OT. INCENSED! F* FOX

Christina Websell wrote:

Has wiped out all my chickens in the orchard, during the day, today.

It's especially sad as I just decided that a hen in a hut could come out on
Monday. So she lasted just a few days to enjoy her freedom.

Fecking fox.
HE WILL DIE. Soon. I will set up my fox trap again and get the Barstard.

Tweed








That's awful. So sorry for your poor chickens.

MaryL wrote:
"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...
Has wiped out all my chickens in the orchard, during the day, today.

It's especially sad as I just decided that a hen in a hut could come out
on Monday. So she lasted just a few days to enjoy her freedom.

Fecking fox.
HE WILL DIE. Soon. I will set up my fox trap again and get the
Barstard.

Tweed


I know this isn't what you asked (in fact, you really didn't ask any
questions), but would it be possible to set up a fox-proof enclosure so your
chickens could enjoy being outdoors and you would not need to worry about
predators?

MaryL

We used to go out and close the doorson the henhouse at night. The
critters here only raided at night, I wondered about foxes too since I
have never even seen one, don't know anything about them! But that kept
coyotes out. Snakes would still get in and steal eggs but there's not
much you can do to keep them out. I think about foxes being like dogs,
and wondered if they probably wouldn't just dig under any enclosure to
get inside.
Sherry

Dewi wrote:
What an awful loss! Poor chooks.

It could well be a dog if its attacking in the day.

No, it's not a dog. They have a different modus operandii.


When I had chickens they were fortunate enough to have my dog there to
protect them. After he (the dog) passed away, I saw a fox sniffing the
chook run one morning and I stopped letting the chooks out of their
enclosure after that. We went to great lengths, dog and fox proofing
the chicken run, as well as expanding it.

I thought it was pretty well fox-proof as I have 6 foot fencing. I'm still
not sure how it got in and out. I have a lot of boundary trees and I
suspect it climbed up one, and dropped in from an overhanging bough.




I don't mean to annoy you, but how painful are fox traps ??


Mine is not painful at all. It consists of a large box 5 feet long, 2 and a
half feet wide made of strong metal mesh. They enter (or don't, some are
impossible to trap) to get a bait that has a treadle in front of it set on a
bar so that when they put their feet on the treadle the door drops down.
This happens during the night. They stay there until early morning when I
discover them. I do not go any nearer to the trap than I need to so as not
to frighten them, and then I phone "fox man" who comes with a rifle.

Is there
an alternative, like letting the fox live whilst setting things up for
your chickens so that they can be safe & happy? Is it possible to put
electric fencing around your orchard, or elsewhere in the yard, so as
to keep dogs and foxes out?

I have tried almost everything. Electric fencing wouldn't work as my plot
is so narrow and long and the boundary is almost completed planted with
trees. I'm familiar with the use of electric fencing as I used it to
contain my goats - which were in a paddock a mile away. I have all the
equipment for electric fencing but it wouldn't work here.

Normally, shutting the fowls up faithfully as dusk falls and letting them
out in the morning works well and keeps them safe.
I haven't had a daytime fox massacre for ten years. I blame people who feed
them so they get habituated to not being afraid of humans. They were too shy
before that to come out except in the night when all my chickens were shut
up very safely and snoozing on their roosts.

Tweed

Jo Firey wrote:
"Christina Websell" wrote in
message ...
Has wiped out all my chickens in the orchard, during the day, today.

It's especially sad as I just decided that a hen in a hut could come
out on Monday. So she lasted just a few days to enjoy her freedom.

Fecking fox.
HE WILL DIE. Soon. I will set up my fox trap again and get the
Barstard.

Tweed


I take it at least at the moment you aren't opposed to fox hunting!

I never have been and I won't be until another method of fox control is
brought in. There isn't any other way except fox-hunting here. Please note
that I do not want to get into a debate about fox-hunting.

I am so sorry this happened.

Thanks. I am not able to collect up and dispose of all the feathers just
yet. Because they came out so bright and happy that morning to scratch
around in their own orchard and THEN...
I just hope they fainted beforehand as soon as they were grabbed.
Yes, I know foxes have to live too. He could get his butt out into the
fields behind my garden and catch the rabbits there then, instead of taking
the easy option of my lovely old girls enjoying their retirement.
BAH!

