Urban Foxes on tv

countrryboy

Well-Known Member
Have jist finished watching a program on More 4 about Urban Foxes and the recent attack, it was quite interesting and surprisingly fair and reasonably balanced(i'm sure it's been on before but rehashed to include the attacks) Some of the footage and shots of them were amazing. Seen them walking along the roof ridge lines no problem, how the hell they got up there. When u see it it's a wonder u keep them out of ur pheasant pens at all.

They also had this loony from the fox protection lot hugging a kissing a rescued fox like u would a pup saying it wouldn't bite him. Its a shame it didn't:lol: Would really have made it worth watching. At the end a pest control boy shot 2 in a garden wi his 22 wi night vison gear, short range but the foxes dropped on the spot never moved an inch, very proffesional shooting and confident wi the cameras on u.

Also did anyone else hear the very start, i think i heard the tv voice/announcer boy saying the next documentry is about stalking but couldn't be sure. Did anyone else hear/see it and do they know if/when it's on
 
best bit was when the kid caged the mangy fox and told the old dear it was in such bad condition that it have to humanely put down, the old dear said "At the vets type thing?" The kid said "No, with a rifle!", she nearly had a blue fit. I really howlled, it was nearly as good as watching "Father Ted" afterwards. ATB callie
 
Meet the foxes? I watched it on 4od a while back but seems to have been taken off now, was pretty decent iirc
 
Watched this 2nite my self and must say it really was well balanced, excellent footage of foxes in some strange places, and the shooting of the dog and vixen was very professional and very humane all in an excellent insight to the life of the urban fox!!!!!
 
I saw it too here in Bavaria ( I have a 120 cm dish ), it surprised me that shooting from an upstairs window is a condoned practise in inner London "richochets etc", I do not personally have a problem with it as I pop them often in the woods but the tree huggers might.
Then he is shown carrying the carcasses out to load onto the truck (where is his rifle? It seems either left unattended in the truck or likewise in the clients bathroom "I am role-playing the picky copper looking for brownie points now".
But it was fairly well balanced programme.
I would love to see a honest portayal of stalking with problems of RTOs also dealt with in the same vein as this sometime on TV.
Martin
 
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BB, this might sound a bit thick, but why would an upstairs window cause trouble?
The bullet could be passing through the quarry and pinging off a stone or hard surface then ending up in a third parties bedroom or body. Is that not due dilligence in a built up area?
Martin
 
The bullet could be passing through the quarry and pinging off a stone or hard surface then ending up in a third parties bedroom or body. Is that not due dilligence in a built up area?
Martin
Might be a risk in a garden around forty acres?................ suburban garden with an angle down of at least 40 degrees, what calibres were in use?
 
.22 lr subsonics from a normal length Anschutz with moderator.
.22s have a reputation for ricochets.
I would have thought use a .17hmr as it breaks up upon hitting any hard surfaces was a safer round in built up areas. Then again I dont shoot in gardens, I only have .22 on indoor ranges experience and sometimes they came whizzing back if badly aimed by beginners.
Martin
 
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I watched and the fox was baited to an are inspected by the shooter , presumibly for a soft ground back stop. What worries me is the animal rights loonies , foxes have evolved to live in the cities , what happens when city foxes evolve to hunt in packs?
Chris
 
I would have thought use a .17hmr as it breaks up upon hitting any hard surfaces was a safer round in built up areas. Then again I dont shoot in gardens, I only have .22 on indoor ranges experience and sometimes they came whizzing back if badly aimed by beginners.
Martin

.17 being supersonic would probably be noticed a lot more by neighbours than .22 subsonic. Ref the whizzing back/badly aimed/beginners..there's surely a problem with your range backstop area?.There shouldn't be anything downrange that could cause that or are you referring to a range in the past?

fraser
 
I think, by the sound of it that its a revamped edition of an episode that was on a good while back, I remeber the shooting of foxes from a toilet.

I was under the impression that discharging a firearm in a built up area was illegal.
 
It was the same programme with something about fox attacks and recent news clips edited in to make it more up to date.

My understading of the law is that it is not as straight forward as that, althou i'm no expert and more familar with the law in scotland. My underdstading is if the bullet leaves the property that is an offence and if the firearm cuases alarm that again is an offence with a lot of grey areas in between. in theory it is not strictly an offence to fire a firearm in a built up aea.

Did no one catch wot the announcer said immediately before it starterd, i'm sure he said something about the next one being about stalking and when it was on but was in the other room so didnae hear it right.
 
I think they take headshots only and pinpoint ones at that,not hard given the short range. A foxes bonce should stop the shot pretty well.

Definitely head shots. You could clearly see the forelegs extending to their full length very shortly after the shot.

Did you also notice that the one they picked up and put in the bag had already stiffened up? Must have been colder than it looked...:-|

And yes, countryboy, not an illegal shot if the bullet doesn't stray beyond the bounds of your property.
 
.17 being supersonic would probably be noticed a lot more by neighbours than .22 subsonic. Ref the whizzing back/badly aimed/beginners..there's surely a problem with your range backstop area?.There shouldn't be anything downrange that could cause that or are you referring to a range in the past?

fraser
The range was a 100 yo indoor jobby just before its revamp for fullbore pistol RIP.
Martin
 
I watched and the fox was baited to an are inspected by the shooter , presumibly for a soft ground back stop.

Agreed. I watched this last night on Sky+ and couldn't see anything wrong with the shots at all. The foxes were baited to the centre of the lawn where it was all soft turf and the angle from the window where the shots were taken was very steep. Two very clean shots, two humane kills and no whooping, high fives or crass comments - I thought the pest controller portrayed a very professional picture to the general public.

Alex
 
I saw the original programme about urban foxes some time ago and the whole programme featured the same pest controller.
I think in the original programme he mentioned the price he charged which was, as far as I recall, £60 a fox.
I also remember him quite well as he had a remarkable resemblance to Simon Cowells ex minder :)
 
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