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Fox Dilemmas~Please Help!

Jackthepippa

Jackthepippa

New Kit
Hi everyone,
I am new to this group but not new to the long eared folk!
However, in recent years I have become more despondent in trying to prevent fox attacks. We have a particularly nasty beast around and his latest antic was to prize open a BOLTED panel and somehow extract the rabbit yet still leaving hutch and bolts intact! I was convinced the rabbit had been stolen until next morning and the grim discovery of blood and fur on the cage door!
I've tried Foxwatch the sonic repellent and scoot the scent crystals. The so-called fox proof wire seems to give the fox an opportunity to get a purchase on the panel and rip it out!
So any useful tips or sources of help would be much appreciated. We have a large garden and although I keep the rabbits in at night they can't even enjoy a run in a 'secure pen' in daylight hours!
BTW I don't have such issues with guinea pigs!
Bye for now,
Jackie
 
Jackthepippa said:
I've tried Foxwatch the sonic repellent and scoot the scent crystals. The so-called fox proof wire seems to give the fox an opportunity to get a purchase on the panel and rip it out!
Click to expand...

<can open, worms everywhere>

You need a man, or a woman, with a shotgun.

Sooner or later a number of forum regulars are going to pop up and tell you, rightly, that you cannot deter a determined fox. Wrongly, they will tell you that something somewhere will work and that if it doesn't you'll just have to live with having your rabbits killed one by one.

There is a solution, even though some people have hysterics at the mention of it. It's someone with a shotgun.

</can open, worms everywhere>
 
Fox dilemmas please help!

I,m afraid that you will NOt be able to stop the fox attacking and killing your rabbits:cry:that,s what they do:evil:
I can only suggest that you move your bunnies either indoors or get a shed for them to live in:)
Having done battle with the gorgeous creatures (not) for many years and also having had to severely restrict the freedom that my bunnies were used to having because of them i knowe how frustrating it is :cry:you have my sympathies BUT please don,t take chances with any more of your bunnies as the nasty old fox will be back tonight:cry:tommorrow and every day until they are all gone:evil:
 
The trouble with foxes are they are very sly and will/can get into things you think they can not.

I agree and many others on here will not(but freedom of speech etc and our own opinions) that you may need to find a friendly gamekeeper,that will have a shotgun or may even have a humane trap(cage)that the fox could be caught in and then removed to another location.

Foxes are a devil as they not only kill to eat,they tend to kill everything in one cage/pen and then just take what they need.:(
 
Have you investigated electric wire? - it is set low down on the outside of the pen - the theory being that the fox will test it with his nose, get a shock and run off never to return. If he is particularly sly then 2 sets, one higher up could help.
Also plastic spikes that go on the top of fences so that he can't land on top of anything.
I have tried neither of these but have looked at them - we have a big prob with foxes here - as you can see by my sig. :(

Good luck in your endeavours.
 
AnyBunny said:
<can open, worms everywhere>

You need a man, or a woman, with a shotgun.

Sooner or later a number of forum regulars are going to pop up and tell you, rightly, that you cannot deter a determined fox. Wrongly, they will tell you that something somewhere will work and that if it doesn't you'll just have to live with having your rabbits killed one by one.

There is a solution, even though some people have hysterics at the mention of it. It's someone with a shotgun.

</can open, worms everywhere>
Click to expand...

But it's not really a solution - kill one fox and another one will be along in due course to take over its territory. Do you just want to lull the OP into a false sense of security by claiming that killing one single fox will be the end of the problem?

No hysterics from me though. :p
 
KarenM said:
But it's not really a solution - kill one fox and another one will be along in due course to take over its territory. Do you just want to lull the OP into a false sense of security by claiming that killing one single fox will be the end of the problem?
Click to expand...

I'm not for a moment suggesting that killing one fox means never having another one. That's obviously unrealistic. But killing one fox after another is better than one fox killing your rabbits one after another. Bits of fox everywhere is better than bits of bunny everywhere.

In fact, I'm of the view that keeping outdoor rabbits in a secure shed is the most practical option, even though as long as there's a fox about you (generic you) shouldn't allow unsupervised or unwatched rabbits access to an external run.
 
KarenM said:
But it's not really a solution - kill one fox and another one will be along in due course to take over its territory. Do you just want to lull the OP into a false sense of security by claiming that killing one single fox will be the end of the problem?

No hysterics from me though. :p
Click to expand...

Thanks Karen, you just saved me the trouble of saying that! Even if all local foxes were wiped out, cats would still be an issue. I think a more secure run is the answer here, perhaps attached to a shed.
 
The best piece of advice I can give is to invest in good quality housing.

