Fox traps help please

[Clodagh]

Bl**dy fox ate all my bantams last week, managed to get the slidy door open.
Now, being a vindictive sort I went and bought a live trap. It is nicely set with a pigeon in it and leaves in the bottom but as yet no fox. I want to shoot this s*d.
So, any recommendations as to how to make it more attractive? I thought about gathering some fox poo and putting it in it? Help please! (sorry, not a hunting post...)

 

[runaway]

Yeah why not rig up an extra length to your trap and bait it with another bantam!! You can collect the eggs etc and hopefully catch the b*gger in the end!

 

[celt]

I dearly hope that the pigeon or indeed the bantam that has been suggested are dead prior to being placed in the trap and that you have not or do not intend using live bait to capture the culprit.

 

[Maesfen]

Sorry about your bantams but unless you go out and buy another batch old Charlie won't bother to call, he's not that stupid if there's nothing in the larder! Electric fencing usually sorts them out, they don't like that!

I know what you mean about being vindictive; we've had a pair of swans come onto our pit in front of the house, lovely to see them here but bloody Charlie had one the other night, now only its mate is left feeling very lonely. Very sad as they usually mate for life, seems such a shame, nature is cruel.

 

[severnmiles]

Sorry to hear about the Bantams :-(

I've got one set at the mo as we lost some chicken. Something had dragged the trap a meter, pulled the pin out of the back, pulled feathers off of the chicken (through the bars) and dug a hole when that didn't work...clever Clettwr fox didn't go inside the damn thing though did it! OH is convinced I've set it wrong so he's coming to set it for me.

Good luck!

 

[CARREG]

Celt you obviously know nothing about how these traps work so why dont you just shut up.....Clodagh I'll pm you some advice that may be helpful.........Carreg

 

[Ereiam_jh]

I'm lauging at celts image of a live bantam in a cage waiting for the fox to come and eat it and then find out it can't get out. I guess that would be it's 'last meal' before Clodagh turns up with her shotty for a bit of vengance..

 

[severnmiles]

Missed Celts post, how does Celt suppose you catch a pigeon as bait without shooting it first...we're not in London, these rural pigeons aren't so tame...can imagine sticking a live pigeon on the hook....

Carreg, can you PM me aswell as Clodagh...I want to catch the sod without OH's help...he'll take the piss of me otherwise!

 

[severnmiles]

I'm lauging at celts image of a live bantam in a cage waiting for the fox to come and eat it and then find out it can't get out. I guess that would be it's 'last meal' before Clodagh turns up with her shotty for a bit of vengance..

I pity the charlie that goes in my trap...its got a rotten chicken as the last supper....

 

[celt]

Don’t try and ridicule people, as this will only alienate you from members of the public some of which are still undecided on the issue of hunting. I have come on to this forum with an open mind concerning hunting and all fringe aspects. It is clear to me that persons who are pro hunting are quick to take on the defensive role which often deflects from the actual activity that they appear to be protecting. It could well appear to the layperson that you were defending the indefensible rather than adopting the humane aspect and consider the welfare of the animal/bird in question.

 

[Clodagh]

Yes please Carreg.
Celt, pigeon is dead, or at least hanging very still . It fell out the sky after a 12 bore had been fired at it, so if its still alive its leaking like a sieve.

 

[severnmiles]

I'm not ridiculing you.

"It could well appear to the layperson that you were defending the indefensible rather than adopting the humane aspect and consider the welfare of the animal/bird in question. "

I don't think it can get any more humane than being dead. The chicken in question didn't have a humane death but then again you can blame that one on Charlie, 2 of he 5 chicken were still alive, albeit with broken necks and chunks missing here and there.

If you don't know about something, listen, ask questions and learn. Don't pluck silly statements out of the air!

 

[Beej]

PM sent!

 

[Baggybreeches]

Gah, we lost two chickens on Thursday night. We have set 2 snares and I am going to get a fox trap from work. The magnificent 7 are now penned inside an empty stable, hopefully they will be safe in there, although they are not convinced about nightime curfews!

 

[Clodagh]

Well, so far I've caught a patterdale terrier and a lurcher. Grrr!

 

[severnmiles]

Well, so far I've caught a patterdale terrier and a lurcher. Grrr!

Haha...thats more than me, yet two weeks ago I chucked 4 dead chickens out (killed by the furry fluff ball thats is the fox) and they were all taken that night, trap has been set since and nothing! Grrr, clever Clettwr foxes! Either that or they're busy taking lambs now.

OH did catch a cat before Christmas too so you're not doing too badly :smirk:

 

[SusanJohnson]

I think it's disgusting and immature of Clodagh wanting to seek vengence on a fox. Should we all take a leaf out of your book and seek revenge for all wrongs done to us??

Here's an idea: try shutting your chucks up SECURELY in future!

 

[smilincow21]

Well susan, sometimes the foxes attack through the day, so their is no chance of locking them up, especially as mine are free range! Would you rather I battery farmed....no thought not!
If they were locked in a pen, the fox WILL find a way in, they always do, by either jumping or digging or destroying.
I must add that we tried using a fox trap, but the dog next door got in and the fox found ways of getting in without getting caught! We use snares now, especially if they are jumping or digging in, we catch alot more that way, or of course there is sitting out with the gun!
Also susan, may I add, how can clodagh be immature at wanting to catch the fox that has been killing his chickens? Fair enough if you don't understand why and think that is disguisting, but immature is the wrong word to use don't you think. If he didn't kill it the fox would carry on coming back to kill his chickens, fair enough if he only took one, but they would happily take the whole lot, without even eating a quarter of them. It happens all over the world, look at what happened in India not so long ago. A big cat kept going into a village and killing children, so the villagers set out to kill it. Would you call this immature? No. Perhaps the children should have stayed inside all day, then they wouldn't have been killed!
Also when shark attacks happen with regular occurance, fishermen go out to kill it before anyone else gets killed. Would you call this immature? No. Maybe noone should go swimming in the sea so they can't put themselves at risk?!
In both cases more than one animal was killed, other animals of the same species were killed even though they were not guilty, but they had to do it as they couldnt face the risk of letting the particular animal carry on killing.
Yes in clodughs case it does not involve humans, but it involves his animals which are his livlihood!

