Foxes removal

[dpearce4]

Seeing the funny comments about this type of animal on another thread I would like to put my head about the parapet and ask.

Whats the best way to remove them in a town environment. there is a particular one that is trying to kill my chickens. it is actually trying to rip the wood apart on the chicken run frames to get to my chickens. Actually saw him doing it. and as I have 15 chickens I really don't want him in the house.

 

[alldigging]

There's an interesting leaflet here

http://www.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/foxes-pest-control-advice-sheet.pdf


Fox repellents
http://foxrepellentexpert.com/top-10-best-effective-fox-repellents/

 

[dpearce4]

have been told male human pee works. is this true?

 

[snelgrove]

have been told male human pee works. is this true?

there was a clip on river cottage where Mr whitingstall placed human urine around his hen pen, so I suppose it must work

 

[Fatbee]

Sadly once they get the taste very little will stop them. Shooting is most humane way (as long as you are a good shot) but very tricky in urban areas. You could get a trap and then arrange for somebody to dispose of it (release live in to countryside if you're squeamish)

 

[MartinL]

there was a clip on river cottage where Mr whitingstall placed human urine around his hen pen, so I suppose it must work

Jasper Carrot had the similar advice with regard to moles!

A dead fox poses no problem, this time of year you shouldn't leave and cubs to starve either. Once it knows they're in there it will be persistent and kill them all in the frenzy when it finally gets in.

 

[MartinL]

Sadly once they get the taste very little will stop them. Shooting is most humane way (as long as you are a good shot) but very tricky in urban areas. You could get a trap and then arrange for somebody to dispose of it (release live in to countryside if you're squeamish)

If you're going to release it best to get it checked out by a vet, for mange etc .

You could, (inadvertently) be spreading disease.

Along with really p155ing off the local poultry farmer/gamekeepers.

 

[Fatbee]

Mange is endemic in foxes and one more will make no difference because there are stacks and stacks of them. This was the squeamish option. Mine would be a bit more clinical but not all are comfortable will the kill option
Plus said gamekeeper will soon sort out any pesky fox to his birds

 

[Erichalfbee]

I used to use a Foxwatch when my hen house was in a neighbour's field;seemed to work.
You could call the RSPCA who would relocate it to the countryside where it would starve to death.

 

[madasafish]

We trap with baited traps and then shoot..

Clever things foxes, IF you trap and release they appear to teach others to avoid traps.. so you are screwed.

 

[Millet]

Snare it and cave its head in with a hard blow with something heavy or shoot it.
Live catch traps can be effective if other food sources are scarce or hard to obtain, the best thing you can do with a live trap to better your chances is cover the roof and both sides leaving the back and front open so they can see straight through, stick a dead chicken or whatever they are eating in the back behind the trigger plate, tie it down though as they can pull the food through the back with there feet and nibble bits off through the mesh, before you bait the trap pluck a few hand full of feathers from the dead chook (if you use a chook which is one of the best baits) and scatter them in the entrance of the trap and outside the entrance.
Good luck.

Ps human pee is a old wife's tale, just like putting moth balls in mole tunnels etc .

 

[Itchy]

Trap and release is questionable under animal welfare law

 

[dpearce4]

Trap and release is questionable under animal welfare law

might be questionable but there are London boroughs that do just that releasing them in the sussex and kent countryside.

part of the problem I have here is that the housing strip is maybe 500m wide between sea and countryside so difficult do decide what to do about the buggers. I'm happy for them to be exterminated. but I have daft neighbours that seem to think all wildlife needs to be fed including seagulls which cause problems as they now attack my chickens when I put scraps out for them. and will attack us and other households when we try and use our garden when they are nesting.

I would happily shoot them if I had a gun but don't.

 

[The Drone Ranger]

Hi first let me say we had 42 chickens free range till a fox took an interest

Now we have 3 in a very secure run and strong house

If your run is not enormous dpearse4 I would go for 2 or 3 electric tapes on the plastic poles although its not cheap to do
+ a Solar charged LED Pir floodlight Lidl and Aldi have them from time to time

Playing a radio is supposed to deter and red winking lights

The main protection is to make the chicken house impregnable because once the door is prised open its curtains

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

there was a clip on river cottage where Mr whitingstall placed human urine around his hen pen, so I suppose it must work

That was human hair if I recall tied up in bits of stocking and fixed to the fences.

 

[Millet]

Hi first let me say we had 42 chickens free range till a fox took an interest

Now we have 3 in a very secure run and strong house

If your run is not enormous dpearse4 I would go for 2 or 3 electric tapes on the plastic poles although its not cheap to do
+ a Solar charged LED Pir floodlight Lidl and Aldi have them from time to time

Playing a radio is supposed to deter and red winking lights

The main protection is to make the chicken house impregnable because once the door is prised open its curtains

That is the only thing that will work, every thing else will not.
if there's a food source and foxes, i know what will happen, the foxes will deplete the food source and move on, end the situation and kill them. Problem solved.

 

[Millet]

Trap and release is questionable under animal welfare law

For some reason the Arse spca have there own rules, once trapped, a vermin species should not be released back into the wild, but them cranks do it all day long aswell as kill peoples much loved pets in there care.
RSPCA are pure scum and i definitely would not use my urine on them if they where on fire.

 

[Millet]

might be questionable but there are London boroughs that do just that releasing them in the sussex and kent countryside.

part of the problem I have here is that the housing strip is maybe 500m wide between sea and countryside so difficult do decide what to do about the buggers. I'm happy for them to be exterminated. but I have daft neighbours that seem to think all wildlife needs to be fed including seagulls which cause problems as they now attack my chickens when I put scraps out for them. and will attack us and other households when we try and use our garden when they are nesting.

I would happily shoot them if I had a gun but don't.

Bicarbonate soda (baking powder) works wonders with seagulls, they go away and feed else where for some reason, basically disappear .

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

once trapped, a vermin species should not be released back into the wild,

True - unfortunately a fox is not classed as a vermin species in law therefore can be released (I checked a few years ago)

Daft though - they release them by the truckload on the mountain behind us, they have no idea how to survive in the wild, cause havoc with the lambs and most are mange riddled - one year they became a real nuisance moving down the mountain almost like a pack every evening (You could hear the dogs going bonkers as they passed by) then causing chaos with bins etc in the populated areas - I used to sit in the dining rook with the upstairs light on watching them pop through the hedge at the bottom of the garden, mooch around the lawn then exit near the dog kennel at the top over a dozen every night and my spaniels used to go mad. Finally sorted them with a silenced .22 - a couple only had three legs - the other one obviously surgically removed.
A few years later we were hunting over the other side of the mountain and we heard one of the guns taking shot after shot - we thought he'd gone bonkers. He finally came huffing and puffing over the fields shouting 'Next time the RSPCA decide to re-stock they'd better let me know so I can take a loader and spare shells' apparently the foxes were just running around him aimlessly and he just picked them off one by one.

 

[Mrs Shoot]

A friend had one after her chickens. It killed 2 when she scared it off. Luckily she had a humane trap. Popped one of the deceased chickens in as bait. Less than half an hour, foxy was in the trap. We went over with the rifle. It was skin and bone, covered head to toe in mange. Just sat there and looked at us with pitiful eyes. Was quickly dispatched.

When I was a child (many moons ago) we had a spate of finding dead foxes covered in mange in the hay bales. Presume they had gone in there to try and keep warm as they must have been very week and poorly, and just gone to sleep not to wake up again.