A strong hutch or playhouse inside a secure aviary would be ideal...that way a fox has 2 barriers to overcome to get to your rabbits.

This company make extremely strong hutches: http://www.rehutches.com/index.htm

aviary panels: http://www.westhagleyaviaries.co.uk/

Make sure you replace existing door catches with strong bolts top and bottom of the doors.

We have foxes around here (in fact I saw one in the yard last night), but they know they can't get into the hutches, so they don't bother risking injury or wasting their energy.
 
electric wires and/or electric fencing.

Preferably all round the runs at about 9 inches off the ground and 3 inches off the ground, and then also over the top of the run (presuming they are in aviary style runs with roofs). If at all possible run the wires off the mains.

Fox gets a shock when it either noses around or tries walking ver top of runs. After a few shocks the fox learns and gives the whole place a wide berth - at least ours do!±!±
 
If you shoot the fox another one will have moved into that patch within the week. Every fox in that area knows where every rabbit hutch is located, and when you remove the current holder of the territory which the garden is found in, obviously another is going to move in. So unless you want to hire someone to lurk and shoot each newly arrived fox, then I'd look into ways suggested by non-shooty people. :)
 
AnyBunny said:
But killing one fox after another is better than one fox killing your rabbits one after another. Bits of fox everywhere is better than bits of bunny everywhere.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, well that's something we'll have to agree to differ about then. Bits of any animal all over the garden is a sad waste of life. :(

You've even said yourself that you think secure housing is the most practical option -so why keep suggesting foxes should be shot?

You never know when a new fox is going to turn up so, unless you intend to man a window armed with a shotgun for 24 hrs a day, hutch security will still need to be tightened 'just in case'. In which case, you won't need the gun as the hutch would then be secure.
 
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Definatley more secure housing. Solid wood, heavy grille (rather than wire), heavy duty hinges and locks,electric wire if you can (my husband won't have it 'cos of the children), sensor lights (won't deter the fox but will alert you to a presence), dawn and dusk are extra danger times so if buns can be shut away then its better. I found chasing ours off with a swingball bat in my nightie at 3am in the morning kept him away for a bit (didn't see much of the neighbours for a while either!). Try getting a friend or neighbours entire male dog to pee around the garden regularly!

We have GP's too and have on one occasion - while we were between rabbits - woken to find the fox scratching at their cover, (after many years of rabbit/GP ownership we are light sleepers!).
 
Farmers sometimes take carcases and lace them with emetics (drugs that make the fox puke) and leave them near the livestock. The fox eats it as it's easy to get to and throws up. After one or more episodes it associates meat in that area with being bad and doesn't come back.

I don't know how practical, ethical or effective that is but it's just something I've heard.
 
Ive seen time and time again the damage foxes do and those images still haunt me.

I dont want to be attacked by anyone for my opinion, but where i live foxes are controlled by shooting them, it keeps them afraid and less likely to come near us humans. However urban foxes seem much worse, they just are far too confident and have no fear. I say have an expert shoot it.

Just my personal opinion.
 
KarenM said:
Hmmm, well that's something we'll have to agree to differ about then. Bits of any animal all over the garden is a sad waste of life. :(

You've even said yourself that you think secure housing is the most practical option -so why keep suggesting foxes should be shot?

You never know when a new fox is going to turn up so, unless you intend to man a window armed with a shotgun for 24 hrs a day, hutch security will still need to be tightened 'just in case'. In which case, you won't need the gun as the hutch would then be secure.
Click to expand...

Agree 100%.:wave:
 
Fox dilemma-please help.

If you kil the fox another will just take it,s place:evil:about ten years ago the local council wardens culled all the foxes here as they had mange (i had offered to treat them as they were always in my garden)so for a year we were fox free:)then two vixens turned up:shock:both pregnant and they are still here:cry:one made it,s den in next doors overgrown garden:evil:it really is an amazing thing and i can here the foxes scratching around in it:)they have bred every year since then and we now have so many you really can,t count them all:cry:
So no point in killing them as others will just take their place:evil:you just have to learn to live with them and try to protect your rabbits as best you can:cry:
I have even had my houserabit attacked indoors :shock:he was in my bedroom and the fox sneaked up and tried ti kill him:censored:luckily he survived althought he was badly injured so not even my house is safe:censored:
 
Rhian33 said:
Maybe you could consider something a little more secure. Here http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=202944 is the read about what I have recently go my bunnies. You could swap the simple locks for some secure padlocks if you are really worried.
Click to expand...
That's a fantastic set up! Do you think this would be secure enough for me to use also? Have you got similar levels of fox activity? Also the meshed area, could that be made less deep? Otherwise this would appear to be the best solution I've seen yet. Thanks :)
 
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