Townies... not a clue. The neighbours who are feeding the cute fuzzy orange puppies or not securing their rubbish are the main cause of the problem, along with the anti-social bastards that think it's OK to throw their half-eaten kebab on the ground. Any animal is only in a place because of what is there. Remove the incentive, the problem will go too. Everyone thinks a cat is the solution to a rat problem - this is only believed by those who don't know what they're talking about or have an exceptional cat. A cat will kill one rat and disappear with it. A terrier will kill all the rats for the sheer fun of the chase... a fox has the same mindset. He will get in the hen-house, kill them all and disappear with a single carcass. He'll wipe out an entire roost in a single visit for the joy of killing. Foxy's gotta go. For town foxes, the solution is to clean up our act, for country foxes it's to shoot them.
Admittedly it is tricky to let foxy "have it" with your .243 in a town garden (as well as most likely illegal and triggering a visit) but it is the most humane and effective method - those of you who have considered gassing or poisoning need a beating. This is the most horrendous way to dispose of a living creature and much as I am out to do a job, I do not agree with making the quarry suffer un-necessarily. Consider hunting with dogs, it is more about the people in the chase, but when the hounds catch the fox (and most times he gets away) he is dispatched in seconds... I agree it isn't pleasant (despite matching the foxes mindset - he is a predator after all) and I am not a fan of these horrific toffs that do it for the blood, but it is quick... not the lingering, painful, sickly death of a gassing or poisoning. The quickest method is a .243 to the head or chest. This causes catastrophic damage and the fox is dead in seconds (if not instantly), although pure adrenaline may see him run 20 meters.
A free-range egg farm near me was getting daylight raids and asked for help - the mark of a desperate fox. The neighbouring farm was also having problems. A bit of research and out on the hunt. We "offed" 8 foxes in 5 weeks in that area with another 2 on the list! That's ten foxes in about 4 square miles - there is no way that area can support that many without help - The foxes were breeding out of control and all of them living just above starvation hence the desperation and the problem, all because some silly old woman puts food out for them each night. Think of the damage 10 foxes in 4 square miles were doing to the naturally occurring wildlife - it was a desert! Now maybe some leverets will make it this year.
I don't care what anyone says, shooting done properly IS conservation. I have seen it with my own eyes. You might get weepy about it and I must say I don't get a kick out of the kill (it always leaves me feeling a bit guilty actually) but nature is nasty and when we f**k with it, we have to f**k with it some more to put it right.
let the slagging commence.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
