Rescued Fox Cubs

Jim xyz

Well-Known Member
Hi All,

In work this morning and one of my colleagues tells of how he found a dead vixen and 5 cubs while out walking his dog last night so rescued the cubs before the RSPCA took the cubs away to the local fox sanctuary.

My question is, while the chances are the sanctuary will wean the cubs before letting them go in a local field what are they supposed to do with them? I'm sure I've read they they are not supposed to release them.

Cheers,

Jim
 
They are native wildlife so can be released. Whether they should be is another matter...
 
All gods creatures deserve to be admired and studied and appreciated and should never be regarded as just "targets"... go get some beer cans and a decent backstop if all you wish to do is shoot!
(jeeze i'm going soft)?
 
All gods creatures deserve to be admired and studied and appreciated and should never be regarded as just "targets"... go get some beer cans and a decent backstop if all you wish to do is shoot!
(jeeze i'm going soft)?

have to agree with you here Red dot :tiphat:
Regards pete
 
It is legal to release these cubs back to the wild.

There are some decent animal rescue centres out there who know what they are doing. Dumping wild animals that have been in captivity into a field and leaving them to it is termed a hard release.

Hard releasing tends to work if the animal is adult, has already learned to hunt and survive in the wild before having and accident and ending up in a rescue centre. Hard releases should only take place if the animal is still very anti human and lost none of its wildness. An example.... an adult male otter clipped by a car and has concussion, otter kept in captivity for a short period of time until it has shaken concussion off. Otter taken back to the closest river source to where it was found and released back by opening transport crate and letting it out.

Back to the OP. 5 fox cubs handed into a rescue centre have a better chance of making back to the wild than a single cub. They can be creche reared all together so are continually learning off each other what it is to be a fox. If they are weaned the chances are even higher. Foxes imprint (believe they are human) very quickly if they are bottle fed.

At a certain age it is decided that the sub adult foxes (don't know at exactly what age) can be released back to the wild. A soft release is a time and money consuming operation. I temporary enclosure is constructed in the territory that the foxes are going to be released in. Foxes moved in, humans should not be able to be seen by the foxes when food is being put in, therefore breaking any link between humans and food. Settle animals in release enclosure for a couple of weeks, then open side of enclosure. Keep feeding them and letting them use the accommodation until they naturally move out of enclosure.

We have never done this with foxes and never would do.

Regards

Ed
 
All gods creatures deserve to be admired and studied and appreciated and should never be regarded as just "targets"... go get some beer cans and a decent backstop if all you wish to do is shoot!
(jeeze i'm going soft)?

Cant believe I'm about to say this, but I actually agree with RD in this one.....! Everything in its rightful place, and sometimes it is nice to stand back and enjoy and learn rather than simply pull the trigger.
 
Many years back when I lived on the estate I used to live on, the cowman told me of a litter of Fox cubs in a haystack they had taken apart. On my investigating I found two cubs alone and cold with their eyes still shut. Taking them back home we reared them on dried puppy milk until they were sub adult.

At this time we had a large number of chickens and 5 Geese, which the cubs had been bought up with. I eventually had the cubs in a large pen and my 3 daughters would go into the pen to play with them. I was trying to make my mind up to release them, when on my awaking one morning and going over to the field I discovered they had got out and killed all of the 5 Geese including the Gander.

Needless to say we let them go as they were perfectly able to kill for themselves.


I think you will find that any Fox will take care of itself!
 
Such sweet posts could result in your account being suspended. Be warned your jacket is on a shakey nail!
 
All gods creatures deserve to be admired and studied and appreciated and should never be regarded as just "targets"... go get some beer cans and a decent backstop if all you wish to do is shoot!
(jeeze i'm going soft)?

Trouble is that is all they are when they have been released they are so easy to kill
 
All gods creatures deserve to be admired and studied and appreciated and should never be regarded as just "targets"... go get some beer cans and a decent backstop if all you wish to do is shoot!
(jeeze i'm going soft)?
Well when they are released on your patch , you can just leave the easy one,s, and just drop them a veggie burger.
having spent seven years, controlling foxes on a urban farm, with lots of foxes that meet humans daily, I can tell you they are easy targets when they need controlling.
I tried tyin a beer can to them but they kept falling off, there's nothing like a arm chair deer stalkers to act mightier than thou.
View attachment 55858
This was 8.30 in the morning, 20yds from my house, Our local veggie shop was closed at the time.
 
Last edited:
Just to put another spin on this how would the RSPCA of acted had ''post hunting with hounds act'' a hunt of raised and released litters of cubs ???
Regards
Jimmy
 
I agree with your sentiment. It's lovely to observe all wildlife. I'm hoping to take up photography soon. Will not give up shooting though. It just adds another dimension I feel. Well said.
 
Back
Top