I `m on a site with a about a hundred plots. This year our two residents vixens have produced four cubs. There are houses surrounding the whole of the allotment site. A lot of people feed the foxes in the houses and also they are fed on site with fox food with mange medicine in, as people bring their dogs to the site. I have about a 6 or so people that now have it in for the cubs and their mums and keep trying to scare them off the site saying they are damaging their plots. I have spoken to them nicely about the law and how it is an offence to distress them and scaring off the site will only result in another family of foxes moving in but they are continuing to make life difficult for them.
Any ideas on how to resolve this issue?
Thanks
I think there is nothing worst than the public feeding wild animals like foxes and badgers, personally I would not even treat them for mange just let the vermin die.
We tolerate them on our site because the boundaries aren't fox-proof and the damage they do is relatively minor. But they have to fend for themselves, feeding wouldn't be tolerated. You are allowed to take measures to rid your property of foxes, (the DEFRA website has a good explanation) so there probably aren't any laws being broken by people trying to scare them off. Sounds like maybe you need a compromise solution given that you appear to have both 'lovers' and 'haters'?
We were saying the other day that we thought there would be wild rabbits roaming the allotments after the veggies but an old timer said it was because there was a couple of opportunist foxes roaming the site although I have never seen one upto now
You could leave some poisoned biscuits out as bait for the 'haters' ;D
While I agree with you about feeding wild animals thus making them depend on humans, They are wild animals, and not vermin, live and let live I say. the world is for every living creature including man, and he is the biggest destroyer of all .
Bridghouse
Sorry in my book they are vermin and before the anti hunting bill was brought in I would of been down on them with my lurchers and my mates terriers, if I was on those allotments there would not be a VERMIN problem.
Foxes keep rodents down, and we had chickens for years in Cornwall, with foxes all around, and never lost one. Personally I like having them about, but I woulsn't feed them. There are too many dangers already in a city without giving them the idea that humans are their friends.
Agree foxes do keep rodents down when they are not fed scraps by humans and when a fox does leave any scraps along come the rats to clean up,
We've foxes on our site. On my plot they've worn a track across the middle of it (which is now one of my paths) and dig the occassional hole here and there. This I can easily put up with as it is nothing compared to the enjoyment of watching the cubs play fighting or of talking to the adults as they sit on the end of the plot and watch me dig of an evening. Just a pity that all the plots where thefoxes lived are now taken and there are more people on the site, so less likely to see the foxes this year I think.
I remember that my dad kept chickens for years. Never had a problem with foxes. In fact he had more trouble with the foxhunters damaging his land.
Do the people who are complaining about the foxes on your plot actually have any evidence that they are causing any serious problems, or are they just the type that are out to destroy everything that doesn't fit into their blinkered view of the way the world should be?
Quote from: Mr Smith on June 06, 2008, 07:30:52
Sorry in my book they are vermin and before the anti hunting bill was brought in I would of been down on them with my lurchers and my mates terriers, if I was on those allotments there would not be a VERMIN problem.
On the site I have just moved onto, there are a lot of rabbits.
But there are foxes on site as well feeding off the rabbits.
One of the other plot holders told me the other day he has seen a fox with a rabbit in it's mouth so they are feeding off the rabbits.
In my book nature is the best pest control
We have a manky old fox that visits our plot - I've seen 2 pigeon carcases & there's no rabbits. I've also had a little bit of digging, but only in 2 places & I think it was to get at rats. All in, I prefer the fox to the alternative. My ex-gamekeeping and still shooting uncle cannot get his head around that, but I'm not growing partridges!
Don't have aproblem when vermin feeds off vermin.
i like foxes :)
Quote from: Mr Smith on June 06, 2008, 07:30:52
Sorry in my book they are vermin and before the anti hunting bill was brought in I would of been down on them with my lurchers and my mates terriers, if I was on those allotments there would not be a VERMIN problem.
Haaaaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaaaaaa so glad you can do sweet fa about them now that hunting has been banned and long may it continue.
I don't have the answer Fuchsia . I feed the badgers in the land around my home with a few peanuts every now and then and me and my dogs sit and watch them for hours. We have the odd inbred who tries to harm them and I have had to chase the odd one away. Best of luck.
Silly Billy,
Can't do fa about it now ;D ;D ;D ;D if you say so ;)
I and the law say so.
Billy, We have our own laws in Leicestershire when it comes to field sports ;)
I have always found it strange that grown men get their jollies from killing defenseless animals. Oh well what ever turns you on I suppose. I will say no more.
A|t least they either kill the animal or they don't. They don't leave it with its leg blown off like people with shotguns often do. They've also got an interest in maintaining a healthy fox population rather than exterminating them, and in maintaining the right environment for them. Personally I'd let the hunts be. It's not my thing, but each to his own.
Can you stop foxes digging?
Yes, this is comparatively easy. Foxes dig shallow holes in lawns, allotments or playing fields when they are hunting for earthworms and grubs; they eat a large number of cutworms (the caterpillars of Moths) and beetle larvae, such as wireworms. These only come near the surface in wet Periods and so this sort of damage is seasonal. It occurs mainly in wet springs and warm wet autumns.
If the damage is not too severe you can ignore it and it will cease as soon as the weather changes. You can then repair. Otherwise, you can remove the grubs and earthworms by using a commercially available insecticide and vermicide available from garden centers and DIY stores.
This Course of action should only be considered in extreme circumstances, due to the need to reduce the use of all pesticides in the environment.
Very occasionally, foxes dig much deeper holes in lawns or bowling greens. These can sometimes be
Half a meter or more deep and the lawn looks like a battlefield. This usually occurs when a blood or
Bone-based fertilizer has been applied; the foxes think there is a corpse and being Scavengers, frantically dig to find it. All you can do is water or wait for the rain to wash the fertilizer deeper so That they cannot smell it.
One of the best things I like about allotments is that when you are not busy digging or planting, you can generally sit back listen to the birds, watch the rabbits & hares (on the other side of the rabbit proof fence hopefully!), and occasionally catch sight of a fox or badger or something equally exciting.
At my first home (in Leicestershire) I had a fox that lived in the garden, I didn't feed her, as being in the countryside she kept the other small rodents to a reasonable level. When she had cubs she bought them out under the damson tree at the back of the garden so they could play and she could sunbathe I still have some old pictures.
Similarly in my new home we have fox, badgers, weasels (rare to see and too quick to photograph, but breath taking to watch if they find a rabbit and do a death dance) and a couple of days ago a large grass snake. Apart from the odd squirrel trying to find places for the winters nut store we haven't had any serious damage - the odd hole doesn't really matter.
I am not a vegetarian so accept that animals die so I can eat meat, but I don't see the point in killing something I can't eat.
Rambled on a bit - but the point I am trying to make is that on the whole watching our British wildlife gives much more joy than the minor damage that they may cause.
Robert B
I rest my case ;)
Nothing better than watching the foxes at our site! I love them!!!
I'm always in awe at the wildlife that lives around us, how it tries to integrate
into the changes we make to the land. Some people will never understand the magic of the creatures that live near us.
I find some kids more hassle than the wildlife. Nobody ever blurts out about
hunting them down though to stop the problem....
Andy ;D