# How can I trap a FOX ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?



## pred

I am in need of removing a pesky fox or two from my area, I had a Fox clean me out of 15 Pullets in the spring (march) and was able to introduce it to some lead,,, Never saw it again and all the chickens have been happy,,, I never did find a den nearby,,, Now this past tuesday I had a full grown layer go missing, and found it's crop and pelvis and a few feathers,,, Another Fox has come to visit,,, Now I cannot just stand around waiting for this fox to return, So I dug out about a dozen spring traps and two conibear traps and will be setting all of them shortly,, Now I havent trapped before so any info that you may have as far as bait, Ground falls and what ever other way you can imagine will be appreciated!!!
What is the best bait besides my live chickens (I know they will work), I have Fox urine scent to cover mine, And I buried all my traps in the dirty stinky coop waste, They are older/used traps that I have had laying about for years... So not human stinky at all.
Any poison that you know may work that I can get easially?
I was told that injecting Potassium in meat will do it, But I dont know how much or where to get.....
I think this about covers my questions for now,
I live too close to other houses to sit and call a fox in and shoot it, BUT I also cannot afford to lose my 20 egg/meat chickens at this time.
Any info is appreciated!!!
Thank you
Eileen and Peter,


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## big rockpile

Use a Live Trap baited with Meat or Dog Food.You might catch a great many other Predators before you catch the Fox but you can catch them.

big rockpile


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## Farm 36

From what I was told you have your work cut out for you to trap a fox . I would try to find or hire a fur trapper. If you make him smarter he will get harder to trap and a pro may not even get him . I was told live trappes don't work on fox. Wolf or cotoye urin may work to keep him away.


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## pred

I read that Lion dung will keep a Fox away, But they dont have any at the local supermarket, I was thinking of having my girl stop at a small local zoo and ask them in her sweet womanly voice if they could keep a couple buckets of it...
Maybe next week.
Not even tough I havent really trapped before, The first Fox here I did manage to get in a leg trap on the second night I had 2 set,,, So I understand the ground fall setting,,,,,
I am just hoping to get some more hints and ideas.
I want to watch "Caddyshack" before setting the traps!!!!
Peter


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## Micheal

Wouldn't it just be easier to fix, repair, or block how the fox is getting to your chickens? That is other than spend hours trying to catch that sucker! 
Besides if you have the neighbor's animals around, poison baiting or blind trapping (leg traps) is really is NOT the way to go; not if you want to keep them as friendly neighbors. 
Which brings another point - sure is it a fox and not a neighbor's so called pet? Both will do a chicken in ya know........


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## pheasantplucker

To trap them out of season you probably need to get special permission after showing or proving the damage done by the fox. You may be required to have a trapping permit...probably depends on the state. Trapping a fox (especially an older one) is not as easy as you think. They are extremely wary and will shy away at any smell they're not expecting. Trapping fox is quite the complicated ordeal. You need a 1 & 1/2 leg hold as a minimum. There are many good sources out there, such as Fur, Fish, and Game magazine that regularly outline fox sets. Hawbaker"s books show extensive sets you can build to catch fox. I'd say you're more likely to eliminate the problem by repairing where he has access (as someone before mentioned).


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## pred

My yard is unfenced in the back and front, 265' accross the back which is against the RR tracks (animal alley). In a Suburban neighborhood in which I called animal controll, And unless the Fox is in my garage and wont leave, Or a Den in my yard they wont do anything.
There is a section of heavy woods in the rear of the yard against the RR tracks, The woods which are so thick that I cannot push my way through the vines, But there are a couple of what I call rabbit runs through it,,, And I have seen the Fox before,,, And watched it leave by way of a rabbit run.
I set a few traps just off the run about 100 yards away from my yard,,, I dont know if it will work, But I used Tuna and fresh ground beef in ground falls under a fallen log and another spot, Bait under a large rock in a hidey hole,,,
The Chickens free range in the yard and occasionally on the edge of the wooded area, I have such a bug issue here, Part of the reason to free range is to keep the bug population down, And it is working, But the predator population is up.
I am being cautious about the traps, There are no neighborhood dogs running about that I have seen in the past so many years,,, The occasional house cat that is seen outfront, BUT my Beagle has chased them enough that they dont even come in the yard, I see a cat about once a week on the block, But rarely on my property.....
THE REAL ISSUE IS that up to the early 80s folks would trap up and down the creeks/streams and RR tracks for pelts which could be sold locally,,, But they are long gone and the critters have come back,, Even my neighbor used to trap into the 70s for a little extra $$$,
So I will try and be discrete as possible checking the traps twice a day and hope that I will get this chicken eater.
I dont have the funds to fence in a yard for the birds,,, And let me just say that I fully expect to lose a few chickens a year to hawks and other predators,,, But the 15 I lost in the spring is a real loss to me...
I hope that others are with me here, If I lived in the country I would be expected to shoot a fox raiding the hen house,,, But here in the Burbs it's frowned apon...
Still any advice is appreciated!
Like what is the best bait?
If I lose more, I may have to use one of the Pullets,,, I dont want it to come to that!
Peter


