Bloody fox!

[hiluxstihl]

Do you mean the antis that objected to you suggesting shooting a cat out of a tree?

 

needs must if you want to reserect an old conversation ill just agree with you as your obviously lacking in social skills and have nothing to be thinking about:001_smile:

[felixthelogchopper]

needs must if you want to reserect an old conversation ill just agree with you as your obviously lacking in social skills and have nothing to be thinking about:001_smile:

 

Lacking in social skills I may be(although in comparison to you I'm the essence of good manners) but I'm not the one resurrecting the conversation by referring to antis. For the record, I myself shoot for the pot and pest control purposes. I just don't think it portrays you as a worthwhile use of DNA to suggest that shooting a cat trapped in a tree is either amusing or acceptable but I suppose we all get our sense of worthwhile in different places. By the way, treat yourself as well as the rest of us to some capital letters and punctuation occasionally.

[hiluxstihl]

Shall we agree its unsafe, impractical unethical and wrong to shoot a cat in a tree? It was something I said on a public forum in jest. I wasn't the first to mention it. I'm willing to move on and forget about this. I shoot vermin and targets. My typing skills may need to be improved!

[ArthurBottlesworth]

Do u have many badgers. That lamb could have been killed by a badger quite easily. Badgers start eating at the back passage and work up

 

I know 1 local farmer who regularly looses quite large lambs at this time of year to broc, i'm talking about pure texels/crosses probably lab sized so 20 odd kg and these are not sick or dying lambs but very lively 1's.

I would say this is quite unusual but must just be a rogue badger that has learned how easy it is to kill them and got the taste for it

 

I found a deer a few years ago that i was convinced had been killed by a big cat, full sized fallow doe ate overnight and dragged 30m throu long grass, turned out after a lot of poking and prodding and skinning, to have been high neck shot by poachers stunning it not killing it, there dog then choked it out (explaining wot i thought where fang marks on throat) then they left it lying and a family of broc's must have ate it overnite

 

Yes we have badgers

I had friend who lost lots of lambs to badger

Seen lots killed by badgers, they roll lamb onto its back and eat out the soft parts --- very characteristic kill --- leave gutless lamb on its back

This was very different ......

It was 40 lb( ish) lamb ....nearly 12 months old ....small sheep really

All that was left was head, shoulders and front legs

All the rest including back legs had gone -- say 30lbs of animal

Eyes still in when found so very fresh ...they were gone hour later ( to crows )

 

I used to walk the fields in middle of night ( takes all sorts)

Allways took gun after that

 

Interestingly my slightly bonkers neighbour cut down a beautiful ash tree that was by his gate

He had to walk under tree to open gate

When I asked him why he'd cut itdown his answer was " black foxes"

I reckon he'd seen a big cat go up the tree and he wasn't taking the chance of it dropping on him

But that my guess..........

[felixthelogchopper]

Shall we agree its unsafe, impractical unethical and wrong to shoot a cat in a tree? It was something I said on a public forum in jest. I wasn't the first to mention it. I'm willing to move on and forget about this. I shoot vermin and targets. My typing skills may need to be improved!

 

[Alycidon]

Yes we have badgers

I had friend who lost lots of lambs to badger

Seen lots killed by badgers, they roll lamb onto its back and eat out the soft parts --- very characteristic kill --- leave gutless lamb on its back

This was very different ......

It was 40 lb( ish) lamb ....nearly 12 months old ....small sheep really

All that was left was head, shoulders and front legs

All the rest including back legs had gone -- say 30lbs of animal

Eyes still in when found so very fresh ...they were gone hour later ( to crows )

 

 

Could be a brood of fox cubs, I have known a ewe, found dead one evening late, next morning mostly gone. Sat over the remnant the next evening, 4 fox cubs.

 

Urban foxes, bait a safe area with dog food spread thinly about 8pm, once it starts going then a wait with a moderated 22LR from an upstairs window with a head shot. Quiet and effective.

 

A

[countrryboy]

Cats tend to skin there prey, must admit i was convinced that deer find was a cat even with the fang marks on 1st inspedtion, had a couple of mates out who also stalk and also sceptical like myself but we were all convinced it was a cat kill.

 

It was only later on back in my shed after i skined it we found a small bullet hole (prob a 22lr only 80m off a road) which just clipped the ridge on top off the spine, which would usually drop it like a stone but it would sooon get up and run off almost unhurt, they have slipped dog on the stunned deer which has just choked it out rather than 'ragging' them and then a family of badger moved in to eat it all in 1 nite, this was a fully grown fallow doe probably 80-100lb.

 

Not saying i don't believe there is big cats out there but sometimes it will be easy to blame them when mibee a a range of random causes.

Know 1 or 2 very experienced countrymen who say they have seen them (althou would never admit that in public) and know a few others who also claim to have seen them but doubt they really know wot they were seeing

[ArthurBottlesworth]

There was article about big cats in the field Magazine

Rang author - he had no doubts at all about them

One flushed on shoot in Bala few years ago, all proper countrymen

read a lot ,

Incredibly secretive animals

In Johannesburg van delivering leopard crashed and leopard escaped

General panic so they put trapsout

And caught three!

 

Capstick ( big game hunter andauthor " death in the long grass" ) was in game area in africa , this was heavily hunted area

 

Client wanted to shoot a leopard , he said not seen one here ever , and nor has any other game hunting party - client moithered so to keep him quiet put bait up trees - to his suprise and embarassment, found leopards

 

In 1960's you could just buy a leopard in Tib Street Manchester, some of those will have been released, and I believe they are breeding in the UK

[splinters]

I think its only non native spieces its illegal to release, grey squirrels etc, because I know the animal rights groups catch mangy urban foxes and release them into the countryside,

 

yes and its is against the law. the local sspca used to release them on the edge of the farm where i have the stalking. they stick out like a sore thumb when you put the lamp on them as they are used to car lights and dont run.

 

i had a wildlife management and pest control company for 5 years and i did a hell of a lot of urban foxes. the easyest way to sort them is to bait them into your garden and shoot them from an upstaies window with a moderated .22 sub.

 

if you create a bait point in the middle of the garden and put somthing like a thick sheet of ply wood behind it to create a safe back drop. bait it for several night then sit out and shoot it on the 3rd night. you need to practise the shot from the window to the bait point so as to be sure of a clean kill as the locals wont like a wounded fox wandering around. only a head shot will do with a .22. i had 7 of the buggers in on gadren one night.

 

most big cities have people who offer the service and know what they are doing. i know there are several in london.

[Farmerdowling]

Looks like I may have an excuse to get a .22 rifle although I'm guessing the neighbours may have a heart attack! What license to I need? I'm a good shot with an air rifle but obviously that is no where near powerful enough for a fox.