western australia

My mother declared war on a fox

@JudyEv (325759)

Rockingham, Australia

April 24, 2022 4:48pm CST

My mother kept a diary for many, many years and I’ve been slowly going through them and more or less summarising them. They document the day-to-day activities on the farm, rather than her thoughts and feelings. We had a lot of chooks (chickens). Mum often sold eggs and/or dressed chooks. She raised turkeys for sale at Christmas. Mostly we tried to keep the chooks in big yards (at least house-block size) but the bantams always liked to do their own thing and would sleep high in the trees or in the stable, etc. Here are diary entries regarding a war between Mum and a fox through November/December 1971. From time to time, foxes made off with a chook or two but this one really developed a liking for poultry. November 21: Set fox traps. Fox killed 5 chooks last night. 22: Fox took 1 chook, 3 chicks 23: Two lots of feathers in fox paddock 24: Three chooks taken last night. Set traps round bird cage with bantam in it. 25: No fox last night 26: Two chooks last night. Set traps in orchard corner. Tied up chook. 27: No fox last night 30: Fox got 2 chooks. Dad put extra 3 feet (of netting) on chook yard fence. December 1: No fox last night 3: Fox took turkey hen 6: Fox got 5 chooks last night There is then no mention of foxes for quite some time so I’m not sure what happened after that. Maybe any fox cubs grew up and went hunting for their own food. Losing so much poultry would have been very upsetting for Mum. I know readers may not agree with setting traps, etc but in those times, pests were dealt with in whatever way worked. Photo was taken by me of a fox crossing the yard on our farmlet.

17 people like this

16 responses

@kaylachan (57635)

• Daytona Beach, Florida

24 Apr 22

Sometimes you have to do what you have to do no matter how you feel about it.

4 people like this

@MrDenata (12194)

• Indonesia

24 Apr 22

Yes, sometimes we did that

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

25 Apr 22

That's true and the poultry was an important source of income for my mother. They didn't rely on it per se but it helped buy a lot of small items.

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

25 Apr 22

@MrDenata Sometimes you just have to do these things.

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@rakski (112925)

• Philippines

25 Apr 22

that is understandable. I declared ant war a few years ago too

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@rakski (112925)

• Philippines

27 Apr 22

@JudyEv I agree!!

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

25 Apr 22

Sometimes you just need to get rid of these pests.

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@rsa101 (37952)

• Philippines

25 Apr 22

Looks like your mum lose so many to the fox that preyed on your chooks. Have you read about the fox getting trapped at all, It seems like the fox won the war against them.

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

25 Apr 22

I'm sure they would have got the fox in the end. Maybe the higher fences helped.

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@FourWalls (62125)

• United States

25 Apr 22

Darn, I wish there’d been an entry that said, “Got that blasted fox, we’re having fox stew for dinner tonight!”

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

25 Apr 22

There are many entries over the years where one entry will say 'laid baits for fox' then next day 'Got my fox'. Mum took it as a personal challenge. But we never ate them.

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@wolfgirl569 (95165)

• Marion, Ohio

25 Apr 22

Fox can be very hard on poultry. I agree with your mum. Get him.

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@wolfgirl569 (95165)

• Marion, Ohio

25 Apr 22

@JudyEv Yes they are. So far the mama fox here has been a good girl. She stays away from the coops. But one of her babies last year was trying to figure it out and finally went in a trap before getting in the runs

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

25 Apr 22

Once they get a liking for poultry and work out it's an easy meal then they can be very persistent.

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@Deepizzaguy (94512)

• Lake Charles, Louisiana

24 Apr 22

Thank you for sharing the diary of your mom dealing with foxes in her farm over 50 years ago. I guess every part of our world has to deal with animals that raid farms around the world.

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

25 Apr 22

There will always be pests on farms - and in other places.

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@Deepizzaguy (94512)

• Lake Charles, Louisiana

25 Apr 22

@JudyEv That is true since in areas where there is water there will be gators, frog and crocodiles.