 

[polyphonic]

Here's an idea: try shutting your chucks up SECURELY in future!

he's an idea stop being so arrogant!

(peter reaches for lady to help lady get off high horse!)

 

[Fantasy_World]

I hope you can catch the fox causing the damage and deaths to your birds. Foxes may be nice to look at and the cubs are cute but when you are the owner of young livestock or poultry they can be a menace
I did mention on another thread that I was against, trapping, poisoning and snaring. I still am to be honest. By trapping I mean the illegal gin traps which I'm sure I read are still used occasionally by some even though they are illegal. Live traps fair enough because then the fox or pest can be killed humanely by a shot in the head or breaking its neck. But the types of trap that can trap limbs etc are horrific in my opinion as are snares.
I know no one has mentioned using them so I am not trying to confuse the issue here or cause a debate. I simply wanted to post and make my position clear on the use of traps as my other posting said I was against trapping so I wished to clarify as to which traps I am against.
Bring back hunting I say. I used to be an anti as a young teenager until I saw sense and saw the much wider picture.
I did not openly practise anti hunting though and deplore the actions that many people took. Maiming horses and dogs just proved the mentality of some of the anti brigade and proved that animal welfare was not at the heart of their 'cause' but causing, mayhem, suffering and putting people's lives at risk was.
A few years ago when I was at uni ( graduated in 2002 as a mature student) I was doing a journalism degree and as part of the course we had a section on political comment, like the columns you see in both tabloids and broadsheets.
Anyway it was at the time that hunting was the talking point so I did mine about that and had to read it out as a presentation. Of course it was pro hunting as that is my position on the subject. The lecturer from the west country originally was very anti hunting and ridiculed my piece in front of the whole class. His own personal view on the subject biased his comments which I thought was well out of order. It was ridiculed because he was anti and I was not.
Someone on here was it Celt said in not so many words that us pro hunters actively defend our activites and beliefs. Yes we do because we have to put up with constant ridicule and harrassment from people who know absolutely nothing about the ways of the countryside and how farming is managed!
To be honest I wish I had complained now. I think maybe if I had been of a different ethical background and the political column had been about rioting for instance ( Bradford etc) and the lecturer had portrayed racist views then it would have been very different so far as the discipline procedure at the uni.
But because it was the fact that I was pro and he was anti hunting the matter would not have been dealt with as it should, and that angers me, hence the reason I did not complain at the time as it was futile.
I would hope that at some point the ban can be overturned and that wildlife management and conservation can continue as it has for hundreds of years.
Humans are and always have been hunter, gatherers.
The fact that for most of us our lives are so mundane and our primeval needs and desires are switched off is what I believe is the cause for the the increased levels of violent crime we see today. People have no outlets for their frustrations and banal existance.
Hunting could fulfil those primeval desires......
Cazx

 

[peakpark]

You should have complained about about the lecturer ridiculing your presentation - it sounds like harrassment to me. Which university was it?
When my son aged 12 went for his interview as part of the entrance exam to his secondary school he put country sports on his entrance form in the 'hobbies & interests' bit. The master interviewing him said 'okay, defend fox hunting'. It was the time of the last Countryside March, so luckily he was well up on all the arguments. Had he failed to get in I would have complained on the grounds hunting is a very emotive subject and if the master had been anti, then it might have coloured his opinion of my son. However, luckily he passed.
(Another question he was asked was 'can you think of a five letter word which sounds the same if you remove the last four letters?' that's a tricky one!

 

[Clodagh]

No, can you??
Still haven't caught fox, it keeps pooing by the trap. Grrr. Shall pick up some strange fox poo one day and try putting that in, what will people think if they see me collecting it!!

 

[Fantasy_World]

Hiya Peakpark it was Staffordshire University and yes I wish looking back now that I had but like I said it would most probably have been ignored as some people can be very good with words and could easily have denied any wrong doings.
That is awful for the master at the school to put your son on the spot like that and I'm glad that your son replied accurately to his question
I cannot think of the answer to your question though lol give us a clue?
Clodagh I don't think fox poo from another source would help as they are territorial and he or she will most probably just scent mark even more.
You could try disguising it a bit more though and make it look unlike a trap. Maybe even add some interesting smells or fresh offal which may attract it?
Caz

 

[peakpark]

Clodagh and Cazee - okay, I'll give you a clue:
If you take four letters away from a five letter word, how many letters are you left with?
Hurry, now, or I'll have Flying Change down on me like a ton of bricks for getting away from the original thread!

 

[smilincow21]

Clodagh, with my fox trap we always drag the carcass across the ground before we put it in the trap, mainly because this disguises any of human contact. Using freshly dead animals (animals that have died that day) also helps, but the best type to use is still born lambs! Our trap caught loads with them!

 

[fmay]

We have an electric fence around the base of our chicken pens to keep the foxes out but it would be a disaster if one visited during the day. My OH uses fox traps when he can smell that they have been around.