Tweed

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...
Dewi wrote:
What an awful loss! Poor chooks.

It could well be a dog if its attacking in the day.

No, it's not a dog. They have a different modus operandii.


When I had chickens they were fortunate enough to have my dog there to
protect them. After he (the dog) passed away, I saw a fox sniffing the
chook run one morning and I stopped letting the chooks out of their
enclosure after that. We went to great lengths, dog and fox proofing
the chicken run, as well as expanding it.

I thought it was pretty well fox-proof as I have 6 foot fencing. I'm
still not sure how it got in and out. I have a lot of boundary trees and
I suspect it climbed up one, and dropped in from an overhanging bough.




I don't mean to annoy you, but how painful are fox traps ??


Mine is not painful at all. It consists of a large box 5 feet long, 2 and
a half feet wide made of strong metal mesh. They enter (or don't, some
are impossible to trap) to get a bait that has a treadle in front of it
set on a bar so that when they put their feet on the treadle the door
drops down. This happens during the night. They stay there until early
morning when I discover them. I do not go any nearer to the trap than I
need to so as not to frighten them, and then I phone "fox man" who comes
with a rifle.

Is there
an alternative, like letting the fox live whilst setting things up for
your chickens so that they can be safe & happy? Is it possible to put
electric fencing around your orchard, or elsewhere in the yard, so as
to keep dogs and foxes out?

I have tried almost everything. Electric fencing wouldn't work as my plot
is so narrow and long and the boundary is almost completed planted with
trees. I'm familiar with the use of electric fencing as I used it to
contain my goats - which were in a paddock a mile away. I have all the
equipment for electric fencing but it wouldn't work here.

Normally, shutting the fowls up faithfully as dusk falls and letting them
out in the morning works well and keeps them safe.
I haven't had a daytime fox massacre for ten years. I blame people who
feed them so they get habituated to not being afraid of humans. They were
too shy before that to come out except in the night when all my chickens
were shut up very safely and snoozing on their roosts.

Tweed




Ah, well, that answers the question I asked. It's also possible he may have
dug *under* the fence, but I imagine you would have seen that.

MaryL

wrote:
MaryL wrote:
"Christina Websell" wrote in
message ...
Has wiped out all my chickens in the orchard, during the day, today.

It's especially sad as I just decided that a hen in a hut could
come out on Monday. So she lasted just a few days to enjoy her
freedom.

Fecking fox.
HE WILL DIE. Soon. I will set up my fox trap again and get the
Barstard.

Tweed


I know this isn't what you asked (in fact, you really didn't ask any
questions), but would it be possible to set up a fox-proof enclosure
so your chickens could enjoy being outdoors and you would not need
to worry about predators?

MaryL

We used to go out and close the doorson the henhouse at night. The
critters here only raided at night, I wondered about foxes too since I
have never even seen one, don't know anything about them! But that
kept coyotes out. Snakes would still get in and steal eggs but
there's not much you can do to keep them out. I think about foxes
being like dogs, and wondered if they probably wouldn't just dig
under any enclosure to get inside.
Sherry

Foxes may look like dogs but actually they are more like cats. They can
climb trees. The jump to incredible heights, which dogs don't do. We had
some foxes outside my former office building that would come out and romp
and play in the vacant lot across from the building. A mother and two kits.
(They don't call them 'kits' for nothing.) The mother chastized one of the
kits for running into the parking lot and jumping up on one of the cars. I
saw this with my own eyes. What dog would do that? I've never seen a dog
jump up on a car. Cats, yes. Mama Fox scolded the kit and they made their
way back across the vacant lot towards the copse of woods that was their
home, the kits tumbling and playing all the while.

The shame of it was that copse of woods was going to be ploughed down for
yet another business park. I feel for Christina's chickens, I do. But
foxes and other animals are being driven out of their habitats and forced to
forage among raised animals such as chickens. There's only so much land to
go around and they, like every wild animal, are being driven out. So are
the birds.

I feed birds on my patio. It provides Persia with "Bird TV' even though she
pays no attention to Peaches, my lovebird. One day I looked out and saw
this HUGE bird on my patio fence. I think now it was an owl. I never saw
its face so I couldn't say; might have been a Cooper's hawk but it didn't
have markings like a hawk. It was huge; broad-shouldered and a short tail.
But bigger than any cockatoo you've ever seen! It was there to catch the
birds I feed outside. Before I could blink it took off and had a wingspan
of close to 6 feet across. I went WHOA!!!

