live trapping fox?

[espringers]

i made the mistake of not killing momma this year. she had three pups less than 200 yards from my front door. i fear for the pheasants i just released. although i think whacking all three pups would be rather simple once i took care of foxy mcphoxerson, jr., i hate to just kill a family of foxes. so, i've been trying to catch them in my live box trap. i think it may be too small. either than or they are simply too smart to crawl in a crate. anyone had any luck live trapping fox? any sure fire way to do it? if not, i guess i will just shoot them or put out a couple of my old footholds.

 

[KDM]

Whackin' foxes makes me sad in the face. If you have foxes, there's a better than average chance you don't have coyotes and that's a good thing IMO. Not that I blame you one bit, but if there's a way around or through this situation, I'd be all for it. Fox pups aren't the smartest critters. I see'em road killed far to often for my liking, so a large enough live trap should work. If you resort to footholds, I'd try to stay with a 1.5 or maybe a #2 laminated at most. Small foxes equals small legs and feet. Hope you find an alternative to a bullet. Good Luck!!

 

[espringers]

i have no experience with footholds other than when i used to use them to trap gophers as a kid. so, i can catch one with a foothold and it won't break the leg or seriously injure them as long as i check them regularly? tell me more please. also, what the hell am i going to do with a fox in a foothold? i assume 99.9% of the time they get hit on the head once they are trapped. so, i can't quite picture myself being able to transport and release it in a new location after i catch it in a foothold. thanks. and i agree... killing fox... especially when the fur is worthless... makes me sad too. but, i know they have reeked havoc on the duck population in my back yard the last 3 years and i am pretty sure they won't be good for my dumb ass pheasants either.

 

[7mmMag]

I would bet that you could catch the pups in a live trap. They are very curious. As KDM said, I hope you find something other than a bullet. I would love to see the fox population come back.

 

[KDM]

PM me with some details and I will try to help as best I can.

 

[JMF]

No wild canine is easy to catch in a cage trap, though it can be done. You don't have to worry about any size foothold breaking a leg when it closes, broken legs come from poor swiveling of the trap. A simple dirt hole with a trap bedded a few inches in front will do it for fox. Personally I would just feed the fox more pheasants I like seeing them around, even though they do wreek havoc on bird nests.

 

[Lou63]

when I was a kid I did some trapping and after the time I had an animal chew its foot off I wrapped no. 9 wire around one jaw to keep from breaking the legs so they didn't chew off, never had a problem again. Should work on a fox pup.