Fox watching?

animalcrazy

Hi is anyone here experienced in fox watching? Where I live is full with foxes and I saw one on my road, I set up a camera in the exact spot I saw him for a week. Unfortunately the camera is fairly old and the battery dies in two hours and I can't afford a new one. I left it running between eight and ten but caught nothing on tape What are good ways to tempt a fox to the spot, I have seen fox callers advertised are they any good? Any suggestions?

It wasn't me!

Yeah, the callers work a treat.

animalcrazy

What exactly do you do with them and how do they work?

It wasn't me!

They're an imitation recording of a squealing rabbit (dinner). You connect it to a speaker and away you go. They're designed for shooting, so the idea is to coax the fox to a lamp, but could equally easily be used to just watch them. Obviously best at night.

meathstevie

Unless it's an urban fox. You'd be better of with a bag of fast food leftovers.

animalcrazy

It's a rural fox

Flukey

We get foxes in the garden regularly. I was watching one last night actually. I was lucky enough to get some great footage a couple of years back. Check this out:

A fox in my garden.

When you are in my videos there, I have a few others that might be of interest. Have a look at the Sparrowhawk one, amongst others.

stevoman

animalcrazy wrote: »

Hi is anyone here experienced in fox watching? Where I live is full with foxes and I saw one on my road, I set up a camera in the exact spot I saw him for a week. Unfortunately the camera is fairly old and the battery dies in two hours and I can't afford a new one. I left it running between eight and ten but caught nothing on tape What are good ways to tempt a fox to the spot, I have seen fox callers advertised are they any good? Any suggestions?

maybe this might work. try buy a fake owl and place it on the groung and buy some meat and leave it a litle away from it. the fox will come to the meat and the fake owl will deter crows and magpies from going in to take it. im no expert but that might just work.

Run_to_da_hills

There is some very friendly foxes about South Co Dublin near where I live, I would leave food out for them at night, perhaps you could do the same.They love dog food, chicken scraps and some milk As I mentioned before the introduction of the lidded wheely bin has had a detrimental effect on wildlife in urban Dublin, ferial cats, crows and magpies have all suffered because they cannot access these bins for food.

I would recommend anyone who cares about wildlife to take an evening stroll the night before bin day and flip all the lids on any blaxk wheely bins in the open position as they are passing so that wild animals can have a good feast before collection day. Crows tend to have their feast at dawn and will leave the bin liners open for the rest of the wild lfe to have their pickings.

The more you feed foxes the more accustomed and friendly they will become. I took photos and posted them on another thread of a friendly fox cub that was no more than a few feet away from me, locals say he is a regular to the area.

stevoman

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

I would recommend anyone who cares about wildlife to take an evening stroll the night before bin day and flip all the lids on any blaxk wheely bins in the open position as they are passing so that wild animals can have a good feast before collection day. Crows tend to have their feast at dawn and will leave the bin liners open for the rest of the wild lfe to have their pickings.

let me get this right. you are recomending to people that they go out at night and flip open other peoples wheely bins, so crows and magpies and cats can rummage around in peoples rubbish?

1 - its illegal to tamper with anyones property.

2 - its just plain weird.

3 - thats the type of thing that you would only expect from a hobo.

4 - what you are doing for wildlife there is essentially spoiling them and getting them used to being spoon fed from bins, henceforth turning them against their natural instincts to go out and forage and hunt for natural food like they should be doing.

5 - who the hell wants to come out of their house in the morning and see their wheely bins being plagued by crows and magpies and cats and have to go picking up their rubbish off the ground after these have been raiding it. not to mention the noise of two tomcats waking you up in the morning fighting over your dinner from 2 nights ago.

really , i dont think you should be putting ideas like that in peoples heads.

Run_to_da_hills

stevoman wrote: »

let me get this right. you are recommending to people that they go out at night and flip open other peoples wheelie bins, so crows and magpies and cats can rummage around in peoples rubbish? ..

