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Need more Foxes

The Boogie Man

The Boogie Man

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The title may make people think I've finally lost the plot, but bear with me. The Countryside around me has a very large population of Rabbits and they cause an awful amount of damage, even as I speak most of the fields have semi circles of damage where the Rabbits come out the hedge rows that enclose the fields to eat. It is getting worse year by year as the foxes migrate to the city to find easier food. I have not seen a Fox in ages around the farms but see them regularly in the City. But you can't blame Foxes for taking an easy meal instead of hunting Bunnies.
 
Yup Boogieman, you've definitely lost the plot. ;)

We have some charity fox cuddlers who release dirty bin diving city foxes from Birmingham and Bristol in the Wye valley and they simply starve in the wild or get shot while bin diving or chicken raiding in the first few days. It doesn't work out well for them and is in my opinion much crueler then putting them down humanely.

The natural fox population in our area is pretty much self regulating by the amount of available food. I only have to shoot them when they're around my house after my hens. Country foxes wouldn't come near a dwelling unless they were truly desperate.
Contrary to popular belief foxes are much more likely to live on a diet of voles, invertebrates and carrion then catch bunnies on a regular basis.
 
Mite have to look past foxes and reintroduce Lynx back to the uk and help the existing wild cat back to the desired numbers. Fox are opportunistic hunters at best and will always take the easy meal so imo increasing there numbers alone would have little affect We should be looking at lynx,wildcat,raptors particularly hawks.
 
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We have red kites, buzzards, sparrow Hawks and peregrine falcons. A good population of tawny and little owls, foxes badgers, magpies, jays, crows etc. The balance seems to be good here for the moment.
 
Ystranc said:
We have red kites, buzzards, sparrow Hawks and peregrine falcons. A good population of tawny and little owls, foxes badgers, magpies, jays, crows etc. The balance seems to be good here for the moment.
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Don't even start me off about Roe Deer, you can't plant a Tree around here unless it's protected by mine fields a laser turrets:mad:
 
Had a large deer die in my wood a few months ago. It was stripped to a bare carcass in a matter of days. .
We have plenty of Red Kites and Buzzards flying around as well as the usual four legged scavengers.
Very impressive how quick it happened.
Clive
 
Ark79 said:
Mite have to look past foxes and reintroduce Lynx back to the uk and help the existing wild cat back to the desired numbers. Fox are opportunistic hunters at best and will always take the easy meal so imo increasing there numbers alone would have little affect We should be looking at lynx,wildcat,raptors particularly hawks.
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Good point, attracting Rabbit based predators is the way to go and I think the easiest and most practical would be larger Birds of prey. The largest we have around here are Marsh Harriers, they feed off small rodents and I don't think they have the mass to take down Rabbits. Buzzards and Kites, I'm not sure if they are active hunters rather than scavengers, may be wrong. Like ARK said what we need are larger members of the Hawk family. OMG:eek::eek::eek::eek: Lynx & Wildcat the farmers would pop a blood vessel lol, I can hear Ystranc gnashing his teeth:). Maybe I should take up Falconry----huzzzah:)
 
True :rofl: I felt @Ystranc throw a metaphorical shoe at me when I mentioned the lynx and wild cat:rofl::rofl::rofl: sorry mate:snigger::thumbsup::D

Totally understandable that these kind of animals would affect the farming community. Possibly small numbers and a manageable system to keep it that way could be the way forward. A would like to see all animals returned to the uk that was here before. Wolfs, large’is cats but that’s the dreamer in me. Use to think “what’s the harm” but now I see the practical side to it also. And we as a country may have overpassed the opportunity to reintroduce these animals. It would be a total reorganisation of the way people farm.

A could rabble all day about this:D I won’t!:lol: @The Boogie Man a think birds of prey rather than foxes mate lol.
 
