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disappearing dead fox...where did it go?


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Hello boys and girls.

 

To cut a long story short: last night, the dogs were going mad around 1am. So grabbed the lamp and rifle as our rubbish has been ripped open every tnight recently. First field revealed a fox cub...which looked to be stalking my cat!! Not sure if it was but it was only about 20 yards from the cat watching it intently!

 

squeak squeak and in comes Charlie ... bang, one less fox to worry about. walked down to check it was definitely dead as I took it with the .22lr, once confirmed dead by putting another one in the skull and touching the eye (I always do this now as recently my mate shot a fox with a 6.5x55 which was "dead" with a broad side shot...he walked over and got bitten on the ankle! luckily he was wearing boots!) :(

 

I put it at the corner of the field as we are having the fields bailed for hay tomorrow and i didn't want it getting caught up in the bailer :sick: then off to bed. Thought I would take the tail in the morning.

 

Went down this morning.....no fox! got the dog (flash) out and he found the pool of blood straight away, but flash didn’t seem to think there was a trail anywhere.

 

What happened to it? We have a VERY large buzzard here all the time…..could this be the thief?

 

Answer on a post card…

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I've had the same situation a couple of times. I've been offered a few explanations by various people.

 

Badgers seems to be the most plausible, they are quite large animals and capable of dragging that sort of weight. Far more believable that birds of prey or even a big cat someone once told me :laugh:

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Birds of prey could carry a carcase,as reports of them carrying live animals are common.But they are more likely to feed off it where it is.I think Langaroux said there were no dragging trails as the dog would have tracked it.

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Surely everyone's missing the blindingly obvious. If I leave bunny guts around, or the occasional dead bird, Charlie comes along and cleans up for me. A big dog fox, or even a female, is more than capable of carrying a dead cub away, which would leave vry little blood trail if it had been dead for a while. Of course you'd get the trail of the live fox, but if the dog's trained on blood then it might not follow that.

 

Other option is you're getting old, and forgot where you left it! ;)

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A buzzard would've eaten in- situ and maybe tugged the carcase about a bit . They may look like big birds but surely they can't weigh more than about 3 lbs at most . To carry-off a cat-sized animal would take a small team of em !

 

An adult fox is a possibility though I've seen dead cubs untouched outside of occupied fox earths and I've never seen a fox feeding on one of its roadkill brethren. Does'nt mean it does'nt happen of course .

A badger has to be the best bet . A friend buried his faithfull old Jack Russel in the bluebell woods where the old dog had enjoyed regular walks . It seemed quite a thoughtful and and romantic end . The local badgers thought it was wonderful and the body was gone the next day .

 

So badgers probably . Unless the fox has become a zombie ! :thumbs:

Edited by comanche
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Hello boys and girls.

 

To cut a long story short: last night, the dogs were going mad around 1am. So grabbed the lamp and rifle as our rubbish has been ripped open every tnight recently. First field revealed a fox cub...which looked to be stalking my cat!! Not sure if it was but it was only about 20 yards from the cat watching it intently!

 

squeak squeak and in comes Charlie ... bang, one less fox to worry about. walked down to check it was definitely dead as I took it with the .22lr, once confirmed dead by putting another one in the skull and touching the eye (I always do this now as recently my mate shot a fox with a 6.5x55 which was "dead" with a broad side shot...he walked over and got bitten on the ankle! luckily he was wearing boots!) :(

 

I put it at the corner of the field as we are having the fields bailed for hay tomorrow and i didn't want it getting caught up in the bailer :sick: then off to bed. Thought I would take the tail in the morning.

 

Went down this morning.....no fox! got the dog (flash) out and he found the pool of blood straight away, but flash didn’t seem to think there was a trail anywhere.

 

What happened to it? We have a VERY large buzzard here all the time…..could this be the thief?

 

Answer on a post card…

DEPENDING ON THE SIZE OF THE CUB

 

it is most likely been lifted by its mother and taken away, have seen this before with vixens

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John Galway is on the right lines. It was obviously a werefox. You should have buried it at a crossroads at midnight with a stake through its heart. I recommend you eat lots of garlic. Next time use the 6.5 with silver bullets.

 

Ric.

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strange that one mate, nice shooting though, do you live on a farm then?

 

 

just moved in to a small holding mate.

NICE ONE MATE LUCKY YOU, IF YOU DONT MIND ME ASKING HOW MANY ACRES DO YOU HAVE, I WAS LOOKING TO HOPEFULLY DO SOMETHING SIMILAR MYSELF IN THE NEAR FUTURE AND WONDERED IF YOU COULD GIVE ME SOME INFO, YOU CAN PM ME IF YOU PREFERE MATE, CHEERS ADAM

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yes defo a fox ive witnessed this 1st hand pre ban when i had my good old blue lurcher bitch ,she took a fox cub one night and the vixen was barking like mad at me ,i put the cub in a gorze bush and within ten minutes she moved into to bush i slipped the bitch and missed her (bugger ) but next morning cub had gone

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