Fox everywhere

grymster2007 · June 8, 2009, 08:40 PM

I killed a small, 18" rattler in the driveway yesterday and buried it about a foot deep. I'd have went deeper, but the soil here is very rocky and that's all I could muster. Anyway, came home from work tonight and notice the hole's been disturbed. Looks like something stole my rattler! Got the shovel and cleared out the hole to make sure. Yup, it's gone. Twenty minutes later I'm in the screen room and a fox walks on by about 30 feet away.... in broad daylight. I clapped my hands and it didn't even look. I yelled and it briefly glanced my way and continued about it's business, climbing a downed oak and nosing around boulders and such.

I've been here for eight years and this year I've seen way more fox than in the past and they seem much bolder, where more and more I see them in daylight hours. I think that's what ate my rattler, which by the way was the the first rattler I've seen here on the property. I'm wondering what's going on and can only figure maybe there's some kinda cycle and currently there's abundance of rodents.

Anyone else in N. CA notice an abundance of predators this year?

kraigwy · June 8, 2009, 10:32 PM

Check around, you'll probably see an increase in cotton tails. Rabbits go in cycles (normally 7 years), and when they get thick, so do the foxes and other critters.

Its happening here too. Rabbits have increase and so have the foxes. Problem is foxes destroy a new turkey crop, (not to mention my chickens)

I shoot everyone I see.

grymster2007 · June 8, 2009, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Check around, you'll probably see an increase in cotton tails.

Ah hah! That's it, I've seen many more rabbits this year and way farther up off the flatlands. Been steering my chopper around them an a fairly regular basis. Think you nailed it.

Art Eatman · June 8, 2009, 10:57 PM

No point in burying a snake. Foxes and coyotes gotta eat. So do buzzards.

Foxes like spaghetti sauce, I discovered.

grymster2007 · June 9, 2009, 09:30 AM

With the missus overseeing the operation, it never occurred to me to not bury the snake.

And while it appears the fox got fed anyway, in the future I'll try and leave the carcasses available for scavengers.

BTW: My first thoughts for dispatching the venomous little bugger involved firearms, but logic won out and I wielded the shovel instead.

ZeSpectre · June 9, 2009, 09:53 AM

I'm having the same thing in Virginia right now. I've seen actual groups of fox (and skunks) wandering around the golf course in the evenings. I think they are feeding heavily on all the nightcrawlers that are surfacing due to all the rain we've been having.

langenc · June 29, 2009, 07:58 PM

climbing a downed oak....

that probably makes it a grey fox--but still a fox.

comn-cents · June 29, 2009, 08:49 PM

I live in a very populated area. 2 miles from downtown. My house has been here since 1978, not a new development. This morning at 5 am two coyotes killed my cat in my back yard. Seems to be going on everywhere. It sucks.

Doodlebugger45 · June 30, 2009, 01:16 AM

Not the same cycle, but this year I have noticed more rock chucks than ever in my wanderings.

grymster2007 · June 30, 2009, 07:20 AM

Quote:

climbing a downed oak....

that probably makes it a grey fox--but still a fox.

Yup!

Quote:

two coyotes killed my cat in my back yard.

Sorry 'bout your cat comn-cents.

rantingredneck · June 30, 2009, 07:29 AM

I gots bunnies running all over the place around here. And I'm also seeing a lot of foxes, both alive and dead on the highway.

I guess they were chasing the chicken and didn't quite make it.

.

srt 10 jimbo · June 30, 2009, 09:42 AM

Being overrun with Iguanas down here.

