missed my first cub of the season!

[dusty 0]

thats a nice pic busterdog.

 

back to post seen a cub out today takin a dump on the railway line so they are out & above ground in worcestershire.

[langouroux 14]

busterdog...how did you dispatch those cubs? not sure i would have the heart to dig them out so young. i am a but if a wuss when it comes to small fluffy things though.....ask the Mrs! hahahaha

[garyw 0]

my mate shot a heavy vixen on wed night on our shoot-some d.i.y autopsy skills and 7 cubs were about 2 weeks off being born,saves a load of hassle later on when pheasants/partridge are trying to bring on there young.

[murphymax 9]

jesus! bit more of a reaction to this thread than i expected!

 

i suppose it could have been a very small vixen or one of last years cubs...but it was fecking small...like the size of a small jack russel ???

 

any way as you can probably tell i have only just started fox shooting as before now i have only got .22LR so unless it was a an "opportunistic" fox i haven't done a lot of fox shooting at all. probably only shot 4 or 5 since i got my FAC so there is a good chance it might not have been a cub. clearly i still have a lot to learn about fantastic mr fox!

 

hahaha either way i wont be using the 12G for them...i just can't get the hang of it under pressure, fine with clays but thats about it!

HOPE you dont intend to use your .22 lr for Fox either not the proper gun for a fox centre fire rifle is what you need !!!

And before you all jump in this has been discussed BEFORE on mimimum size for FOX

[murphymax 9]

When do you stop then?? Vixens in some places are well set in Jan..I know of three litters above ground now.Also plenty of heavy vixens about not yet dropped ..Nothings set in stone

TO SAVE ALL THE HASSLE....

as you know of 3 litters above ground get a picture of them with a newspaper in one hand and get the cubs in the background.

WONT BE THAT HARD....

 

110% NO CUBS above ground moving about in hedgerows in and around Lothian & Borders

 

 

i see no reason to doubt that donny c has cubs in his areas,why would i?? he has some valuble input into some threads on here.

i'm sure he has little need to provide proof to any of us.

i find it very likely that there are also foxes knocking around(cubs) in most areas which we have not seen/do not know of. the studies have been done,the evidence is there of early mating(aug-sept) and as the fox cannot "slow gestate" as the badger will they MUST be born early weather conditions fitting or not.

waidmann

 

30 years + FOX CONTROL and never seen FOX CUBS above ground 1st week in march, HEY !!! i am still learning if donny c says he seen them (3 litters) he might have seen ELVIS... MICHAEL JACKSON and LORD LUCAN down the pub having a pint together thats another 3 hard to believe sightings...

 

1 Litter could be... but very hard to believe he has seen 3 1st week in march (COME ON GUYS GET REAL)

[murphymax 9]

Dug my first litter last week, don't doubt there's cubs about, but they're just not kicking about hunting for themselves.

 

 

ABOUT 3 WEEKS OLD, NOT YET READY TO COME ABOVE GROUND

[murphymax 9]

Foxs usually mate late november,december time, they carry for 53 days , so cubs can easily be 6 or 7 weeks old by now.

WRONG WRONG WRONG !!!

 

Breeding Biology: In the UK, the breeding season for Red foxes runs from late December to February and the female’s receptive period is short: between one and three days. Vixens begin looking for breeding dens in early February, which will be occupied until at least June. The earth will often have more than one entrance/exit, face south and have a good view - a vixen may dig her own earth or expand an abandoned one. During the mating season, courting foxes may -- although not necessarily -- travel and hunt together for about three weeks; towards the end of the mating season a given pair may mate several times. During the breeding season males can experience a six-fold increase in testis size and -- like other dogs, cats, hedgehogs, bats, rodents and many other species -- foxes have a bony structure in the penis called a baculum. The baculum is a heterotrophic skeletal element -- in other words, it is dissociated from the rest of the skeleton -- that serves to maintain an erection during intercourse. As tissue surrounding the baculum engorges with blood, the mating pair may become locked (or tied) together for between two minutes and more than an hour (although such 'ties' do not always happen). Tracking studies in Bristol have revealed that, after the dominant vixen has ended her oestrus, the male rapidly expands his range (in many instances more than doubling the distance over which he travels) to increase the likelihood of encountering more vixens.

 

 

HAVE A LOOK HERE MY GOOD MAN

 

http://www.wildlifeonline.me.uk/red_fox.html#breeding

[waidmann 105]

i don't think you can say that people are WRONG when it comes to this subject,the breeding season seems to be very fluid in diffrent areas. as i said in my reply earlier in the thread there have been reports as early as SEPTEMBER of foxes tied above ground being hunted up by dogs. this does not fit into our knowledge of the foxes seasons but i do not doubt it being true.(i have also not seen any above ground yet).

as with alot of things "exceptions prove rules". nothing is set in stone,has nobody noticed the difference in developement of fox cubs(within and from different litters) during the summer months? (dental developement,body size/weight etc)some are born earlier than others i would suggest.

 

the fox is in my oppinion a wonderfull creature with very interesting habits(some of which lead me to kill them on sight ).they are very common and well studied but some things are just not predictable with such an intelligent and versatile predator.

 

once again i believe the sightings above to be true(did you really see the king?? )indeed why would someone lie about seeing young foxes?

 

waidmann

[Colster 1]

...During the breeding season males can experience a six-fold increase in testis size...

Jesus!

 

...foxes have a bony structure in the penis....that serves to maintain an erection during intercourse.

Hehe cool! No need for Viagra then.

 

 

I'd imagine like most animals their season is largely determined by the weather (or more specifically the temperature), therefore it's entirely possible for foxes to be further along in the south than they are in Edinburgh and that's likely to be the case every year.

 

I know round here (Norfolk) I saw rabbit warrens where they had clearly been evicted by a vixen not long after Xmas. And certainly the dog's were singing their hearts out around then every sodding night.

[murphymax 9]

i don't think you can say that people are WRONG when it comes to this subject,the breeding season seems to be very fluid in diffrent areas. as i said in my reply earlier in the thread there have been reports as early as SEPTEMBER of foxes tied above ground being hunted up by dogs. this does not fit into our knowledge of the foxes seasons but i do not doubt it being true.(i have also not seen any above ground yet).

as with alot of things "exceptions prove rules". nothing is set in stone,has nobody noticed the difference in developement of fox cubs(within and from different litters) during the summer months? (dental developement,body size/weight etc)some are born earlier than others i would suggest.

 

the fox is in my oppinion a wonderfull creature with very interesting habits(some of which lead me to kill them on sight ).they are very common and well studied but some things are just not predictable with such an intelligent and versatile predator.

 

once again i believe the sightings above to be true(did you really see the king?? )indeed why would someone lie about seeing young foxes?

 

waidmann

 

HIS words....

 

Foxs usually mate late november,december time, they carry for 53 days , so cubs can easily be 6 or 7 weeks old by now.

 

THIS IS WRONG...FOXES DONT USUALLY MATE LATE NOVEMBER EARLY DECEMBER TIME

 

Breeding Biology‎: : In the UK, the breeding season for Red foxes runs from late December to February

 

FACT FACT FACT