could it be a fox?

[sabre iom]

Just after some help in tracking and getting a positive i.d on an elusive creature in a plantation i use for bushcraft.I've only managed a few far off glimpses of what i think could be a fox, here on the isle of man they dont exist except in rumour. Does anyone have any tips on how to find the den area or traits of character, its purely for observation and not hunting.

Cheers

 

[Trevody]

Smell is a good indicator of foxes, very pungent litrally you can't miss it. You could mabey try a sand trap to get spoor prints, I have spent time whatching foxes while out rabbit shooting and there did not seem to be any real pattern to their behaviour.

Trev

 

[rich59]

Have just been reading some web pages on the subject of foxes on the Isle of Man. It seems that they would be a great concern to conservation if they were found.

How about putting out some bait?

 

[C_Claycomb]

Foxes are often creatures of habit and tend to have runs that they follow on a regular basis. At least that has been my experience of them in Kent, Leicestershire, and Somerset. Finding the regular path might be a little harder. They tend to follow edges and natural lines, wood edges, fence lines, hedges, ditch edges.

The cubs, if you have any, are noisy when they come out to play and will be found in the general area of the den through till early/mid summer, the young stay pretty dumb right out till autumn. I have stood on the lower rail of a 3 rail fence and had a youngster trot along and smell my boots

Have you tried calling? Mouse squeals can bring foxes in from 50+ yards if the wind is right.

From my limited experience of plantations, they seem pretty lifeless places and while a fox might make a den in there, they will be doing thier hunting outside. Chances are they will have definite places that they leave the cover to start hunting.

Best of luck

 

[Stuart]

foxes are definatly creatures of habit, they follow the same route every night at about the same time (to within a few hours).

there is a fox who passes by a friend of mines house at about 12:00 midnight every night. comes up the hill, crosses the road in the same place every night and jumps over the wall into the graveyard. the long grass around the graveyard shows that he leaps the wall in the same place every night and takes the same route across the yard

if you saw him pass a certain place at a certain time arrive a couple of hours earlier the next night and wait for about 4 hours. if he does not pass then you are probably not on his regular route and he may have been investigating somthing when you last saw him or he has been alerted to you and has boxed around your position

 

[fiacha]

any description of what you have seen (shape / size /colour etc).

any hares in the the area ?
our irish hares can have a very red coat (not sure about your locals), and because of their large size i've often mistaken one for a fox at first glimpse while moving through heavy cover.

 

[torjusg]

Seems wierd that there are no foxes in an island as big as the Isle of Man. In northern Norway there are islands far smaller and at least as isolated and most of them have foxes. Have they been hunted to extinction? Did that isle have a full inland fauna, as England once did?

Really cool if they exist!

Torjus Gaaren

 

[Seagull]

They all got ran down by 3-legged men.

Ceeg

 

[sabre iom]

some great help there guys, im sure its definately not a hare ours here are losing their white coat and are looking mottled at the minute. There are supposed to have been foxes on the island during viking settlement as well as irish elk but both species are reported by government to be long gone, irish elks were massive so i dont think we have any of them hiding anywhere! but once a year a fox sighting rumour does the rounds and i may be the start of it this year
gonna have to splash out on some bino's and get a few nights out next week , as for the conservation issue we have plenty of longtails for them here we cant quite stamp out , with our third leg

 

[torjusg]

irish elk

What?! I thought they went extinct in the end of the last ice age! Or do you mean a specie that still is to be found elsewhere?

Torjus Gaaren

 

[pierre girard]

It isn't too hard to locate fox in the US. They are very territorrial and like to race cars at night. Every night, on my way to work, one or the other (or several) of a family of foxes, darts out ahead of me on a certain stretch of road and races ahead of my car until I come too close. Then they dart off to the ditch. They seem to get a charge out of it. We also have some "cross" or silver fox in our area - a highly sought after variation during the fur trade era. Do they have this habit in GB?

PG

 

[sabre iom]

sorry torjusg should have been more clear the elk is just another mammal species the island lost , the fox with the vikings the elk as you say about 11,000 years ago, we dont have otters , badgers , pine martins or even snakes here.

 

[sabre iom]

still no sign of the 'fox' , might be the pine needle tea making me imagine things

gonna get out over easter for another look, keep you posted.

 

[Rhoda]

Just a couple more hints to help you with tracking the elusive creature! If you can remember where you saw it last have a look for runs and trails through vegetation. A run used by a fox will usually smell quite pungent. Look for hairs caught on twigs or brambles if there are any nearby and don't forget to look for poo!! Fox scat will usually turn white with age and will contain fur and bones.

Fox tracks are very symetrical, more so than domestic dogs. If you find any tracks place two thin twigs or blades of grass diagonally crossing each other on each side of the pad of the track. The two central toes will fit into the top triangle between the twigs and the outer toes will be on the outside of your twigs. Does that make sense without a diagram?

Good luck!!

 

[hog]

Hi Sabre, it is possible, I saw a photo in the Courier or the Examiner of a fox that had been killed by a car, a little worn and flat but a fox never th less.
Which plantation by the way yessir.