Read this horrific story where a family cat was savaged to death by starving foxes in Edinbourgh. The attack comes after wildlife experts warned that foxes were starving in the city and growing increasingly likely to hunt family pets. They blamed the problem on new wheelie bins which meant the foxes could not feed off leftovers they used to plunder from black bin bags. http://news.scotsman.com/foxes/Family-cat-dies-after-savaging.2457850.jp

stevoman wrote: »

its illegal to tamper with anyone’s property..

I doubt if anyone is going to end up in court for flipping the lid open on their neighbours wheelie bin. :rolleyes: If there was a prosecution over the matter it would only draw publicity among animal rights groups and would lead to widespread copycat cases. If people are worried about being arrested they should just concentrate on their own bin by leaving the lid open and keeping all the good food at the top so that the animal won't get stuck trying to get at it.

stevoman wrote: »

4 - what you are doing for wildlife there is essentially spoiling them and getting them used to being spoon fed from bins, henceforth turning them against their natural instincts to go out and forage and hunt for natural food like they should be doing. ..

Rooting in a bin is the natural instinct for urban wildlife ever since they have been cohabitating with man but of course this whole balance has been greatly upset since the introduction of the wheelie bin. By denying an animals of this natural source of food they have now no choice but to turn to more barbaric means such as killing off song birds. Over the last two decades the number of song birds has dropped significantly. In the country it can be blamed on new techniques in road side hedge cutting and open plan farming methods. In the city it can be blamed exclusively on the lidded wheelie bin. Wake up at dawn and you will know all about it, I used to remember the "dawn Chous" as a kid, there is significantly less of it now. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/2165632.stm

stevoman wrote: »

Who the hell wants to come out of their house in the morning and see their wheelie bins being plagued by crows and magpies and cats and have to go picking up their rubbish off the ground after these have been raiding it. not to mention the noise of two tomcats waking you up in the morning fighting over your dinner from 2 nights ago.

We lived for centuries with open bins and did not complain about a couple of cats squabbling over food, they may fight over it now now since food is so scarce. Most houses and apartments would now have double glazing which would keep the noise of animals fighting down, something our ancesters did not have.

I would prefer to pick up a few scraps from the pavement than to have less song birds. The council also pay people to tidy up the streets, they are having it easy since they no longer have to manually lift these bins. wheelie bins. It wouldn't take much for a road sweeper to pass by after every collection, The lads themselves often leave a mess on the ground on bin day.

stevoman wrote: »

really , I don’t think you should be putting ideas like that in peoples heads.

Putting ideas into peoples heads like feeding wildlife. Do you bother yourself to leave out any food out for starving foxes and homeless cats or do you just let them kill off our song birds?

Back on topic, people can view foxes simply by leaving food out for them and they do not need a telephoto lens.

whitser

stop talking gobble de gook.

stevoman

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Read this horrific story where a family cat was savaged to death by starving foxes in Edinbourgh. The attack comes after wildlife experts warned that foxes were starving in the city and growing increasingly likely to hunt family pets. They blamed the problem on new wheelie bins which meant the foxes could not feed off leftovers they used to plunder from black bin bags. http://news.scotsman.com/foxes/Family-cat-dies-after-savaging.2457850.jp
I doubt if anyone is going to end up in court for flipping the lid open on their neighbours wheelie bin. :rolleyes: If there was a prosecution over the matter it would only draw publicity among animal rights groups and would lead to widespread copycat cases. If people are worried about being arrested they should just concentrate on their own bin by leaving the lid open and keeping all the good food at the top so that the animal won't get stuck trying to get at it.
Rooting in a bin is the natural instinct for urban wildlife ever since they have been cohabitating with man but of course this whole balance has been greatly upset since the introduction of the wheelie bin. By denying an animals of this natural source of food they have now no choice but to turn to more barbaric means such as killing off song birds. Over the last two decades the number of song birds has dropped significantly. In the country it can be blamed on new techniques in road side hedge cutting and open plan farming methods. In the city it can be blamed exclusively on the lidded wheelie bin. Wake up at dawn and you will know all about it, I used to remember the "dawn Chous" as a kid, there is significantly less of it now. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/2165632.stm
We lived for centuries with open bins and did not complain about a couple of cats squabbling over food, they may fight over it now now since food is so scarce. Most houses and apartments would now have double glazing which would keep the noise of animals fighting down, something our ancesters did not have.

