Vets urging the govement to study the decline of foxes since hunting ban

[T.eddie]

Thought this was quite interesting though could have ramifications on shooting/snaring etc if it gets any weight behind it

Hunting ban has caused ‘catastrophic decline’ in foxes, warn vets

Letter to ministers calls for a thorough scientific review after huge fall in population following 2004 law

www.telegraph.co.uk

 

[Kalahari]

Gosh, a politician doing a stupid thing for their own political gain! Who'd a thunk it.

David.

 

[Smellydog]

How they get their data??
I've not noticed a decline . Not have I heard others noticing a decline!

 

[T.eddie]

Not sure but a surprising stance from them

 

[Rhodesianjess]

Might be some truth in it. I was certainly told before ban that the hounds had to find when they drew us,no ifs no buts.
However, since ban, it's been war to the knife and I certainly don't have the numbers on me that I was had to entertain. Similar large estates that I have dealings with have a similar policy, the numbers taken has affected population local to them.
Doubt very much that it's caused the overall population to diminish, just local to us/them.

 

[Tim.243]

Thought this was quite interesting though could have ramifications on shooting/snaring etc if it gets any weight behind it

Hunting ban has caused ‘catastrophic decline’ in foxes, warn vets

Letter to ministers calls for a thorough scientific review after huge fall in population following 2004 law

www.telegraph.co.uk

The decline of foxes is due to the vast amount of people with NV/thermal, defra used to pick up foxes from me and robert b
I was using a lamp. Big Tim gets his numbers filled in a short time these days.

 

[Bo Diddley]

You can look at this two ways. It's either a pro-hunting group of vets that are going to advocate the hunting ban being overturned to help the number of foxes get back on their feet (unlikely)
Or, it's a group of Packman cronies/ vet buddies that are putting their own spin on things to further erode traditional country life, hoping to turn the countryside into a playground for urbanites on their yearly trip to get some fresh air. Crazy world.

 

[Tim.243]

Might be some truth in it. I was certainly told before ban that the hounds had to find when they drew us,no ifs no buts.
However, since ban, it's been war to the knife and I certainly don't have the numbers on me that I was had to entertain. Similar large estates that I have dealings with have a similar policy, the numbers taken has affected population local to them.
Doubt very much that it's caused the overall population to diminish, just local to us/them.

Years ago I bumped into a local huntsman who was complaining about the lack of foxes in the area..we had shot 145 in a place they hunted around.

 

[JTO]

On my little bit of England, I have shot over 1.5 per acre in the last 12 months, that's up from <1 per acre before I got a thermal scope, and about 1 per 10 acres before I got NV.

 

[Tim.243]

On my little bit of England, I have shot 1.5 per acre in the last 12 months, that's up from <1 per acre before I got a thermal scope

Our woodland muntjac stalking went up %65 using a Thermal spotter in the thicker bramble areas as the swros saw nothing.

 

[VSS]

This research is hardly likely to result in a reinstatement of hunting. More likely to result in a ban on shooting, to allow numbers to build up.

If in doubt, ban something! That seems to be the British way of doing things.

 

[JTO]

If in doubt, ban something! That seems to be the British way of doing things.

Or tax it!

 

[Cranborne]

Looks like a move to protect foxes to me. I fear that the end of all live quarry shooting sports is closer than we realise.

 

[User00035]

If foxes are declining "catastrophically" why is the urban fox population booming?

 

[old keeper]

I've seen more foxes around here since the badger cull but whether that has had an impact I'm not sure. very few people shoot around here but I know from contacts elsewhere that in some areas fox numbers have declined.
The ever-increasing number of people shooting large numbers of foxes, far more than most, if not all hunts would get is bound to have an impact. I read reports of some shooting double figures in a night, that's an awful lot of foxes!

 

[Andyquadra]

Its probably a reaction to the proposal of the government paying for foxes to be shot

 

[User00035]

I've never shot foxes unless there was a need - ie. near poultry farms or in lambing country.
In my view there are too many people who shoot foxes so they can have a gun, rather than having a gun because they need to shoot foxes.

A place for everything and everything in its place. Foxes have a right to their place. They are a native species and part of natural landscape. Like badgers, they need controlling but not eradicating just so that people who want to shoot will have something to shoot at. Urban foxes on the other hand are a different matter.

Not saying I either believe or disbelieve the report. But I do know that when statistics are pulled from opposite directions they will inevitably become distorted.

 

[Ade8mm]

Gosh, a politician doing a stupid thing for their own political gain! Who'd a thunk it.

David.

Exactly. Just like Mark Foster, a previously little known politician who was allegedly advised by a PR firm to make a noise about foxhunting in order to raise his profile.
The rest is history

 

[JTO]

. I read reports of some shooting double figures in a night, that's an awful lot of foxes!

A lot of awful foxes, more like!

 

[Bo Diddley]

Man has always turned his hand against the fox, fewer are being killed by dogs both above ground and below ground, fewer are being killed by snares, granted more are being shot by a few folks, and these sorts seem to want to commercialize their hobby on social media.
There is also an awful lot of ground around me that has no meaningful shoot management at all, these areas are highly populated by foxes, the same can be said for most large cities.
I don't think we have a shortage around my patch of Norfolk.