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## longshadowfarms

Pred,

Rodney here, In the early trapping books by some of the greats they describe a "Hutch" like a rabbit hutch with the wire being heavier in the bottom and lower parts of the sides, I double it up, build it high enough for the fox to get under. If you are handy it is maybe a 2 hour job to knock this type of hutch together, I have built a lot of them. You do not have to tell anybody it is for trapping tell them it is to cut down on parasites with the birds. Anyway, then you have a cubby with four perfect places to set coil springs. The Bait, if this is built properly and stoutly, is a perfectly safe chicken or three, I reccommend using a several just because they are happier in groups. After the Chicken smell is there any free ranging fox, ****, possum, skunk or neighbors dog will be under it sniffing around. *Live bait is strictly forbidden these days* so remember it is just a better way to raise birds.

R


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## Micheal

Since you are determined to "trap" your chicken-killer. And since this animal is eating your chickens. You have decided to use tuna and fresh ground beef for bait. I know this is a wild idea, but you may want to change the bait to ahhh, chicken???? Sorry for the sarcasm couldn't resist! 
As others have posted trapping a fox is more luck than skill, but it possible. Baiting is one way, setting some bait on the trap's pan or hanging it up about a foot off the ground with the traps underneath could work. Since you saw the fox use the rabbit runways setting a slightly covered trap in the runway another. 
The problem is, traps trap; whatever trips it will most likely be caught be it fox, pet, ****, skunk, or even the chickens you are trying to protect. This then raises the question once you've trapped "something" how are you going to dispose of whatever you've caught?
One other thought comes to mind, ever thought about an electric fence; maybe 6-8 inches off the ground? It's what I use to keep any 2-4 legged pest out of my garden. This like the trap is an "indiscriminate deterrent"; painful yes, just not as deadly as the trap. An electric fence is easily portable and can even be put on a timer, nice thing to remember specially if you are forgetful as to where you strung it! :Bawling: Now you know why mine is on a timer!!!!! :happy:


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## whiskeylivewire

My man, who traps every year and caught a couple foxes this year offers this advice...well first he asked if it was a red or a grey....anyway he said put the conibear in one of the rabbit runs Either that or bed down your steel trap and he stressed clean trapping wear gloves. Fox are canine and they will smell you and avoid it. Here is a good site of mostly Mo trappers but you might find some more info.. www.trapboard.com good luck! PS only check your traps once in the morning then stay away....they will smell you and avoid the area


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## pred

I saw the bugger this morning, 40 yard from my bedroom window, The tree chickens were fussing loudly at 6:05 am.
It was a young fox, nearly full grown, Hopping and laughing at the teen birds, Their run is 3x8 fully enclosed in chicken wire,,,,, Me 4' from window with a .22 and the fox ran off out of sight,,,,, Dang it!
I went out and saw it started to dig under the run,,, Lucky for me I fenced the bottom too!
Well, Now I am thinking about an electric fence,,, Will it work? Will one good ZAP prevent the thief from coming back? Or will it learn to stay away?
An electric fence seems like a good option,,, I know my dog will find at and then stay away,,,,,
Any electric fence suggestions?
Peter


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## ||Downhome||

hey pred I've got some aluminum thats 2 1/2' wide and 4' long.

I will be installing it roughly an 1 1/2" from the ground all the way around th coop and run. Using the neoprene screws with a neoprene washer front and back to insulate it. then hook up the old fence charger. 

you could get some corrugated roofing and do something simular.

my thought is anything trys digging under they will make contact with the bottom edge , if they hop up to get a better look or try climbing they will make contact and of course if they just get to sniffing it (wich would be the best) and make contact. I think the sheet of metal will give you the best chance of makeing contact rather then the wire. if you wanted you could take it a step farther and burry some (on the flat) 4"-6" from the wall but not to deep (leaveing a inviting spot to dig but not enough space to get through) 
and ground to that. ZAP. It would be fun to have a video camera on it too just to see how high they jump.


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## denaliguide

do you wear latex gloves while settting? Do you know how to make a dirt hole set? Is there a hole in a structure you can set the Coni' in? or a foothold on either side? What size is the Coni'?

There are several other very nasty ways to get this fox, but snares were illegal in Pa. when I trapped there, so you might have to forgo their use

I trapped Delaware and Chester Co's mostly back in the day ( '70's) so I tend to understand the confined nature of what you might find yourself.



