Cornish Fox in the snow

[Cyclingrelf]

I thought you might like to see this - it's a little fox that hurt it's leg and so has been stealing the cat food on my parent's farm...although, it's now getting bold enough it would probably steal the cat food anyway!!

Mum is encouraging it, as she is currently planting 5000 trees and thinks it might help to keep the rabbits down.

 

[Lurch]

She might not be quite so keen when the cat disappears.

 

[Topcat02]

cats seem quite capable of looking after themselves in my experience. Our cat wouldnt give way to anything that didnt have an engine. Woe betide anything that tried to steal its food.

Unfortunately he took to sharpening his claws on my cars soft top roof, and after being told off, decided we werent good enough for him, and moved into the farm down the road.

 

[Lurch]

Maybe so, but I wouldn't be happy having a fox sniffing around near my moggies.
Mr Fox would be having a chat with Mr Browning or Mr Tikka quick smart.

 

[Cyclingrelf]

Funnily enough, the cat is a large and scary farm cat, and this fox runs away from it. There is a larger fox that comes around too, and the cat tends to hiss a bit and the fox growls a bit, then the cat gives up and lets the larger fox have the food anyway. So there is no fighting.

I've also found it interesting watching the foxes in the fields with the sheep - when a dog (as in a normal pet dog, not a fox) goes near sheep with lambs, the sheep will protect their lambs by stamping at the dog and charging it if it's persistent. When a fox is in the field with the lambs, the sheep and fox mutually ignore each other. The foxes play quite happily in the same field as the lambs. The only time my parent's farm has had any problems as a result of foxes is when the hunt come around with their dogs and let them run rampant - the dogs are a major problem!! And still are - the law doesn't seem to have affected them at all so far...

<edit> Actually, that's not strictly true - we did have problems with the foxes when we had chickens...they do really like chicken, it seems!!

 

[Lurch]

Sounds like those sheep have more bother with dogs than foxes, and this is pretty much the case on any farm. My family farm right next to a town and have a footpath running right through, we have had more problems with dogs than foxes, this is due to the volume of latch-key dogs and the fact the gamekeeper does a good job of minimizing fox population.
That said most years we get losses due to fox.

 

[Cyclingrelf]

Yeah - dogs are a problem. Dad has only ever had to shoot one thing for worrying the sheep - a dog. He hated doing it, but the dog just wouldn't go away.
We've never lost anything to foxes other than chickens. However, we lamb the sheep indoors, which I think probably makes a difference. The lambs are clean and dry by the time they go out in the field.

 

[monkey_pork]

Good luck with the little fox, I know that's it's not everyone view but there you go.

The fox / cat thing can be an odd one. I was out at my Aunts house a few years ago, during one of the long summer evenings, and at dusk I heard a fairly horrid combination of noises, caused when foxy going down the lane past the house, met her tom cat coming home for tea up the lane.

The noise was a combination of the fox's yipping and yelping, mixed with the cat's growling and that odd yawling they make. I was quite alarmed, but my aunt wasn't as it was a common enough occurance. The cat arrived home a minute or two afterwards, clearly completely relaxed, and not at all upset by the experience.

Mind you he was a very big cat.

 

[stuart f]

Nice photo, hope its leg gets better soon.

 

[tomtom]

Nice picture mate, thanks for showing us!

 

[rich59]

In London the foxes need no encouragement to get anywhere. I am often surprised how dull their senses are. A few years ago I was doing some gardenning, crouching down on one side of some runner bean poles. A fox entered the garden trotted round the corner and nearly bumped noses with me.

I don't suppose that is what the adaptation is that the urban fox has to cope - dulled senses?

 

[Lurch]

Mind you he was a very big cat.

Cyclingrelf - fortunately I've never had to shoot a dog and hope I never have to. We've caught a few mind, the last one the coppers didn't want to know. 'Can't you just shoot it?' they said. Didn't have the heart to shoot a dog we already caught.
Ex-neighbour on the other hand seemed to delight in shooting dogs.

 

[Cyclingrelf]

Yes - it was pretty gutting. Dad was upset about it for weeks! But he's only had to shoot a dog once in 20 years. Usually, it's enough to go and shout at them.

Thanks for the nice comments about the picture! The fox is continuing to do well at the moment. It was rooting in the back garden last week, then decided to go down onto the moor just as the hunt came, so mum thought it would be a gonner. However, the hunt is not very efficient and missed it in spite of it's bad leg, as the fox was back again not long afterwards.

 

[BorderReiver]

Thanks for the nice comments about the picture! The fox is continuing to do well at the moment. It was rooting in the back garden last week, then decided to go down onto the moor just as the hunt came, so mum thought it would be a gonner. However, the hunt is not very efficient and missed it in spite of it's bad leg, as the fox was back again not long afterwards.

Of course it was OK,the Hunt aren't allowed to kill foxes

 

[Lurch]

Except by accident, so you could say the hunt did a cracking job.