langouroux 14 Posted June 18, 2010 Report Share Posted June 18, 2010 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… Quote Link to post
higgins 75 Posted June 18, 2010 Report Share Posted June 18, 2010 Looks like possibly some 'do gooder' out walking their pooch has probably put it in a bin liner as 'evidence' of rural crime or to dispose of the remains in a dignified manner, Higgins. Quote Link to post
SportingShooter 0 Posted June 18, 2010 Report Share Posted June 18, 2010 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 Quote Link to post
higgins 75 Posted June 18, 2010 Report Share Posted June 18, 2010 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. Quote Link to post
adamthomas64 1 Posted June 18, 2010 Report Share Posted June 18, 2010 strange that one mate, nice shooting though, do you live on a farm then? Quote Link to post
matt_hooks 188 Posted June 18, 2010 Report Share Posted June 18, 2010 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! Quote Link to post
comanche 3,298 Posted June 18, 2010 Report Share Posted June 18, 2010 (edited) 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 ! Edited June 18, 2010 by comanche Quote Link to post
JohnGalway 1,043 Posted June 18, 2010 Report Share Posted June 18, 2010 Witch craft, or a really good vet. Quote Link to post
murphymax 9 Posted June 18, 2010 Report Share Posted June 18, 2010 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 Quote Link to post
langouroux 14 Posted June 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2010 thanks for all the replies...one of my mates saw a badger in an adjacent field recently, so either that or the vixen i guess. much appreciated. Quote Link to post
langouroux 14 Posted June 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2010 strange that one mate, nice shooting though, do you live on a farm then? just moved in to a small holding mate. Quote Link to post
RicW 67 Posted June 19, 2010 Report Share Posted June 19, 2010 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. Quote Link to post
adamthomas64 1 Posted June 19, 2010 Report Share Posted June 19, 2010 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 Quote Link to post
cassshantia 16 Posted June 19, 2010 Report Share Posted June 19, 2010 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 Quote Link to post
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