Hunting is in a spot of bother

Clodagh said:
Better to put it live to the hounds?
Click to expand...

Better not to dig foxes out of earths at all, but go out at night with a gun and shoot the ones that are actually hunting lambs.

My recollection from the 31 years we lived in an "unhunted" the countryside was that the majority of foxes which were shot were the ones the RSPCA had released in the previous few days. They made easy targets, being urban foxes they were huge, unwary and didn't have a clue about hunting live prey. Jim got 5 one night on my friend's land on a Friday. Word went round when they were released on Wednesday at peak lambing time!
.
 
ycbm said:
Better not to dig foxes out of earths at all, but go out at night with a gun and shoot the ones that are actually hunting lambs.

My recollection from the 31 years we lived in an "unhunted" the countryside was that the majority of foxes which were shot were the ones the RSPCA had released in the previous few days. They made easy targets, being urban foxes they were huge, unwary and didn't have a clue about hunting live prey. Jim got 5 one night on my friend's land on a Friday. Word went round when they were released on Wednesday at peak lambing time!
.
Click to expand...

So they released urban foxes in the country during lambing time?! 🙄
 
meleeka said:
So they released urban foxes in the country during lambing time?! 🙄
Click to expand...

They did.

Both illegal and utterly irresponsible, but the donors won't stand for them being humanely killed and they can't home them all, there are millions of them. It makes me laugh when really ardent supporters of hunting say they are doing fox conservation. I can't name a more successful mammal species at adaptation.
.
 
ycbm said:
They did.

Both illegal and utterly irresponsible, but the donors won't stand for them being humanely killed and they can't home them all, there are millions of them. It makes me laugh when really ardent supporters of hunting say they are doing fox conservation. I can't name a more successful species at adaptation.
.
Click to expand...

I bet those foxes couldn’t believe their luck!
 
meleeka said:
I bet those foxes couldn’t believe their luck!
Click to expand...

The only one I saw looked very anxious. He trotted up and down past my gate on the road not knowing where to go or what to do. It was obvious he was urban, he was the biggest fox I've ever seen by at least 50%, probably nearly twice the size of anything I've seen that grew up in the countryside having to hunt and kill for its food.
.
 
ycbm said:
They did.

Both illegal and utterly irresponsible, but the donors won't stand for them being humanely killed and they can't home them all, there are millions of them. It makes me laugh when really ardent supporters of hunting say they are doing fox conservation. I can't name a more successful mammal species at adaptation.
.
Click to expand...
I do not agree with releasing urban foxes to the countryside at all, however pro hunting can not in one breath say they hunt for pest control and in the next say its for conservation...
Fox hunts do it for fun. Plain and simple. If they had stuck to the law to get their fun they would not be in this position now.
 
Jemima50 said:
That's what foxes do , I came home one day and all my chickens had been killed by a fox in broad daylight , he only took one.
That fox killed for fun.
Click to expand...
It only took one because it was disturbed, by you coming home.

Please do share your thoughts on why it's not okay for a fox to kill half a dozen or so chickens to survive, and the sentence should therefore be death by hounds, but it is acceptable for humans to raise mass poultry for slaughter.

There are plenty of animals who kill seemingly excess prey on feral instinct.
 
ycbm said:
The only one I saw looked very anxious. He trotted up and down past my gate on the road not knowing where to go or what to do. It was obvious he was urban, he was the biggest fox I've ever seen by at least 50%, probably nearly twice the size of anything I've seen that grew up in the countryside having to hunt and kill for its food.
.
Click to expand...
We had one hanging around the yard once, the rspca (useless clueless bunch) used to release them on the lane. Poor thing was skinny and clearly didn’t know how to find food that wasn’t leftover takeaways. She stared at the baby bunnies in the ditch like she didn’t have the instruction manual. Cruel.
 
equinerebel said:
It only took one because it was disturbed, by you coming home.

Please do share your thoughts on why it's not okay for a fox to kill half a dozen or so chickens to survive, and the sentence should therefore be death by hounds, but it is acceptable for humans to raise mass poultry for slaughter.

There are plenty of animals who kill seemingly excess prey on feral instinct.
Click to expand...
Nope !
The fox was long gone
 
ycbm said:
The only one I saw looked very anxious. He trotted up and down past my gate on the road not knowing where to go or what to do. It was obvious he was urban, he was the biggest fox I've ever seen by at least 50%, probably nearly twice the size of anything I've seen that grew up in the countryside having to hunt and kill for its food.
.
Click to expand...
I had one come in my garden last year. He was huge. I live in suburbs. I'll try & find pic.

Edit - Pic is too fuzzy.
 
Last edited:
Jemima50 said:
That's what foxes do , I came home one day and all my chickens had been killed by a fox in broad daylight , he only took one.
That fox killed for fun.
Click to expand...
Sorry you lost your chickens, happened to me too, I know how upsetting it is. Foxes kill everything at once out of instinct because their ancestors lived in cold climates where food was hard to come by but easy to store (frozen) once you found it. Mink, wolverines etc still do the same in their natural habitat - kill everything then keep going back to eat it frozen is how they survive the winter.
" They did it first" is at best a very childish excuse for wrongdoing but especially so when talking about animal cruelty.
 
rabatsa said:
When word gets round here about released urban foxes the local shoot take metal plates and some tins of dog food. They make a big show of putting out the food and then sit in their cars and wait. They have been known to kill double figures of foxes some nights. No local fox would be caught that way.
Click to expand...

That's sad.

I love seeing our urban foxes. There are many. Our wee suburb of Glasgow near the canal is fox heaven. I enjoy seeing their little furry faces when I drive home at night.
 
Seems like the secret protocol has vanished, and Warwickshire Police don't bother investigating police reports of crimes if they're made by people who don't live in Warwickshire... Unless of course they mean they don't bother looking into only reports about hunting... If made by non locals 🤔... Clearly how reports of crimes should be dealt with.
 
Greg Baker, huntsman of the Carmarthenshire-based Llandeilo Farmers Hunt, was today sentenced to 20 weeks prison, suspended for 2 years, 150 hours of unpaid work plus a £150 surcharge after being found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to a number of animals. He did not receive a disqualification.

When the RSPCA raided Baker’s squalid property, they found five horses suffering from extreme neglect. All were severely underweight and suffering from lice infestations and rain scald - a painful condition caused by prolonged exposure to the elements. One of the horses - a Shetland pony - weighed just 60 kg when rescued. She put on 20 kg when provided with basic care and nutrition by the RSPCA.

Additionally, a foxhound was found to have a prolapsed penis and had to be treated with methadone - the highest level of pain relief licensed for dogs - despite Baker’s protestation that no such anaesthetic was needed. In September 2023, the HSA broke the news that the Llandeilo Farmers Hunt had folded. Since then, there have been persistent rumours that the hunt would reform if Baker was acquitted. Fortunately, his barrister, fellow hunter and long-serving master of the Emlyn Beagles Matthew Paul, failed in this endeavour.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top