I would prefer to pick up a few scraps from the pavement than to have less song birds. The council also pay people to tidy up the streets, they are having it easy since they no longer have to manually lift these bins. wheelie bins. It wouldn't take much for a road sweeper to pass by after every collection, The lads themselves often leave a mess on the ground on bin day.

Putting ideas into peoples heads like feeding wildlife. Do you bother yourself to leave out any food out for starving foxes and homeless cats or do you just let them kill off our song birds?

Back on topic, people can view foxes simply by leaving food out for them and they do not need a telephoto lens.

with all due respect, i just cant take what you are saying seriously, but if going around opening peoples bins is what your into, well then by all means go and do it. Im just afraid you will learn your lesson the hard way when you go tampering with the wrong mans wheely bin.

NoNameRanger

Run to da hills, you have got some seriously messed up ideas when it comes to wildlife and protecting it. A little too much Walt Disney and Farthing Wood as a kid i think. Learn a little about ecology and real conservation and stop messing with peoples wheely bins and trying to tame wild animals.

By denying an animals of this natural source of food they have now no choice but to turn to more barbaric means such as killing off song birds. Over the last two decades the number of song birds has dropped significantly.

Honestly where do you come up with this?:rolleyes: What scientific study are you getting this from? natural source of food?:rolleyes: no choice but to turn to more barbaric means?:rolleyes:
I've heard some Animal Rights bullsh!t in my time but this takes the biscuit!:rolleyes:

boneless

Even though I enjoyed the exchange of ideas and opinions folks, can we get back to the topic of fox watching .

Thanks...

whitser

get a good night vision monocular or a lamp with a red filter on it and watch them at night(the lamp will work great provided the foxes arent lamp shy)

Run_to_da_hills

NoNameRanger wrote: »

I've heard some Animal Rights bullsh!t in my time but this takes the biscuit!:rolleyes:

Don't go crying to mammy if you wake up some morning and find your pet moggy gone. Read this article again. http://news.scotsman.com/foxes/Family-cat-dies-after-savaging.2457850.jp


Back on topic, I have seen foxes stalking sea birds at night along the shore beteen Salthill Dart Station and the west pier when the tide is out.

NoNameRanger

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Don't go crying to mammy if you wake up some morning and find your pet moggy gone. Read this article again. http://news.scotsman.com/foxes/Family-cat-dies-after-savaging.2457850.jp


Back on topic, I have seen foxes stalking sea birds at night along the shore beteen Salthill Dart Station and the west pier when the tide is out.

I would not own a cat and i believe that cats are one of the biggest killers of native wildlife and are a far worse scourge than any mink. If you want to save song birds start shooting and killing all feral cats on sight, they are the worst non-native species ever brought to this country. So if the foxes are eating them well thats just fine with me!! I don't cry over the death of a cat!;)

And it is the quantity of food available in urban areas that create such large densities of foxes, feral cats, mapies and hooded crows. This is what is killing song birds. By stopping the feeding of these species you reduce their numbers thus increasing bird numbers in the long term.

Back on topic, buy a fox caller and sit out on a summers evening with it and you are sure to see plenty of foxes.

Run_to_da_hills

NoNameRanger wrote: »

I would not own a cat and i believe that cats are one of the biggest killers of native wildlife and are a far worse scourge than any mink. If you want to save song birds start shooting and killing all feral cats on sight, they are the worst non-native species ever brought to this country. So if the foxes are eating them well thats just fine with me!! I don't cry over the death of a cat!;)

I would agree with you about cats, I lived in Darwin Australia a number of years ago and there was a serious problem with ferrile cats killing off the native wildlife, ie Birds, lizards and reptiles In Queensland the Cane toad took revenge and poisoned any cats that tried to eat them!! It is already law for cats to wear bells in some parts of the States. http://thisisthelaw.wordpress.com/2008/06/17/cat-bells-are-required-in-cresskill-nj/.

