Sad news to report, mes amis. Mr Fox had Donald, one of our white ducks, for Christmas dinner. He had Daisy the week before...and poor old Fatty, my black and white duck has disappeared as well. I am so sorry about Fatty because we had him the longest and I did think he had his wits about him with regard to the fox. We still have six young white ducks but we are keeping them in the big shed until the weather gets better as the pond does freeze up and Mr Fox can walk over it.
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| Donald and Daisy Duck - no longer with us |
:o( Once Foxy knows where there's a supper to be had he'll keep coming back till there is no more supper. We had huge problems with our hens going as fox dinner when I was a lass. Sorry you've lost them x
ReplyDeleteThanks CT. It's more upsetting when you've had them since they were babies. Mr Fox has had all next door's chickens as well - eek!
DeleteSince I suspect you are not the type to sit patiently all night in a hide armed with a rifle with which to dispatch Sr. Fox, you might try setting up a 'Trail Camera' hooked up to a bright flash. Might give him a bit of a start and deter future visits?
ReplyDeleteAre you available for hire with your rifle, Hippo?
DeleteI'd love to conceal myself in your back garden, Miss Molly! The last fox I shot was over a duck pond in Leicestershire (also in the middle of bleak midwinter), using a 30-06 Remington which, any professional will tell you, was slight overkill. If you wish for someone who would spend more time looking out for the fox than your décolleté, I would suggest you contacted Monsieur Bashing Bambi, I believe he is licenced to humanely trap and 'dispose' of Foxy Woxys. He lives oop north somewhere and like me, is ex Light Infantry so can shoot straight and is used to freezing his nuts off in freezing bogs. http://bashingbambi.blogspot.com/
DeleteContact him through his blog. At the very least he could give you better advice than I can. If it was a lion taking your field boys or a hippo trashing your garden, that would be different...
Normally I am a pro-fox kind of guy but I probably wouldn't be if I had a duck pond and had lost some pet ducks in this way. When I see a fox in our suburb it is with a frisson of joy. There was one sniffing around at Beau and Peep the other day. Sorry for your loss Molly.
ReplyDeleteI don't like killing animals either YP but the fox is doing my head in now.
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