Rabid Fox?

4nTN · #1 05/13/12, 03:55 PM

Has anyone ever had a fox attack their chickens in broad daylight?
Dogs,Kids in the yard all kinds of commotion.All of a sudden a very large fox all scuffy looking(could have just been losing it`s winter coat) comes through my pasture fence jumps over the poultry fence (Solar charged.no sun today!)Grabs one of my huge Australorpes

tries pulling her through the poultry fence,Lets go, chicken runs off!!At this point kids are screaming, dogs chasing,Hens squawking,ducks quacking!The fox grabs another Australorpe and this time tried pulling her through the pasture fence.The hen was to big to fit and by this time the whole family is there and the fox takes off.

I thought foxes only hunt at night?I`ve never seen any wild animal so bold as this! It sure was large,at first I thought it was a coyote.

KimTN · #2 05/13/12, 04:01 PM

Must have been my fox. I was standing in the yard with my family and chickens. A fox just walks up in our midst, grabs a chicken, and runs off. All of us were so stunned, that we didn't even do anything. That occurred in broad open daylight as well.

arabian knight · #3 05/13/12, 04:04 PM

There was a thread on here just a few weeks ago about Foxes and if they are out in the daylight. And the overwhelming posts were yes you bet they are out in daylight. As many on here have seen them in the daylight hours.

hillbillygal · #4 05/13/12, 04:17 PM

I was coming back home from town the other day and a coyote ran across the road in front of us just outside of the city limits in the middle of the day. At first I thought it was a dog but after I got a good look, it was definitely a coyote based on size and appearance. It was looking behind it after it crossed the road so I don't know if there were more or if it was trying to get away from something. First one I had seen during the day though I hear them from time to time.

4nTN · #5 05/13/12, 04:32 PM

Guess I watched to many FogHorn Leghorn cartoons...lol..I thought foxes only hunted at night!

4nTN · #6 05/13/12, 04:39 PM

well this is just great,I bet he will come back!I have the hens locked in the inner pen but they can`t stay there all summer!
I have the gun ready this time.I guess I`ll have to invest in an electric charger now and wrap the poultry fence around the entire perimeter.
I sure miss my guard pony.NEVER had a wild critters till we gave the pony away : (

Maura · #7 05/13/12, 04:45 PM

Make sure your charger is correctly set up. Ours didn't work well and it turned out that the grounding pole was in in deep enough.

oregon woodsmok · #8 05/13/12, 04:51 PM

I think that "out in the daylight" warning is for wildlife that is acting strangely or unwell.

Nothing usual in the behavior of a fox stealing chickens.

In my area, the city people move out here and think it is adorable to feed the wildlife so they can see them on their own back porch. Consequently, the wildlife has no fear of humans. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that is happening in other areas, too.

goatlady · #9 05/13/12, 05:05 PM

Probably a momma fox trying to feed all her kits or feed herself so she can feed her kits! Babies do not care about daylight or nighttime when they are hungry!!!

pancho · #10 05/13/12, 05:30 PM

If it is hunting for food you don't have to worry about rabies.

4nTN · #11 05/13/12, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goatlady

Probably a momma fox trying to feed all her kits or feed herself so she can feed her kits! Babies do not care about daylight or nighttime when they are hungry!!!

this is what I thought,but I live in the most remote part of the Cherokee National Forest.I bet it could find something else to eat.

oldmcdonaldsfarm · #12 05/14/12, 08:57 AM

I deal with a den of foxes yearly. Some years are worse than others, last year was the worst and I lost at least a dozen chickens. My experience is from Feb. through end of April it's the parents out hunting starting about 7 pm. I can usually set my watch as to when they will be seen and lock up the chickens in the coop. Now it's the kits starting to hunt and they don't care what time it is or who/what is out in the pasture. They know my dogs are in the house or in the backyard and they are smart enough to know that they can't get to them. I've been out with the shotgun ready for the past three days, they just hang out in the cornfield behind us and wait for the opportunity. I HATE having to shoot them because I know they are just trying to get a meal, but when they are coming at all times of the day, sometimes it can't be avoided. I've been trying for YEARS to convince my husband that we need a LGD.

Cliff · #13 05/14/12, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4nTN

this is what I thought,but I live in the most remote part of the Cherokee National Forest.I bet it could find something else to eat.

But probably nothing so easy to catch as your chickens

hippygirl · #14 05/14/12, 09:51 AM

Every chicken I lost to foxes and coyotes was taken during the day. When they started disappearing, I rebuilt my run and penned them back up and that stopped the foxes and coyotes. Then came the hawks so I had to cover the run.

littlebitfarm · #15 05/14/12, 10:13 AM

"My" fox likes to wait for the neighbor to fire up his charcoal grill and then come hunting. Apparently suppertime is universal.

Kathie

gila_dog · #16 05/15/12, 08:06 AM

The fox you described sounds healthy and brave, to me. We've had a rash of rabid foxes here over the last few years. It's also been found in skunks, coyotes, and bobcats. Once they develop symptoms, they look sick, wander around openly, act disoriented, and show no fear, and can be aggressive and dangerous. We've had a few tourists bitten by rabid foxes. I know one guy who's whole family had to undergo rabies treatment because they had played with a neighbor's dog that soon after came down with rabies. The dog's owner was too busy, broke, or careless to have it vaccinated so it caught rabies and then endangered a bunch of people.

Most people here have learned to get their pets (even horses and goats) vaccinated. They have come to realize that it's not just the pet they are protecting, but also themselves.

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ws/rabies/maps/USVariants.jpg

Rabies - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Home Harvest · #17 05/15/12, 12:14 PM

My fox story goes like this. Got up one morning about 6 years ago, and the lab is at the door going berserk. She had been trained with an electric collar, so she runs halfway to the chicken coop and stands there barking her fool head off. I look at the coop and see that I left the pop hole open the night before. I walk to the coop start to open the man door, and see blood, feathers, and carcasses. Low and behold, I also see a fox sleeping in the corner. I close the door, back to the house for a rifle, back to the coop and bye bye Mr. fox.

He was mangy and he stunk to high heaven. I called the state to see if they wanted to test him for rabies. They said no. They advised me that since poultry can't get rabies, and my dog didn't get to the fox, I should just bury it at least 3 foot deep, along with the carcasses, wearing rubber gloves, and dump a bottle of bleach on them before filling the hole. I followed their advice.

The experts felt as though it was hunger and the mange that made him behave so oddly. I haven't seen a fox on the property since, but I do see them in the neighbor's fields at dawn and dusk.