[exmoorlady]

My special little pekin bantam Cockerel George was taken last night dont know whether it was the fox or a buzzard we have loads of them here. He has sired about 25 chicks this year so we can replace him but he was special I have had him for 4 years and he was areal little pet. His girls seem like lost souls without him.

[jameslindsay]

Sorry to hear that and yes your girls will miss him. When I just started keeping the 2 ducks and 1 died after being together for 11 years,  the other would not eat and was just pining away. A few days later we bought him a new mate (or we were sure he would die too) and literally within minutes of introduction he was away eating and back to normal.

I hope you suffer no more loss.

[exmoorlady]

Thanks James. I hope you have your fox problem sorted now.
sharon

[The Relic]

did you have a wander around to see if u could find any clumps of feathers indicating where the attack may have taken place. you never know you may even find a body.

[jameslindsay]

Hi Sharon

Did you manage to find anything and have you lost anything else?

None of our fox family have been seen since Monday night but I am still keeping the hens and ducks in their enclosures and not out on the river/land. Hopefully tomorrow night will see the end to our fox family and we can get back to normality, every time we go out we wonder what we will find. The ducks have not been laying as well the last week either but I got a better supply this morning from them and the geese are back on the water as much as they used to be too. We lock the geese up at  night and they did waken me during the night making a noise so god knows what caused that?

I hope you suffer no more loss.

James

[smiffy]

Hi James and sharon
i have just been cross country to my dads to pick up a live fox trap

we were stood with some friends yesterday afternoon, chewing the cud, (4 adults 2 kids and a dog) and a young fox appeared from the back of one of our hen houses. Darn thing wasnt at all intimidated about the number of humans, till we chased it!!!Hopefully it will be caught tomorrow, fortunatly didnt get anything this time!

[jameslindsay]

The bleedin fox eh? We have 2 on our land that we know of but there are massive holes dug right down the back of our land so who knows what's down them! Our game keeper came on Monday but didn't see any and promised to come back on Friday. He didn't and I am so mad 'cos my animals are not as safe as they should be. I just wish people would not make false promises, don't know who to turn to for help now. I hope you catch your blighters soon.

[smiffy]

The live fox trap is the way to go. They are about £70. Or if you ask about you may find someone local who will lend you one.

Just bait it with something dead and the fox cant resist.

My dad caught 10 in a fortnight two years ago, the RSPCA had been catching urban foxes and releasing them on the moors, the poor things were starving to death, unburn foxes should not be released in the countryside, they just cant survive.

[jameslindsay]

Hope this isn't a silly question but what do you do with the ones you catch?

[The Relic]

i suppose it depend on who catches them. i agree with smiffy urban foxes probably have little chance of survival if re released into the "wild" as lunch doesnt come much easier than a rummage in the bins.

[carl]

I think that you have to kill foxes caught alive, in a humane way. If youre not prepared to kill them or let someone else do it for you, then don't bother catching them, just keep them out.
harsh, but fair.

[Roxy]

We are over run with foxes.  I know there is a vixen who has cubs every year on the old railway sidings, which is now unused, backing onto our fields, and there is definitely foxes on my hill fields too.  Fox cubs regularly sunbathe in the afternoons in the field next to my hens.  We used to have a man come on shooting, he had a very good dog which hunted them out.  Sadly dog has now long gone, and man is probably well in his sixties, so not as agile as he was.

The thing I liked about him was that he was out every night until the fox problem was sorted.  And he was a very good shot. In the unlikely event he did not kill the fox, he would follow it and finish it off, and assured me of this.  I would not like to think of one being shot and not killed outright, being the softie I am.

The problem we have is that some people nearby feed the foxes, and they come right up to their house and are tame.  That is why they are out in our fields and I nearly trip over them, they have no fear of humans.  Young foxes are out in the day time now, and they are very bold, a very worrying time for hen owners.

[exmoorlady]

Sad to say we have lost more chickens. All the bantams went plus two welsomers. All the chickens are shut away now and we have put out bait tied to string in the hope of enticing the fox in. If we catch it we will shoot it.
All the chickens were taken during the daY when we were about. We actually caught the fox in the act and set the dogs  on it but they didn't catch it. The chicken it caught was still alive but died of shock. I am afraid its war now!!!
We have been into the woods and looked for feathers (lavender pekin feather should be easy to see) but found no signs.