June 8, 2009, 08:40 PM	#1
grymster2007 Senior Member Join Date: May 22, 2007 Location: In the oak studded hills near Napa Posts: 2,203	Fox everywhere I killed a small, 18" rattler in the driveway yesterday and buried it about a foot deep. I'd have went deeper, but the soil here is very rocky and that's all I could muster. Anyway, came home from work tonight and notice the hole's been disturbed. Looks like something stole my rattler! Got the shovel and cleared out the hole to make sure. Yup, it's gone. Twenty minutes later I'm in the screen room and a fox walks on by about 30 feet away.... in broad daylight. I clapped my hands and it didn't even look. I yelled and it briefly glanced my way and continued about it's business, climbing a downed oak and nosing around boulders and such. I've been here for eight years and this year I've seen way more fox than in the past and they seem much bolder, where more and more I see them in daylight hours. I think that's what ate my rattler, which by the way was the the first rattler I've seen here on the property. I'm wondering what's going on and can only figure maybe there's some kinda cycle and currently there's abundance of rodents. Anyone else in N. CA notice an abundance of predators this year? __________________ grym

June 8, 2009, 10:32 PM	#2
kraigwy Senior Member Join Date: June 16, 2008 Location: Wyoming Posts: 11,061	Check around, you'll probably see an increase in cotton tails. Rabbits go in cycles (normally 7 years), and when they get thick, so do the foxes and other critters. Its happening here too. Rabbits have increase and so have the foxes. Problem is foxes destroy a new turkey crop, (not to mention my chickens) I shoot everyone I see. __________________ Kraig Stuart CPT USAR Ret USAMU Sniper School Distinguished Rifle Badge 1071

June 9, 2009, 09:30 AM	#5
grymster2007 Senior Member Join Date: May 22, 2007 Location: In the oak studded hills near Napa Posts: 2,203	With the missus overseeing the operation, it never occurred to me to not bury the snake. And while it appears the fox got fed anyway, in the future I'll try and leave the carcasses available for scavengers. BTW: My first thoughts for dispatching the venomous little bugger involved firearms, but logic won out and I wielded the shovel instead. __________________ grym

June 9, 2009, 09:53 AM	#6
ZeSpectre Senior Member Join Date: June 4, 2007 Location: Shenandoah Valley Posts: 3,276	I'm having the same thing in Virginia right now. I've seen actual groups of fox (and skunks) wandering around the golf course in the evenings. I think they are feeding heavily on all the nightcrawlers that are surfacing due to all the rain we've been having. __________________ "The dogs may bark but the caravan moves on"

June 29, 2009, 08:49 PM	#8
comn-cents Senior Member Join Date: June 18, 2008 Location: Pac.N.W. Posts: 1,804	I live in a very populated area. 2 miles from downtown. My house has been here since 1978, not a new development. This morning at 5 am two coyotes killed my cat in my back yard. Seems to be going on everywhere. It sucks. __________________ Be Smarter Than A Bore-Snake!

June 8, 2009, 10:57 PM	#4
Art Eatman Staff in Memoriam Join Date: November 13, 1998 Location: Terlingua, TX; Thomasville, GA Posts: 24,798	No point in burying a snake. Foxes and coyotes gotta eat. So do buzzards. Foxes like spaghetti sauce, I discovered.

June 29, 2009, 07:58 PM	#7
langenc Senior Member Join Date: August 19, 2007 Location: Montmorency Co, MI Posts: 1,551	climbing a downed oak.... that probably makes it a grey fox--but still a fox.

June 30, 2009, 01:16 AM	#9
Doodlebugger45 Senior Member Join Date: April 15, 2009 Location: Wyoming Posts: 1,717	Not the same cycle, but this year I have noticed more rock chucks than ever in my wanderings.

June 30, 2009, 07:29 AM	#11
rantingredneck Senior Member Join Date: January 12, 2007 Location: North Carolina Posts: 4,728	I gots bunnies running all over the place around here. And I'm also seeing a lot of foxes, both alive and dead on the highway. I guess they were chasing the chicken and didn't quite make it. . __________________ NRA Member NC Hunter's Education Instructor PCCA Member (What's PCCA you ask? <- Check the link)

June 30, 2009, 09:42 AM	#12
srt 10 jimbo Senior Member Join Date: September 10, 2008 Location: Fort Lauderdale Posts: 955	Being overrun with Iguanas down here.