

Quote:
Good idea. I never would have thought of that.

I think we are going to buy a trap and at least give it a try. You never know, maybe one day we will have a raccoon problem and it will come in handy.

We have a 22 rifle here just in case but I have a feeling we will never be able to catch him that way. Oh well.

PM Lollipop I'm sure he can tell you how to bait a trap for fox.

I've always had luck using a good bloody piece of meat to get predators into a live trap. You do have to set the trap on or just besides critter sign unless you are using a good stinky lure (something you might want to look into).

 

[aprophet]

grey fox are pretty easy to catch in live traps so are bobcats, red fox and coyotes are caught easier to me in steel traps ie coilsprings , double longsprings etc the cage traps need to be large enough 15X 18 X 42-48"

here is one that works well the dimensions can be changed to coon sized trap etc

http://www.rmrs.nau.edu/publications/Kolbeetal/Kolbeetal.pdf

 

[Guscro]

Well, I've lost 10 chickens in 10 days 5 yesterday, lost 5 baby kittens and two cats, lost 3 small dogs... got a price to secure my property $585,000... hmmm I think in order for me to have a reasonably secure place is to use poison, these foxes won't even let me go in the house, they sit on a burm and watch me, can't shoot, there are too many horses and cattle around along with people ..
I am as humane as the next person , I don't need a lecture from a non meat eater, I am a non meat eater myself and I have a right to protect my animals and property. How much rat poison does it take to kill a few fox's, as you can tell I'm very p'd off right now when you watch your pet (member of the family) being carried off by a critter you lose a lot of love for some predators.

 

[Bengt747]

Guscro -- Please take the time to read wildeflower's post above.

As painful as it is to lose birds and animals to predators, poison is not the answer. My grandfather had forty or so Black Star hens a few winters ago, and a coyote jumped the fence and killed every last one of them. He was mad as all get out--and I don't blame him for it. However, he used legal methods to trap and dispatch the predators that killed his birds. Not only does putting out poison often carry some serious legal ramifications, but it will put a lot of other animals at risk, too, including neighborhood dogs and federally protected raptors.

As poultry owners, we have an obligation to protect our flocks. We have a right to be upset, but we also have a right to take the proper precautionary methods. Free-range birds are always in danger, whether the danger is a coyote, neighbor dog, or hawk. If you're not able to watch your birds while they're out in the yard and don't keep them in a run or penned up, there will be fatalities--if not now as there have been, then later when you least expect it. The same truth applies to dogs and cats. This is not always ideal or appealing, but it's often what must be done to see some improvement.

If the foxes in your area show little fear of people, look into the regulations of animal damage control trapping to try and trap the foxes, or look into and hire a nuisance animal removal service to do it for you. If you choose not to do any trapping, don't allow them their presence to intimidate you or allow them to be within your sight wherever you are at a given time on your property. Make lots of noise, make them uncomfortable, and don't give them any reason to tolerate the sight of you. (If you become an intimidating presence or sight before traps are laid, the fox may be inclined to shy from the traps, but it depends on the circumstances.)

Best of luck.

 

[slingshotandLAR]

Ok foxes are easy to trap...

Particularly ones that don't mind going after your chickens in the middle of the day. At this point forget about the box trap and get a few #1.5 or #2 leg holds.

You can google how to make a dirt hole set for trapping foxes, but I would just use bait being as your fox keeps coming back. Any sort of meat meat will work or a dead chicken. Put the bait so the doc can only approach it from one way like up against a building or rock pile or what ever and put a few traps around it. A good rule is 9-12 inches back away from the bait, dig a small bed to put the trap on and pack it in tight so it don't move, then soft or sprinkle some dirt loosely on top to cover it.

Sounds complicated but it's not and you will catch the fox or foxes causing you grief

If you insist on using the box make it a tunnel or a hole the fox has to climb through. Set it up so it looks like a opening in the chicken coop or something like that. Secure it so it don't move at all, that's the biggest problem, the fox won't go in to a box that's rocking all around. Put a little bait out in front of the cage and the rest in the back past the pan, don't put the bait on the pan. Again make it so they can only get at it one way, through the opening.

As a trapper I've ran in to this a few times, and I don't bother with the box traps for foxes, the leg holds are my go to problem solver.


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[biggles246]

I had 5 chicks and then one morning 4 were gone. I found some feathers and a scat. Dad blamed my cat so I put my trail cam out and caught the fox redhanded. I live in Australia on a 50 acre paddok and there are four fox holes that I know of. The only way to really control foxes is to get rid of them permanetly. Trap them or whistle them in and blow there face off!!