Another key predator group would be the polecats, weasels, mink etc all capable of clearing warrens and killing the rabbit kitts. I know for a fact that we get polecats and mink...
There is a guy out in West Wales running a wolf sanctuary but they're going to remain penned for the foreseeable future. (Game of thrones has a lot to answer for in my opinion)
 
I hope anyone's not serious about encouraging mink?:eek:

Lynx, wildcat, wolves, raptors yes!!! And I'm an ex livestock farmer...............
 
Ystranc said:
It might help if they raised the limit on air rifles up to 15fpe in line with France and encouraged responsible hunting in the UK rather then vilify it as cruel.
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"Responsible hunting" Thats the key issue and one the public dont necessarily seem to grasp.
As a land owner I have a legal responsibility to protect the countryside. I have several times the legal responsibilities of a house owner.
I have to by law keep control of pests such as deer ,squirrels and various other animals. (As well as invasive plants etc)
In my case especially Deer as the Government states that they are the biggest threat to ancient woodland. This means if I don't want to shoot them I end up fencing off large areas which is not always practical, is very expensive, impedes movement of other animals and I then start get complaints from ramblers. So only other option for keeping control of the numbers means shooting.
Now here is the ironic part. I don't like guns (personal reasons) but my legal responsibilities mean I must put aside any personal feelings I may have and let the local game keeper do his job.
The other thing I have found is that despite being "pests" a lot of land owners (myself included) don't actually want to see totally eradicated of these animals just the numbers controlled.
Clive
 
It would be interesting to know which Wildlife you consider to do the most "damage" in your areas. Here's my list.
1 Rabbits & Deer, this is tied as I can't decide on which causes most damage, physical and monetary. Rabbit damage is immediate and has an effect on the harvest weight, Deer damage is just as devastating on young trees, but also has a longer term affect on the monetary value of Woodland, and Wood doesn't grow on trees anymore it's bloody expensive.:(

2 Rats---nowt needs to be said about these, the greatest spreaders of disease and illness.:mad::mad::mad::mad:. In my book the greatest use a 12ft lbs Air Rifle can be put to:ninja:

Woodpigeons are not so much of a problem, for some reason we don't seem to get the big flocks like down South.

Squirrels have caused some expensive damage but they are not present in huge numbers.

Corvids are perennial and Crooks.

Starlings!!!!----oh yes these buggers group into huge flocks come Autumn and cover everything in their droppings, feed grain can't be left unprotected as it will be peppered with manure. They gorge on the abundant Elderberries and consequently their Scat is bright Red.
 
Starlings still have statutory protection whether one feels they should or not?

If I can't eat it, I don't shoot it...................(except rats, and grey squirrels, but have eaten the latter and it is good)

People should be encouraged to eat "wild " meat more though, such as venison, and especially Muntjac. Delicious...............
 
I am relatively new to land ownership but as the land is not used for being self sufficient nor does it need to supply an income. Any problems I encounter are more an inconvenience than serious . As my land is purely woodland, Broadleaf with a few acres of new conifer plantation its all well established so fairly resilient. Ash die back is visible on a couple of ash I have. The biggest threat to the trees is probably me having to start thinning them out.
As pests go the deer and rabbits have a nibble of young growth but nothing to serious. After the thinning and I have to replant young saplings they will be a bigger issue. There are a few squirrels about but rarely seen and only seem to cause minimal damage.
My wood forms part of a big estate who make their money from shooting so in general things seem to be kept under control by the keepers.
The pest that causes the most damage ironically is Human. Horse riders use one of the footpaths (not bridleway) and plough it up so its impossible to walk on. Some bloke thinks its OK to ride his motorbike through the wood churning up the floor and damaging the flora. I have had to put up fencing to stop that. Although when he happened to spot the land owner who was carrying his large axe a the time he sped off and has not been seen for awhile.
Ramblers not following maps and creating new paths which they then argue they have a right to use.
Youths drinking beer in the entrance to the wood and not taking the rubbish away. The list goes on.
A few animals that have been there longer than me and don't cause too much trouble I can live with.
Clive
 
Excellent post...... I think I can spot vermin to shoot and yet not be eaten????

(And I ride a motorbike and horses............)
 
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