The Poultry Keeper

chrislee765 · Joined: 09 Oct 2005 Posts: 47 Location: Hayling Island

Today i was standing in my conservatory when a large fox jumped over the fall, looking at my chooks. My immediate reaction was to scare it off, but now i wish i had grabbed something to throw (hopefully killing it).

I scared it (it run into some overgrowth in the field next door) and then threw a log at it, which im not sure if it hit but if it did it got away. I 10 minutes ago saw the fox a little distance away in the field, standing in the sun.

I dont have any gun license, but could get an air rifle without one. Would an air rifle be enough to kill/stun a fox. Also whats the best way to 'kill' a fox if you ever got hold of the bugger?

Its really annoyed me because we let the chooks free range our garden, but now we cant. Sad

Knobby · Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 7:45 am Post subject:

Hi, I have a 2.2 airrifle, "maxed up" to be as powerfull as it can be without a license.....I would have no hesitation to shoot a fox with it......Seeing what a mess it can make of a rabbits head, Im pretty sure a well placed shot to the head, would kill it Very Happy

If i only had my bear hands....I dont know.......Strangulation ? Broken neck perhaps ?

nigel · Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 7:53 am Post subject:

is that a pneumatic cartridge one knobby?

Heather · Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 8:56 am Post subject:

Bear hands Knobby ?

Knobby · Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 9:09 am Post subject:

mojo · Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 7:21 pm Post subject: hi

if you are sure of your skill with a air rifle a head shot will almost always kill a fox but dont use one if you are not sure phone the local hunting shooting club for help usually supper and plenty of tea will be the only charge best of luck...........mojo

Aussie Chick · Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 10:14 pm Post subject:

The local Hunting shooting club will now come complete with Eagle Owl!! Our local hunt is off in the morning with an Owl!!

sadmum · Joined: 07 Nov 2005 Posts: 15

Hi

We've had foxes in our garden and its awful if they get the birds.

I think you have to be careful if you shoot them - you need to be so far from roads / other houses etc. You can go to your local gun shop and they will put you in touch with people who will come to shoot them if you know when they come

If you know where the foxes are coming into the garden you can use snares to catch them - we've caught 3 that way. Its not nice having to remove a dead fox but better that than dead chickens.

Its illegal (in the UK anyway) to poison foxes

Good luck in getting the fox.

Knobby · Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2005 10:11 pm Post subject:

Arent snares illegal too???

Attila The Hen · Joined: 19 Sep 2005 Posts: 419 Location: Shetland

Guys, a plea from one who knows... please don't go trying to shoot foxes with an air rifle! Anyone who's ever worked with guns should know you need to be incredibly responsible and absolutely certain of a clean shot and a quick death before you commit yourself to firing, and even a 'maxed-up' air rifle is by no means going to assure you of that with a fox. At worst you'll end up with an injured fox that will either suffer a lingering death, or else will be maimed and find its ability to hunt impaired... so will target 'easy' prey items... like hens.

Either join a local gun club and learn to use a proper rifle you can keep at home under licence in a gun cabinet, or else as others have suggested, get someone else in to deal with your fox.

Attila

poultry poofs · Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 5:42 am Post subject: Shooting Foxes

Julian · Joined: 26 Oct 2005 Posts: 16

A fox is a beautiful creature and is deserving of compassion and respect. It's humans who tend to be gung-ho! I love foxes and work to live harmoniously with all creatures. Problems [for humans] are the result of imbalances in the natural world which are created by humans and not foxes or other predators.

nigel · Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 4:06 pm Post subject:

I agree humans have altered the natural balance as far as foxes are concerned. We have well meaning animal loving locals who feed them and their cubs. This just means more survive than would normally and food becomes more scarce. They soon hunt out their range and start looking at other sources. Usually peoples poultry.

I respect foxes, but when they threaten my poultry then they become targets.

summayah · Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 4289 Location: luton

I agree with Nigel. I had nothing against them until I came down one morning to find one rampaging in the girls run. He killed three directly or indirectly ~ one poor soul died from shock, hidden in a corner of the run! Now if I could I would not hesitate if one came close to them again.

Julian · Joined: 26 Oct 2005 Posts: 16

Thank you for sharing your views and opinions on foxes. Here are a few of mine.

The fox, like all creatures has her place in the scheme of things. Like all creatures she has my admiration. What saddens me is how some species suffer disproportionately at the hands of humans, simply because they find themselves in an unbalanced situation and/or they compete for the same resources. The urban fox is more a scavenger than hunter - indeed many know only a diet of burgers, chips and takeaways - is no more a moral animal than her rural sister and will use whatever wiles she can to feed herself and her family. The truly wild rural fox's diet comprises mostly earthworms, beetles, mice and the odd rabbit [although in some areas the regular appearance of myxomatosis limits the number of rabbits they can catch].

It's interesting how people will ascribe human attributes to animals giving them license to behave in a cruel fashion to one and not another. For example, the routine poisoning of rats. It is legal and deemed morally acceptable to inflict a slow and agonising death on one intelligent, sentient being but is not an acceptable method of euthanasia in another species.

Some gamekeepers and farmers I know, say, "The only good fox is a dead fox", and feel no shame about using illegal methods to kill them - poisoning them through doctored sheep carcasses left out in the open. Instances like this have come to light when local cats, crows and rooks have suddenly started dying in numbers. In one case close to where I live, scores of corvids were found dead on the edge of a wood - they were found to have been poisoned by someone trying to kill a fox.

Thankfully, I also know enlightened farmers and hill-shepherds [my wife's side of the family] who, in a lifetime of farming have not experienced foxes taking lambs or chickens.

Of course it is disturbing and upsetting if one of our domestic animals is killed by a wild animal but there are many precautions we can take to minimise the chances of this happening. To vilify and demonise one particular animal won't help.

I despise guns. The image of a gun-toting human blasting at arbitrary targets in nature is not to my taste. What is even worse is an untrained gunman using a low-powered firearm in anger. I learnt some years ago not to impose my egocentric ideas of order on a natural system I can never hope to understand and know that I have no right whatever, to stand in judgement over any aspect of God's creation.