A professional quality fox trap.
This is a traditional device for the humane trapping of foxes or similar sized pests. Bait is placed beyond the plate on the floor of the cage, and the door is closed when the intruder steps on the plate, safely trapping it inside. 52 cms high x 46 cms wide x 153 cms long.
- Galvanized to resist rust
- Carry-handles on the top of the cage
- Supplied flat-packed
- Requires assembly – full instructions included
- Strong and durable construction
Fox Information
Traditionally a rural pest, the fox is seen more and more frequently in urban areas these days, due to the easy access to food sources such as rubbish bins and street-waste. We can provide products which will deter foxes from raiding your garden or outhouse.
General Information
Foxes are now common throughout the UK and in fact are generally more likely to be seen in urban areas – even large cities – than they are in the countryside. This change in their breeding range is a relatively recent phenomenon (perhaps in the last 40 years or so) and is a measure of how adaptable this mammal has become. (Modern farming practices, habitat loss and persecution being three of the reasons the fox has needed to find new areas to live and feed.)
Identification
The fox is really unmistakeable and is the only species of wild canine which now lives in the UK (previously we had Wolves, but it’s many centuries since they became extinct). They have reddish brown fur which can vary considerably and can even have a mixture of black and silver fur mixed in. The tail is long and bushy and tipped with white, with the muzzle slender and with white fur on the upper lip. Size can vary between 50-90 cm in length, minus the tail, which adds another 30-50cm.
Where they live and their impact
In the countryside typically in woodland, burrows in hedgerows and also hilly and mountainous areas. Where these habitats border villages, towns and cities, Foxes will readily enter gardens to feed. In more urban areas, the fox will use whatever areas to live and breed it can find and these will include parks, railway embankments (a real favourite as they are relatively undisturbed) and indeed larger and/or secluded gardens.
Remarkably, foxes often live in such gardens without the knowledge of the owners and this, in part, is down to the fact that foxes are largely nocturnal (more so in urban areas compared to those in the countryside). Suitable sites they pick in a garden will include underneath sheds and outbuildings. Conversely though, foxes can also do great damage to gardens (both if they live in one or just visit it) and this includes digging, eating fruit and vegetables, and burying food.
Another factor which can be a big issue to dog owners whose gardens foxes visit, is that they can carry infections, parasites and diseases which can be passed to dogs (and indeed vice versa). These include the toxicara canus worm, Weil’s disease (Leptospirosis) and sarcoptic mange.
During the mating season which is between December and February, foxes can be heard calling each other using ‘unearthly’ screams – which can be disturbing in the middle of the night.
What they eat
Almost anything! And that’s one of the reasons the fox can be a nuisance to home owners. Certainly it will try to get into rubbish bins, and a full bin liner left out of the bin is just asking to be torn open and the contents strewn across the garden. Foxes will also kill and eat cats, but invariably the cat is a good match in terms of speed and will make a succesful get away (though not so a more elderly and slow cat left out for the night…). So in the countryside food would include rabbits, birds, and small rodents, but in more urban areas will be whatever the fox can find.
There is a widespread myth that foxes kill other smaller mammals just for the fun of it, since they often leave a carcass after the kill. However, this is not the case: A fox will kill more than it needs to eat, but will come back for the carcass some time later, store it, and usually by burying it in the ground.
On a final note…
Terms like ‘cunning as a fox’ and ‘will try and out-fox him’ have become part of our language for a very good reason: Foxes are intelligent, adaptable and great survivors.
