Fox Missing It’s Ears?

[georgedoubleyou]

Hi all,

I was having a walk about for a muntjac yesterday evening and I came across a pair of foxes. They had clocked me but didn’t seem too bothered. I got up on the sticks on one of them and as I was looking through the scope it was looking straight back at me. I noticed its ears looked strange. I took the shot and when I got up to it, I found that the reason it looked weird was because its ears were nearly completely gone.

I’m still relatively new to foxing but I haven’t seen this before. Would anyone be able to tell me what would have caused this, or if it’s common at all? The fox was otherwise in immaculate condition.

Thanks in advance

 

[sh1kar]

Birth defect? Or were the ear’s damaged

 

[georgedoubleyou]

Birth defect? Or were the ear’s damaged

Its hard to tell really. If it is damage, it certainly wasnt recent.

My friend that I was with was speculating whether it had happened as a cub, perhaps being chewed by other cubs in the litter but that was only a guess.

 

[Smellydog]

Grass mower, combine.

 

[VSS]

Grass mower, combine.

That would be more likely to have removed its legs.

 

[Eric the Red]

Is there a hunt in the vicinity?

 

[Smellydog]

That would be more likely to have removed its legs.

Not if it lay down in a rut!

 

[Ronin]

Maybe it was in Nam and escaped Col Kurtz

 

[Sika98k]

I’ve had my ears nibbled but not to that extent !

 

[georgedoubleyou]

Is there a hunt in the vicinity?

Not that I'm aware of

 

[Brad93]

Lost is ears to mange/mites, leading to skin infection?

 

[VSS]

Lost is ears to mange/mites, leading to skin infection?

Most likely explanation.

 

[Smellydog]

Huh? Shot dozens with mange but they still had ears.
Was there mange anywhere else on this fox?

 

[VSS]

Huh? Shot dozens with mange but they still had ears.
Was there mange anywhere else on this fox?

Needn't be mange. Anything that caused severe skin infection or dermatitis in that area - wounds from fighting, maybe? - could have caused the ears to slough.

 

[SimpleSimon]

I've never seen a fox with no ears, but I've seen one with no nose... Would you like to know how it smelled?

 

[VSS]

I've never seen a fox with no ears, but I've seen one with no nose... Would you like to know how it smelled?

Abominably!

 

[Nickb]

Heres a rabbit with no ears ..

 

[JockStalk]

Was the first shot a bit high?

 

[Nickb]

Was the first shot a bit high?

No ...it just had no ears.

Heres another, a hare with half an ear missing..

 

[Ranger22]

I used to shoot a good number of foxes with ears and or the tip of the brush missing. A trait of a hunt fox