Foxes. Love or hate?

Love em ......been feeding them everynight for years in the garden.......i've been lucky so far seen as i keep chickens....only once i have i seen them staring at my chooks so i went out and told him straight....."touch my chickens and no more sausage rolls" ....he even looked like he was taking notice,must have been

 

No Rosa, no foxes even though they might be good swimmers. We don't have squirrels or snakes either. We have Wallaby's though, honest!

 

Wow Sheal.....Wallabys

 

Yes Loli, they escaped from the local wildlife park many years ago and have been breeding in the wild since. They're very elusive but I have seen one on my travels. We also have wild goats.

 

I expect that I might upset a few on here but afraid I'm in the anti camp because I have seen with my own eyes what foxes can and will do.I am an animal lover both domestic and wildlife except for foxes and rats., which while 1 species may look more "cuddly" than the other, both cause considerable problems. Until I lived in the country I didn't really understand why foxes were considered vermin, I do now.1 example of why my attitude changed. A neighbour who had many varieties of fowl including some quite rare varieties of chickens and duck had a visit from "charlie" despite strong defences against vermin. A fox had dug under the high fence and got into the barn where the birds roosted at night. Had the fox killed and eaten 1 bird, well maybe fair enough but it had nipped the heads of over 75 birds and eaten nothing as far as could be ascertained.The fox returned 2 nights later and was shot by the owner of the birds. The owner is a true animal lover and runs a huge cat sanctuary for over 200 discarded/unwanted cats but had no hesitation in killing the fox. I currently have 4 deer wintering around my garden area who are tucking into many of my plants, while I could see them far enough I wouldn't dream of asking the local farmer to shoot them,however if I had resident foxes I'm afraid I would take steps to get rid of them.

 

Only see the odd one or two here here and then mainly out on the countryside roads. But if they eat eat cats and don't mess on my garden I'll put my name down for a couple

 

I love foxes although I am aware that they are trouble in the cities but then they are supposed to be hunting in the forest in the wild......

 

Is that legal?

I personally sit on the fence with my opinion on them. We should encourage all wildlife into our gardens but there will always be one who isn't as welcomed as others would be.

 

With out foxs, crows and magpies who is going to clean up the dead animals that died in the cold snap, we must have a balance in the wildlife, remember the ploblems with foot and mouth

 

To answer the question, yes it is legal to shoot foxes. It is only illegal to hunt foxes with dogs. Despite my dislike of foxes I abhor the common practise of both trapping and poisoning of foxes, a well aimed bullet is quick, the alternative methods are not.

 

They carry out full scale massacres in rural situations too - believe me!

It's all our fault ofcourse...by breeding birds that find it impossible to escape, then sticking them in a confined place, (however large) where they remain for a fox to sit and watch and work out a strategy!
Then, when they do jump into the field, they can't seem to resist killing as many birds as possible. Sometimes, if undisturbed, they take one away and come back once or twice more...we've found bodies scattered over quite long distances.

Trouble is, just because I can understand that it's just the fox's natural behaviour kicking in, I still can't stand to see them anywhere near the poultry.

We once ended up keeping a big black turkey stag....he was far too big for the local farm shop to want. He bacame a pet, making lovely gobble gobble noises around the farmyard. He was a monster bird, way bigger than the children who were toddlers at the time!

One winter afternoon, I came home to find Turk dead in the yard along with three dead hens. Three further hens were missing, we found one about 20 yards away and some feathers a little further on. Such a shame.

 

That's so sad.....

 

I'm firmly in the anti camp - seen the wanton slaughter too many times I'm afraid. My Gramp used to shoot 'em on sight!

 

To be fair to the fox (especially when it happens in the hen house), there are other culprits.