Single hen

[Ziggy]

Hi all,

 

I'm very sorry if this is going to sound bizarre, but after reading all there is on here about horrible Mr Fox, I sat down the other day and some thoughts came to me...

 

I know of a furry animal who kills for fun... hides and stalks and surprises its prey, and plays with it in most horrendous cruel way, until at last the poor creature either dies or manages to get away, most likely to die of shock or injuries a little later anyway.... this cruel, accurate, horrendous 'killer' is my beloved cat Shadow... she brings me mice on a nearly daily basis, and on many occasions I have had to dispose of or rescue beautiful birds which she had caught in the garden and dragged through the catflap....

 

Mr Fox, though very unpopular on these boards, just does what he is instinctively pushed to... My Shadow sure never is hungry, neither does she have youngs to feed, she hunts out of instinct too... yet Mr Fox is a hated baddy, and Shadow is a well loved pet... what is the difference between them though? Don't both just do what their specie does, instinctively?

 

Don't get me wrong, I feel deeply for anyone whose chickens have been killed by the said Mr Fox, and I would feel devastated to lose Mac and Nugget to the foxes that often visit our garden, and Suki, my daughter, who owns the chooks, would be totally distressed...

I would also get devastated if my cat killed my pet rat... We try to keep them away from each other, the room the rats are in have a self-closing door and no accessible window and we try our very best to protect them, but if Obi or Ani ever escaped their cage, and Shadow or Smokey got to them first, could I blame them for what they would do? No, I couldn't. They are cats. Cats are no better than foxes, they kill for the thrill of the hunt, yet we don't call them vermins or wish for their destruction...

 

Finally, one little word.... who do you think, in the UK, kills the most chickens??

Foxes??

Or humans??

 

As a vegetarian I am glad to say I do not eat chickens, but do we call all humans who eat chickens vermins??

Of course the chickens sold at Tesco's or MacDonald's or wherever are not our beloved pets, but they were living chickens...

So please all, I'm not asking you to love or start feeding Mr Fox... but please keep things in perspective in your judgement of this horrendous ruthless killer... after all, he can't go to the local shop and get some chicken korma, can he??

 

With all my sympathies to anyone who has lost a dear chicken to Mr Fox, and all best wishes to everyone else for the safety of their chickens...

[bronze]

I agree about foxes and have said the like on here before. I don't think many people on here really do hate foxes. Its more like when a child who doesnt get their own way shouts at their parent ' I hate you' when in fact they don't really it's just a reaction at that moment in time.

[Egluntyne]

Why not put a bell on Shadow's collar....it might give the mice and birds a chance to flee.

[Ziggy]

She often has a bell (she wears the kind of collars that break off when caught up in a branch or something, so she loses it on a regular basis and it gets replaced), but it doesn't seem to make much difference... she is just a very swift hunter, unlike her sister who just isn't fast enough (good thing for birds!!)

[Egluntyne]

My sister had a cat that liked to hunt and often brought "gifts" to lay at her feet.

 

One day there was enormous commotion in the kitchen. Upon investigating, my brother in law found the cat backing in through the cat flap, clearly trying to drag something in.

 

This "something" was putting up quite a fight.

 

It was fully grown male pheasant with spectacular plumage! The cat had her jaws firmly round its neck and was hanging on for dear life!

 

The pheasant was released with no obvious harm done.

 

The cat reverted to bringing mice etc.

[Popcorn]

This is a topic that comes along every so often on the forum. I've seen it many times.

 

I do think that we are all guilty at times of maybe reacting a little stronger than we would normally due to circumstances and love for our 'pets' but I don't think for a minute anybody on the forum would wish any harm on any animal....whatever their personal views. The forum moderators would not welcome extreme views on such a friendly forum. I can understand how people can become upset when hearing about the loss of hens due to foxes, and it's a natural reaction to show emotion, whether through experience or empathy.

 

It was a very thoughtful post Ziggy. It's nice to be reminded of the laws of nature - how amazing and cruel it can be at the same time.

[Lesley]

I think it is a very thought provoking post as well.

 

On a smallholding, we have to live with both foxes and outdoor cats and see the behaviour of both at close hand. We protect our hens behind electric wire and do our utmost to keep them safe. So far, we've not had a problem from the fox.

 

I have read that a fox kills all that it can but only appears to take one bird and that can be seen as cruel, but if left to its own devices, the fox would return to collect and hide the rest of its kill. We mostly don't know whether this is true as most people don't give it the chance to come back

 

The same can be said of dolphins who plague the salmon farmers - the dolphin is only following its instinct and can see an easy meal - they are hardly likely to pop onto dry land and visit the supermarket for a few cans of tuna

[Couperman]

I don't think there is a mega anti fox thing going on this forum. I would rather foxes lived happily somewhere else so I didn't have to worry so much, but they exist and have every right too. I admit if I came home to feathery carnage I would no doubt scream a few anti-fox sentiments for a while but I think I would be more upset with myself for not being able to prevent it.

 

I don't know how many foxes we have around here but I would bet its more than most who live here would think. I don't think you would ever see me feeding a fox though I would be scared that it would have me hand off! I think it stems back to a Rabies drama I saw as a kid can't remeber what it was called.

 

Our cat Piper is absolutely useless at catching anything. She would get beat up by a gang of field mice.

 

Kev.

[Olly]

Thanks Ziggy for this thoughtful approach - I do agree, and I think part of the problem is in using human emotions to describe foxes (or cats, for that matter!) Foxes are not cute, furry and cuddly, as some people seem to think, but neither are they evil, cunning, spiteful etc. - they are just wild animals, doing what they are designed to do!

 

That's not to say that I didn't call the local fox a few words when I caught him stalking behind the Eglu - but if he had caught one of my girls, I'd have been blaming myself.

 

Unfortunately it's the 'cute 'n' cuddly brigade who feed them unsuitable food and encourage them. I think it's right that foxes breed according to the food supply; so if they are fed regularly, they will have more cubs. Left to nature, they probably wouldn't breed as much.

 

PS I also have a keen hunting cat, and as you say - it's not because he's hungry.