Need help with an urban fox hunting our chickens.?
Image by Philip Ferrato
Question by BK: Need help with an urban fox hunting our chickens.?
We live in the burbs and bought 5 hens a year ago. Up until March of this year we have had no problems, but we now have a fox that knows the chickens are there and even comes late in the morning well after sunrise and early in the evening before the sun has even thought about setting. It has killed 3 out of the 5 hens so far and one of the two that are left has a broken foot from the attack just today. We have been trying to lock them up in time at night so he cant get to them, but sometimes we aren’t fast enough. The coop is good. I built it strong, so no worries there. We have called animal control and have had no help. It also kind of worries us because of our kids and the neighbor kids that live around us all playing outside with this thing coming in broad daylight and it has no fear. The first attack it killed one of the hens and still tried to get around my wife and I to get at the rest while we were rounding them up. I built a home made crossbow, but that is going to take a close and accurate shot to down the thing since discharging a .22 or anything bigger would bring the cops a knocking. I was just wondering if anyone knew of anything else we could try to ward it off. We thought about getting a rooster, but we don’t know how effective it will be, plus it might piss off the neighbors. Any suggestions would be awesome. Thanks!
Feel free to answer in the comment section below
4 Responses to Need help with an urban fox hunting our chickens.?
Leave a Reply
go to a hunting shop or outdoor center and get some sent urine of a bigger predator like mountain lion piss…it might scare the fox off
Spades Of Columbia
November 8, 2011 at 10:48 pm
Have you considered contacting your local DNR office to see if they can recommend any trappers who do nuisance/predator work? If they have those you might be able to get someone to trap the fox with either a leghold/body grip trap (or if you’re squeamish about it a box trap).
J Kirsch
November 8, 2011 at 11:45 pm
Kirsch gets my ditto. Our local animal control people lend out box traps free for the asking, though the supply is limited.
John de Witt
November 9, 2011 at 12:12 am
I am a long time Alaskan trapper.
Your only choice is to trap this fox. Most states have trapping seasons that are in the middle of winter – so you cannot trap this with a traditional leg hold or snare that may harm or injure it. These are also unwise in a urban area since it can catch stray cats and dogs.
You need a hav-a-heart trap. A big one. To lure the fox in, put some leftover fried chicken pieces/remains/bones inside and leave a few tasty treats outside the trap. Fox will fall over themselves to get to a small piece of any food that is fried or smoked. Especially if they have had a taste of it. Don’t be stingy.
You will need some wax paper to polish up the contact surfaces on the trap mechanism – polish the rod and the little circles that hold it with wax paper a few minutes. This will make it more responsive. You don’t want to set it so the rod is just ready to drop, since the trap will close if the fox bumps it while entering if set hair trigger! If this happens, you will probably not be able to get it to fall for the trap a second time.
Most states have laws preventing your from relocating nuisance animals. So, take it to animal control, or, fish and game. However, if they notice it is a nursing mother – that means it has little ‘kits’ in a den somewhere, they will probably ask you to take it back home an set it free. Your problem fox sounds like a male.
To remove Mr. Fox from the trap – take a standard broom stick and put an eye hood on the very end, and a few eye hooks down the stick to half way. Tie a very thin wire to the top, make a loop, and thread it back through the rest and form a small loop to pull with. This a catch stick. Talk to the fox in a gentle voice as you tip the trap on the end, loop it around the fox’s head, and slowly remove it. Once out and hanging by it’s head you can grab it by the hind legs and invert it. Fox have an amaizing neck muscle structure that allows them to pull prey from holes – it seems bad – but it will not be hurt. Remove the wire noose. Fox lack the stomach muscle structure to do sit ups – it is not able to bite you. You can then put it in a pet carrier or you can can let it loose by gently letting the front paws down and slowly letting the back legs go. Don’t be surprised if it does not run away at first. I’ve handled hundreds of fox in this manner – never had one growl at me, never had one try to bite. I’ve had some that stuck with me for up to 20 minutes before finally walking off.
However, while free in a pet carrier or the trap – do not do anything that will let it get hold of your fingers, even if you have tough gloves.
If you need to kill it – once you have it’s head in the noose – simply stand on it’s chest for 4-6 minutes. Important – immediatly insert the carcass in a plastic bag and push all the air out and tie a knot! Fox have a unique brain mechanism that allows the lungs to ‘jump start’ after several minutes of not breathing. In a bag with no air it will stay dead. In a box or a bucket it will come back to life – not cool if it happens in your car while you are driving……I know this from experience. Suffication is way much quicker and humane than shooting it.
Do not save the hide unless animal control or fish and game says it’s ok since a good tanner can tell if the hide was taken during the spring/summer or the normal winter season. A reputable tannery will report such a hide coming from a non-ranch customer.
Hope this helps.
Glacierwolf
November 9, 2011 at 12:44 am