DG



pred said:


> I am in need of removing a pesky fox or two from my area, I had a Fox clean me out of 15 Pullets in the spring (march) and was able to introduce it to some lead,,, Never saw it again and all the chickens have been happy,,, I never did find a den nearby,,, Now this past tuesday I had a full grown layer go missing, and found it's crop and pelvis and a few feathers,,, Another Fox has come to visit,,, Now I cannot just stand around waiting for this fox to return, So I dug out about a dozen spring traps and two conibear traps and will be setting all of them shortly,, Now I havent trapped before so any info that you may have as far as bait, Ground falls and what ever other way you can imagine will be appreciated!!!
> What is the best bait besides my live chickens (I know they will work), I have Fox urine scent to cover mine, And I buried all my traps in the dirty stinky coop waste, They are older/used traps that I have had laying about for years... So not human stinky at all.
> Any poison that you know may work that I can get easially?
> I was told that injecting Potassium in meat will do it, But I dont know how much or where to get.....
> I think this about covers my questions for now,
> I live too close to other houses to sit and call a fox in and shoot it, BUT I also cannot afford to lose my 20 egg/meat chickens at this time.
> Any info is appreciated!!!
> Thank you
> Eileen and Peter,


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## Ed Norman

I saw a fox at 5:30 one morning, headed for the coop. I shot it from the upstairs window with a 22. The next morning I was waiting again, and his mate came through the field fencing into the pasture. I shot her, too. 

If you stayed back inside the room with your 22 instead of hanging it out the window, your neighbors would never know. I bet he comes back at about the same time.


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## tinknocker66

I checked with fish and wild life ahead of time in Wa. and they said I was o.k. . I checked with the sherrifs ahead of time they said I was o.k. . The police that came to my house after I shot a deer in season with a tag said I broke the law. I was sited for discharge of a fire arm in city limits. They took my muzzle loader and although it was returned after my court date it still cost me 480$ . DOUBLE CHECK with your local law enforcement before shooting again. Just think of all the chickens you could buy with a fine of that amount.


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## coonripper

Trapping fox in your situation will be easy. I have trapped them for 25 years. If they are coming into your farm they are not affraid of human odors. Boil your traps in walnut hauls to cover the smell of the steel. Thats what they smell for. That and any food odors on the trap. They will dig it up or roll on it for sure if you get any food or lure odors on it. Dig a hole with a clean trowel only the size of the trap, Set the trap in the hold. use a piece of wire screen to cover the trap and sift loose dirt over the trap. Now comes the important part. Pack the loose dirt around the trap. only loose dirt should be over the pan. If the trap wobbles in the hole it needs to be packed more. Make sure the trap is level with the ground. If its to high or to low the fox will avoid it. Now on the upwind side, punch a hole in the ground with a piece of rebar. the hole should be 4 to 6inches away from the trap. Put a gland lure in this hole. Punch another hole just to the left or right of that hole but two inches further away and add a food lure like a mouse bait in it. Should catch your critter. Anymore trapping questions just PM me


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## DavidUnderwood

Catching "a fox" might be luck.
Three or four hundred each season
is not. I use a set more or less like
coonripper does. Every trapper
varies it some. Basically a baited
hole with a trap buried in front of it.


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## fishhead

I would run a hot wire around the coop then hang some tin foil smeared with bacon grease on it.


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## Pops2

if all else fails get you one of these


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## Ed Norman

A gyrene?


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## ||Downhome||

he already caught it, just forgot to post here. you can look on the poultry board for the results!


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## pred

I am so sorry I forgot to post here,
Covered a Havaheart trap with bows from a yew tree to make it into a den.
Baited with dead chicken,









Didnt worry about human scent, Didnt use any stinky stuff to cover my scent, I figured that this bugger comes through the yard where I am each day and I have been peeing all throughout the woods he has to come through, And that didnt stop him.
So I went out one night to replace some breakers at a friends house, and when I got home my beagle ran out into the woods baying like crazy at the trap, I figured another cat/ground hog or the like, But to my surprise was this bugger!








So I sat him down and told him that I would let him go 50+ miles away, But if he came back I would kill him.








I think he understood!
I took the other 5 leg traps and put them away along with a conifer trap,,,
BUT the Havaheart trap is back out in the woods, Closed and in the weather so that if another bugger comes, The trap is nothing new in the woods.
I was surprised to get him in a live trap, The girlfriend is such an animal lover, She said if I had to dispatch him she would not want to know.... And I think I am getting soft,, Since he somehow avoided the leg traps, I figured I'de let him live,,,,, THIS TIME...
Peter


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