*edit: Stupid post!*Do you think it's possible...

I saw a program once about rehabilitating some endangered species that were killing them selves out by eating poisoned frogs. To stop this, the scientists who were rearing and releasing the animals (I forgot what they were) took a non poisons part of the frog, put a drug that made the animals feel horrible for about 24 hours, and they tended to never eat them again, they also then trained their young not to eat them either. I was wondering if the same thing would apply to foxes, as much as I hate the idea of any rabbit being eaten, maybe a bit of rabbit already in the food trade being used.

Just an idea, what do you guys think?

* EDIT: Ok, so this was a really stupid idea, I was just spurting random ideas that popped into my head, sorry if this irritated or upset anyone *

Nope, I personally don't believe it would work.

No

It could possibly work, you can do the same with people and other animals so I think it could work with a fox. Like if someone is put on chemo usually the last food they ate before treatment makes them feel ill for years after

But why would anyone want to?!
The food chain is the way it is for a reason, when rabbits have no predators you end up with a similar situation as you had in Australia that led to the development of myxi. Very bad idea to mess with the food chain!

no

Rabbits, small rodents and birds are the fox's main prey. Tricking them into not eating rabbits full stop is a stupid idea and it wouldn't work. Foxes were here first and we have no right to change their eating habits simply because we want to keep "pets".

I wasn't planning on doing it, I just wondered weather it would work. I wasn't really thinking about wild rabbits being their main food source. Stupidity on my part. I do think foxes are locket, but there are just fearless round here. I need to reinforce my run soon...

I wasn't planning on doing it, I just wondered weather it would work. I wasn't really thinking about wild rabbits being their main food source. Stupidity on my part. I do think foxes are locket, but there are just fearless round here. I need to reinforce my run soon...

I did see a programme where a wildlife sanctuary used a rabbit as a companion for a big cat (might have been a leopard) so anything is possible but certainly not a gamble I'd like to take.

I've heard they are fearless in London. I would just not keep my bunnies outside. I fret constantly about the stray bun I have taken in as she is in a playhouse (3 locks on the door!) outside. There's no way a fox or human can get in, but I still worry even though the foxes are quite skittish around here. My two buns live in my bedroom. I know not everybody can do this, but I would certainly never CHOOSE to keep rabbits outside simply because of the dangers of predators and people.

I know indoors isn't fool proof, but it's a hell of a lot more safer!

Vegan_Bunny said:

I've heard they are fearless in London. I would just not keep my bunnies outside. I fret constantly about the stray bun I have taken in as she is in a playhouse (3 locks on the door!) outside. There's no way a fox or human can get in, but I still worry even though the foxes are quite skittish around here. My two buns live in my bedroom. I know not everybody can do this, but I would certainly never CHOOSE to keep rabbits outside simply because of the dangers of predators and people.

I know indoors isn't fool proof, but it's a hell of a lot more safer!

Click to expand...

There is no way a fox can get to them in their big hutch and run combo which is on paving by the house, it's only when I let them out in the big run in the grass that I worry, but I never leave them unattended. I have kept one of my rabbits inside for a week or so, and she was miserable, she much preferred to be outside, every one and everybun are different.
People can't get into our garden unless they really wanted to break into one of the houses on out street, or the one that curves round the back of it, and then climb over a bunch of 6 ft slated fences. If I felt my rabbits were in any permeant danger, I would re-home them.
This has seemed to go off topic from the thread, which I feel was a mistake to post in the first place.

It potentially could work but I don't believe in messing with nature and the food chain.

Perhaps it would work if they had another main food source, but they don't - and to do it you would have to almost wipe out the foxes so a whole generation are being hand-reared and then released. Small mammals make up a large part of their diet, especially in rural areas, so I don't think you could even train them out of eating them.

I wouldn't want to, either, the wild rabbit population needs to be kept in check and the foxes aren't enough to do that as it is.

DarceyH said:

There is no way a fox can get to them in their big hutch and run combo which is on paving by the house, it's only when I let them out in the big run in the grass that I worry, but I never leave them unattended. I have kept one of my rabbits inside for a week or so, and she was miserable, she much preferred to be outside, every one and everybun are different.
People can't get into our garden unless they really wanted to break into one of the houses on out street, or the one that curves round the back of it, and then climb over a bunch of 6 ft slated fences. If I felt my rabbits were in any permeant danger, I would re-home them.
This has seemed to go off topic from the thread, which I feel was a mistake to post in the first place.

Click to expand...

I thought you were hinting at having a problem with foxes in the area, hence the suggestion to keep them indoors.

I do think it is, and I don't think it's a stupid post, I think that every animal can be trained to some degree, for example, they trained this type of desert fox not to eat an endangered small mammal in the same way you described, but at the same time released an alternative food source in to the area.


Foxes are a huge pain and I'm so glad we don't get them where I live. However if there was a way to make pets less appealing to them (like an injection which made them smell different to the foxes ((which their vaccinations probably do)) and trained them with meat in the same way), then I can't see how it would be a bad thing, it would cause the foxes to move out of populated areas and back in to the country-side where there are plenty of wildies to fill their bellies, and would also keep the fox population under control. Not to mention that keeping wild rabbit numbers down decreases the chance of them getting horrible diseases.


P.s. your set-up sounds totally safe, don't worry (unless you live in Antarctica):thumb:

Yeah, I dont think it would work in the wild and that would mess up things with rabbits anyway. Like when deer get too abundant in an area it messes up the deers health i.e disease, malnutrition, etc. That's because there aren't enough wolves (because we killed them off!) so now human hunters are necessary to keep their numbers in check.

In captivity though foxes can be kinda like cats or dogs where they generally don't pay much attention to prey pets in the household after they get used to them. Not that you could trust them together or anything though.

Vegan_Bunny said:

I've heard they are fearless in London. I would just not keep my bunnies outside. I fret constantly about the stray bun I have taken in as she is in a playhouse (3 locks on the door!) outside. There's no way a fox or human can get in, but I still worry even though the foxes are quite skittish around here. My two buns live in my bedroom. I know not everybody can do this, but I would certainly never CHOOSE to keep rabbits outside simply because of the dangers of predators and people.

I know indoors isn't fool proof, but it's a hell of a lot more safer!

Click to expand...

Same here. There are foxes out all day, I passed one on the way home. I would never be able to keep any prey animals outside in my town.