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@snowy22315 (169959)

• United States

27 Apr 22

I guess the fox knew where to get easy meals.

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@snowy22315 (169959)

• United States

28 Apr 22

@JudyEv I know a lady that had a few chickens and a duck or two. They all became casualties of the local fox. She has a very rural looking property in the heart of an urban one. It goes to show you foxes are everywhere. Even my son who lived across from a metro train had some fox issues.

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

28 Apr 22

Once it realised how easy it was, there was no stopping it.

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@rebelann (111164)

• El Paso, Texas

24 Apr 22

Those chooks were her livelihood and that fox shoulda been respectful.

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

25 Apr 22

That's true. She bought a lot of little extras with the money from the poultry.

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@RebeccasFarm (86755)

• United States

25 Apr 22

This is great your Mum kept writings of all that went on

Thanks for sharing with us Judy. I love to read all your parents kept records of

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@RebeccasFarm (86755)

• United States

25 Apr 22

@JudyEv It is so precious to have these.

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

26 Apr 22

@RebeccasFarm There are a few years missing but I've no idea what happened to those years.

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

25 Apr 22

I'd forgotten a lot of stuff so it's been like a walk down memory lane to read these diaries. I'm glad you enjoy reading about them.

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@jstory07 (134456)

• Roseburg, Oregon

26 Apr 22

I hope your Mom was able to catch that fox.

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

26 Apr 22

It's a wonder she doesn't if she did catch it but it must have stopped taking her poultry.

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@LadyDuck (458091)

• Switzerland

25 Apr 22

I am sure your Mom was upset, foxes can be hard on chicks and poultry. I think they are cute animals.

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@LadyDuck (458091)

• Switzerland

26 Apr 22

@JudyEv - I see one time by time running across the field in front of us. I know they do a lot of damages, but we also have Martens here (weasel like mammals) that cause a lot of damages. They like to get inside the cars, from the bottom, and they chew the cables. They also steal the eggs, I have found an egg on top of one of my flower pots, surely a Martens stole the egg from a farm.

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

26 Apr 22

@LadyDuck I have neard of martens, weasels and mink but have never seen any of them in person/animal.

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

26 Apr 22

They are not native to Australia and do a great deal of damage to our little marsupials. But they can be cute, for sure.

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@xFiacre (12595)

• Ireland

24 Apr 22

@judyev Ah the constant battle for survival between (wo)man and beast.

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

25 Apr 22

Mum took it as a personal affront and a challenge.

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@dgobucks226 (34356)

•

26 Apr 22

Maybe that trap got that clever fox since there were no more mentions from you Mum. Seems your Mum was crazy "like a fox."

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

27 Apr 22

She was certainly very cunning at times. No fox was safe from her.

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@CarolDM (203454)

• Nashville, Tennessee

25 Apr 22

How cool to have these memories Judy. I see foxes from time to time here.

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

26 Apr 22

They function quite well in suburbia but I haven't seen one around here yet.

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

27 Apr 22

@CarolDM I remember your photos of the rabbits.

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@CarolDM (203454)

• Nashville, Tennessee

26 Apr 22

@JudyEv I found a nest of baby rabbits in the yard last year. The fox did as well, but he never crossed my fence thankfully.

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@Fleura (29129)

• United Kingdom

25 Apr 22

Wow more than twenty birds taken in just over a week! No wonder your mother was mad, I would have been too. The worst thing is when they just go crazy and kill the birds then don't even eat them. Presumably the fox was never caught?

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

25 Apr 22

I think it must have been or maybe it was feeding cubs and they grew up. There are numerous entries over the years saying 'got my fox'. She usually laid baits for them. We would also shoot them if we had the opportunity but they were pretty cunning.

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@LindaOHio (156159)

• United States

25 Apr 22

Wow that's a huge amount of chickens to lose.

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

26 Apr 22

Yes, it was a real battle for a while but then it all seems to have fizzled out.

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