From: Peter H Jackson, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Someone wrote:
>Of course one thing that few people ever mention about
>controlling foxes is cage trapping. It is humane and very
>efficient.
I missed the start of this thread, but I'm intrigued by the above
comment. My own experience of cage trapping foxes is quite the
opposite. I tried one when I kept free-range poultry in the Weald
of Kent.
More than 400 trap days yielded a total of zero foxes. I tried
several locations all sorts of natural camouflage and every sort
of bait short of a live creature. There was simply nothing I
could do to entice Charlie into the trap, though I did manage to
catch three cats, of which two were feral.
As to cage traps being humane, the domestic puddy-cat seemed
content in the cage, but the feral animals were clearly
distressed after just a few hours captivity. I would say that
they were, if anything, more distressed than a fox or feral cat
in a free-running snare. On the basis of this rather limited and
subjective study, I wouldn't say that a cage trap seemed any
more or less humane than any of the other legal means of
killing foxes. It certainly was about as "efficient" as putting
up a sign declaring my poultry field a "fox-free zone".
Assuming that the quoted comment was made on the basis of first
hand experience, I would be interested to know:
- what was the author's ratio of catches to trap-days?
- was this in a rural, suburban or urban area?
- what make of trap was used?
- what bait and locations were used?
- assuming that the object was to protect livestock rather than
just kill foxes at random, how did the trapper discern whether
the apprehended animal was one which was causing damage?
- what other methods of catching/killing foxes were used in the
same area?
- what was the average annual number of foxes killed per 100
acres in that area?
Thanks in advance for the above info.
Best regards,
Peter.
www.jacksonrifles.com
Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org
List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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