NoNameRanger wrote: »

And it is the quantity of food available in urban areas that create such large densities of foxes, feral cats, mapies and hooded crows. This is what is killing song birds. By stopping the feeding of these species you reduce their numbers thus increasing bird numbers in the long term. .

The only way to reduce the numbers of Foxes, Magpies and Hooded crows would be to shoot them and that will not be tolerated by the public and animal rights groups. This is why these wild animals should be fed and be compensated for the recent change of their eating habits.

NoNameRanger wrote: »

Back on topic, buy a fox caller and sit out on a summers evening with it and you are sure to see plenty of foxes.

The "UCaller" is my favourite, about e140 on Ebay with speaker, You can knock some good fun out of ithem and bring some food with you when calling foxes and you should be able to get with in feet of them. Be warned if there are dogs about as these devices will drive them crazy

NoNameRanger

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

The only way to reduce the numbers of Foxes, Magpies and Hooded crows would be to shoot them and that will not be tolerated by the public and animal rights groups. This is why these wild animals should be fed and be compensated for the recent change of their eating habits.

Sorry, but you are wrong. It's basic ecology. If you remove the food source you remove the abilty for these animals to survive in high numbers and to reproduce to damaging levels. Do you suggest we start feeding rats in the towns also to stop them from chewing on electric cables. The more food you provide for wild animals the more wild animals you will have. The more predators you have the more they will impact on prey species (i.e. song birds).
Fox and corvid numbers will regulate themselves quite quickly once the food source is removed. Some animals may starve and die but most will move to more productive territories. Starvation and death are all part of natures way of regulating itself. By your kind artificially providing food for predators you are upsetting the balance and damaging populations of prey species.

People who fight for animal rights frequently make mistakes like this because they humanise animals and upset the balance of nature. An example that has been mentioned in a few posts already is the release of mink from mink farms in the past. These people are usually students or people who have little knowledge of ecology and how the natural world works. So they should leave the wildlife to the wildlife experts to take care of and stick with rescuing cats and dogs.

boneless

One last warning folks. Restrict the posts to fox watching or the thread gets locked. I am a patient fellow but that virtue is not infinate.

animalcrazy

Thanks for all the replies, I'm not that desperate to see a fox that I'd pay 140 euro though. The place is overrun with them here, they are all over the place, I just wanted to catch one on tape, thanks.

whitser

if your near dublin,the car parks in howth near the summit have foxes that will come right up to the car at night.

John Griffin

animalcrazy wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies, I'm not that desperate to see a fox that I'd pay 140 euro though. The place is overrun with them here, they are all over the place, I just wanted to catch one on tape, thanks.

You don't need to spend €140 on an electronic fox caller.

You could make your own with two icepop sticks and a piece of plastic and a bit of sellotape. Put a piece of plastic between the two sticks, tape one side then stretch the plastic and tape the other side and blow through it.

Or get a piece of aeroboard and a small piece of glass, i used to use the glass out of a welding mask, wet the glass a little wit saliva and stroke the glass with the aeroboard, the finer the aeroboard the better. These methods take a bit of practice and trial and error.

You can also buy fox callers that you blow into and ones that have bellows, these can cost as little as €10 and are very handy and work well. Again they need a little practice but this only makes it more fun in the end.

To catch one on tape your best bet is to feed an area and keep it fed so that they return regularly. Rabbit is best but i suppose canned dog food is the next best thing. And you never know what else you might attract, stoats are a good possibility and pine martens depending on the location. You will need to build some sort of a hide beside your feeding area and downwind of the prevailing wind. Once you have them feeding well put out some food sit in the hide and use the caller to speed up the process. Have your camera ready on a tripod because they will detect the slightest movement.

Thats what i do anyway:)

Run_to_da_hills

You can also download various calls from sites and run them through your mobille phone if MP3 compatible on to an external speaker. I use the EEEPC and works wonders attracting magpies.
http://www.allpredatorcalls.com/sound_links.htm

Some manufacturers of threse devices like Ucaller claim they use "native Irish calls" whether a fox can differience between a foreign call or an irish call or not i wouldnt be too sure of.