Now that's a reason to keep your pets indoors, folks.

Jill

Cheryl wrote:
On Sat 28 Oct 2006 04:11:04p, Christina Websell wrote in
rec.pets.cats.anecdotes ):

Has wiped out all my chickens in the orchard, during the day,
today.

It's especially sad as I just decided that a hen in a hut could
come out on Monday. So she lasted just a few days to enjoy her
freedom.

Fecking fox.
HE WILL DIE. Soon. I will set up my fox trap again and get
the Barstard.

Tweed

I'm so sorry for the loss of your chickens. Where your chickens are
prey to preditor, here, our cats are.

Yes, I know. I'm sorry that USA cats often have to be kept inside and I
know what the reasons are. At the moment I am still absolutely wild and
furious that a fox came in the daytime and killed my girls.
Thanks for being sorry about my hens.
I actually thought about letting 3 others out, thank goodness I didn't.
Foxes will kill every bird alive once they get into a pen, run, or free
range place. I know someone who lost 200 ornamental pheasants all at once
to a fox that burrowed in.
I think I've told this tale before. He found the fox still in the pen with
all the dead birds around, several thousand pounds worth and a good
proportion of his income for the year out of the window.
He was so angry that he ran into the pen and grabbed the fox by the tail.
The fox immediately "ran up it's own body" and bit him.

Now, everyone, what would *you* have done next in that situation?

Tweed

MaryL wrote:
"Christina Websell" wrote in
message ...
Dewi wrote:

Ah, well, that answers the question I asked. It's also possible he
may have dug *under* the fence, but I imagine you would have seen
that.
MaryL


I have looked all round the boundary fence this weekend and there is no sign
of any digging under at all. S/he has either climbed the mesh or dropped
over from a tree.
Unfortunately, once a fox decides to take the easy option of preying on
domestic poultry he will never be stopped. They go on to rip out fronts of
rabbit hutches and such and eat rabbits and guinea pigs, children's pets and
it breaks their hearts.
I need some feathered bait for my fox trap and then foxman with his rifle.
This fox is hopefully going to be an ex-fox soon.

Tweed

jmcquown wrote:
I feel for Christina's chickens, I
do. But foxes and other animals are being driven out of their
habitats and forced to forage among raised animals such as chickens.
There's only so much land to go around and they, like every wild
animal, are being driven out. So are the birds.


There is no shortage of fox habitat around me. 2 miles of fields at the
bottom of my garden and woods not far away. Plenty of rabbits.
No foxes are *forced* to forage among raised animals he they are just
too lazy to chase the rabbits if my chickens are an easier target.
For that, the one responsible will get a little piece of lead in the ear as
soon as I can arrange it.

Tweed

Christina Websell wrote:
jmcquown wrote:
I feel for Christina's chickens, I
do. But foxes and other animals are being driven out of their
habitats and forced to forage among raised animals such as chickens.
There's only so much land to go around and they, like every wild
animal, are being driven out. So are the birds.


There is no shortage of fox habitat around me. 2 miles of fields at the
bottom of my garden and woods not far away. Plenty of rabbits.
No foxes are *forced* to forage among raised animals he they are just
too lazy to chase the rabbits if my chickens are an easier target.
For that, the one responsible will get a little piece of lead in the ear as
soon as I can arrange it.

Tweed

The closest analogy I can make is our coyote, since as I said, I don't
know anything about foxes.
We have to keep the cats in because of them. If we want chickens, or
guineas, or any other fowl, we just have to make sure their pens are as
coyote-proof as we can make them, and lock them in the henhouse at
night.
I can't reason with a coyote. I can't tell him to eat only rabbits and
leave my pets alone. Yet, it isn't his fault and IMO he shouldn't be
killed for it. He is doing what coyotes DO. I have to respect a
species, that has survived and thrived for the last 200 years with no
help from man, in fact, they've been hindered, hunted, and encroached
upon by us.
I don't like them. They creep me out and they aren't even pretty like a
fox. Still, I could never shoot one.
Sherry