Paid pest control

[FOXHUNTER 5,021]

1 hour ago, ianm said:

Well done! I have had a call from someone i shoot foxes for regularly. Apparently one of his neighbours has had a lamb killed in a building and the lamb was seven or eight weeks old. So i am thinking big dog fox feeding vixen and cubs.   

I remember getting a call out during the foot and mouth outbreak asking if I could come as the farmer had lost 30 lambs in a week. Anyway after a week of being out morning and night I eventually caught up with the culprit,  turned out it was the smallest scrawny little vixen you had ever seen , you wouldn't have thought she was capable of such destruction. 

[Sausagedog 7,381]

17 minutes ago, FOXHUNTER said:

I remember getting a call out during the foot and mouth outbreak asking if I could come as the farmer had lost 30 lambs in a week. Anyway after a week of being out morning and night I eventually caught up with the culprit,  turned out it was the smallest scrawny little vixen you had ever seen , you wouldn't have thought she was capable of such destruction. 

The small scrawny ones are as bad as the big fat ones. We are on about fox's right?

[SheepChaser 8,090]

3 hours ago, Stavross said:

Tried them all, rabbit, pheasant, lone lamb it came in to field mouse but it wasn’t that interested in the call

 

That needs killing, I’m with you that sounds like a large dog, an 8 week old lamb is a big animal for a fox to take, I suppose been in a building it could of cornered it

don't know why I couldn’t upload the picture direct from my phone

Extremely unlikely a fox killed an eight week old lamb, least of all took it away.

[SheepChaser 8,090]

3 hours ago, Baldcoot said:

If he,s raiding barns might be a candidate for a close up with a shotgun ,if he,s not afraid to come indoors for his meal or a go with the distressed lamb call before he gets there .Good luck he,s a definate candidate for the muck pile 

We had one two years ago coming into a lambing barn looking for what it could take. Set some bales up as a back stop and sat up on top of a stack quietly one night and unloaded the semi auto into him as he came into the shed. 

[Stavross 16,960]

These are around 8 weeks and although a sturdy little animal they are a flight animal, if cornered in a shed or paddock I’ve no doubt a fox would kill them, in the past I’ve seen a fox dragging a large lamb down a hedge back, I’ve also seen one dismembering a ewe in the middle of a field, they don’t always take the full carcass away in one go

[SheepChaser 8,090]

10 minutes ago, Stavross said:

These are around 8 weeks and although a sturdy little animal they are a flight animal, if cornered in a shed or paddock I’ve no doubt a fox would kill them, in the past I’ve seen a fox dragging a large lamb down a hedge back, I’ve also seen one dismembering a ewe in the middle of a field, they don’t always take the full carcass away in one go

I’m only basing what I said, on being a sheep farmer. Had a few problem foxes, in fact have one at the moment, but there’s a size limit on what they will tackle when it’s up and healthy. 
 

Tend to find bigger lambs are either the work of Billy, Dogs, or People.

Not saying it couldn’t happen, but I often find Charlie gets blamed for clearing up sick or dead stock etc. 
 

Those lambs would be Over 20kg which when wriggling and fighting for its life is a fair thing to hold onto. 

[SheepChaser 8,090]

Classic fox kill

[Stavross 16,960]

8 minutes ago, SheepChaser said:

I’m only basing what I said, on being a sheep farmer. Had a few problem foxes, in fact have one at the moment, but there’s a size limit on what they will tackle when it’s up and healthy. 
 

Tend to find bigger lambs are either the work of Billy, Dogs, or People.

Not saying it couldn’t happen, but I often find Charlie gets blamed for clearing up sick or dead stock etc. 
 

Those lambs would be Over 20kg which when wriggling and fighting for its life is a fair thing to hold onto. 

I know what you mean, normally after 2 or 3 weeks in the field the foxes don’t bother the lambs, they are primarily a scavenger so they will always take the easy option for a meal, the majority of foxes will tackle an 8 week old sick lamb laid in a field, it will study it first to make sure it’s not going to put up a fight or make a run for it, I’ve seen this on many occasions, if we have dead sheep, be it ewes or lambs of any size we will use them as bait and foxes always approach them with a bit of hesitation 

[SheepChaser 8,090]

Aftermath of fox trying for a big lamb.

[SheepChaser 8,090]

Just now, Stavross said:

I know what you mean, normally after 2 or 3 weeks in the field the foxes don’t bother the lambs, they are primarily a scavenger so they will always take the easy option for a meal, the majority of foxes will tackle an 8 week old sick lamb laid in a field, it will study it first to make sure it’s not going to put up a fight or make a run for it, I’ve seen this on many occasions, if we have dead sheep, be it ewes or lambs of any size we will use them as bait and foxes always approach them with a bit of hesitation 

100% the are opportunistic. Will also eat out a ewe stuck on her back at times. A dead ewe cut open is a great lure for a multitude of things. 
 

People underestimate how much damage a badger will do.

[Stavross 16,960]

1 minute ago, SheepChaser said:

100% the are opportunistic. Will also eat out a ewe stuck on her back at times. A dead ewe cut open is a great lure for a multitude of things. 
 

People underestimate how much damage a badger will do.

Many people think that a badger lives on worms and brambles but they are a far more efficient killer than people give them credit for, they take a kill apart far quicker than a fox, and are a lot more powerful, we get a few on the sheep farm, if anything is buried in the muck heap badgers will normally dig it out, no matter how deep you put it

[SheepChaser 8,090]

7 minutes ago, Stavross said:

Many people think that a badger lives on worms and brambles but they are a far more efficient killer than people give them credit for, they take a kill apart far quicker than a fox, and are a lot more powerful, we get a few on the sheep farm, if anything is buried in the muck heap badgers will normally dig it out, no matter how deep you put it

I’d say in all of the years I’ve been lambing outside our three main killers have been badgers, crows/ravens and then foxes. We don’t have them here but gulls are real bad to. 

[Stavross 16,960]

I completely agree with badgers, if you have them on a sheep farm in any sort of numbers they will kill more than foxes, sheep are a lot more bothered by them, if you see a fox in a field of sheep/lambs it will mingle amongst them, when a badger is in the field everything keep its distance from it and they don’t take their eyes off it

[Sausagedog 7,381]

I think a lot of folk don't speak of badger damage openly incase it gets attention from packhamites! Anyone who knows the real facts would not hesitate with some control measures! Only romancitists would contest it!

[Baldcoot 2,352]

My permission benefited from it before lockdown, whoever's done it gets my thanks