Mangey foxes

[Gary in MD]

I’m seeing a lot of mangey foxes around in the last year. I’ve killed two just this week and saw at least two yesterday, killed one of them. Well, it’s good shooting anyway….
Tikka 22-250 with 55 grain Sierra Blitz Kings.
These are the two from this week. Did them a favor!

 

[D Coots]

93 was a wet year here in Iowa. Had a decent fox population. They started getting the mange, killed them off and the coyotes moved in....foxes never recovered.

 

[1lessdog]

I shot this one middle of Jan and it was -10 degrees and it was coming to a call.

 

[22BRGUY]

93 was a wet year here in Iowa. Had a decent fox population. They started getting the mange, killed them off and the coyotes moved in....foxes never recovered.

Same thing happened in southern Minnesota about 30 years ago.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

Still see a few out in the winter, like em to much to shoot em. Hoping there could be a strong return, but the corn crop tillage has changed. Mange seemed to come in when hog confinement sites boomed and the dead were piled outside. Still have the hog buildings, but coyote are now the visitors.

 

[HandgunHTR]

I personally prefer foxes to yotes, so on our property in WV, we have hammered the yotes and we leave the foxes and bobcats alone. Seems to have worked out for everyone. Our turkey recruitment was amazing this year, we are seeing more rabbits than ever before, and we even have possums back. We have at least 2 breeding pairs of bobcats and 3 or 4 pairs of foxes, so I am sure we will have to do a bit of management in a couple of years, but overall we have a pretty good balance on our 1000 acres.

 

[Gary in MD]

Yea, when they are healthy that’s all fine and good. I let a big pretty, cherry red one walk this morning. But if you don’t kill one that you see that has the mange then you aren’t doing the rest of them any favors.
Gary

 

[markT]

Looks like Dr. Blitz King made a house call.

 

[boltfluter]

Definitely did them a favor. That looks horrible to say the least.
Paul

 

[D Coots]

If a healthy fox goes in a den a mangey one was using, isn't that how it spreads?

 

[nakneker]

Mange, NASTY! It gets bad around here when the coyote population is on overload. I was calling one time on the Navajo reservation with my brother, a coyote that looked more like something out of horror movie came in on his side he shot it at about 10yards. A bunch is dust came off off the coyote and into the air on impact, it was visible mange cloud that settled right where my brother was sitting, he came out from under the cedar tree hacking and dry heaving. I was laughing and he acted like he might shot me next. Pretty gross visual. The poor coyote had about 5% of it’s hair left, his body was riddled with cracks and sores, definitely put him out of his misery.

 

[wedgy]

I live and hunt coyotes on the fringe of a city where the coyotes pick off a lot of rats and mice that have been poisoned by various rodenticides(warfarin, chlorophacinone, diphacinone) which weakens their immunity making them more susceptible to mange. I definitely see more mangey yotes near the city than out in the wilderness. There was a UCLA study that found poison in 90% of bobcats;
"“Virtually every mountain lion we test has rat poison in its system, and so do 90 percent of the bobcats,” Riley said. “We’ve found three mountain lions that bled to death internally, "

2 studies link household rat poison to changes in L.A. bobcats’ immune system and genetics

“This is a pervasive, global problem.... It’s in all types of landscapes — urban, rural and even untouched environments,” says Seth Riley, a co-author of the research.

newsroom.ucla.edu

California has since banned several of the pesticides.

 

[Gary in MD]

I also have noticed that once a mangey fox is killed, that other scavengers don't want anything to do with the carcass of the dead fox. I'm not sure why, I think it's because the other animals can detect the disease and stay clear of any infected animal. Even the buzzards seem to avoid them.

 

[houser52]

Killed this one a few weeks ago. I had the rifle in the truck while checking pasture fences and saw it trotting out across the pasture. Tried to stop it but it didn’t break stride. Put the crosshair on its nose and fired.
Pretty rough shape.

 

[Jr solocam]

It's tough shooting these guys. I get it. But it needs to be done. My GSD takes care of my coyote/ fox problems.

 

[D Coots]

It's tough shooting these guys. I get it. But it needs to be done. My GSD takes care of my coyote/ fox problems.

I used to have a great time sneaking up on foxes and shooting them. Cold, snow, snowshoes sometimes, lots of walking. 20+ years ago...

Wouldn't shoot one anymore, but a coyote, that's a different story. Won't spend time chasing them like I used to, but if they give the opportunity....

 

[Gary in MD]

I think that you have to keep the population under control. Around here, after the fur prices tanked years ago, the fox population exploded. Say goodbye to the pheasants, quail, rabbits, young turkeys, etc. Also disease can set in once the predator population gets out of control.
So I shoot a few, especially when I see them with the mange.
Gary

 

[Jr solocam]

I'm friends with a rancher in SD. After the April blizzard last year, he is also a pilot. He killed 600 coyotes. Called in the state to kill 2 mountain lions. Coyotes are a scourge. They try to kill everything. My dogs fight them every night.

 

[Jr solocam]

My border Collie/ heeler cross weighs 80 lbs. Big for breed. My GSD is 125lbs. Every morning is an adventure.

 

[D Coots]

A friend had a Great Pyrenees several years ago. He went after coyotes howling in the field a quarter mile from the guys house. The guy heard the fight going on and went down. He carried the Pyrenees back. He was Tore Up...the guy sewed up his dog himself.