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Hunting Foxes are Not Pests

karlt said:
Foxes, among others, have no natural predators, if you don't control their numbers they will wipe out countless other species. Badger numbers are getting there too, highest they have been in decades
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Foxs have been here for thousands of years as a native species. Your right they don't have natural predators when adults I assume.

A natural food web needs top predators to control the lower species population numbers. The fox population will naturally boom and bust.

It would be based directly on the population of its prey. Some years prey like mice would thrive on a good fruiting year for example and on a drought it's vice versa. Large population then small. Fox numbers will follow suit.

Nature has this balanced out though and overall there is an ecosystem that maintains itself.

So when humans provide the fox's with a glut of easily available food all year round every year. Be it prey from livestock or food waste it's natural the fox population will rise and rise and need controlling. It's not their fault. It's ours. It does mean we have to do the population balancing now to maintain things.

That is for sure.
 
3595wilk said:
That's all very nice.....bit still no rationale for why you don't want it to happen or allow commercial businesses to protect their investment?
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So what bit don't you understand? The wildlife gets it's environment taken away so that people can play golf. and businesses make money from it.
 
Backgardenplinker said:
Foxs have been here for thousands of years as a native species. Your right they don't have natural predators when adults I assume.

A natural food web needs top predators to control the lower species population numbers. The fox population will naturally boom and bust.

It would be based directly on the population of its prey. Some years prey like mice would thrive on a good fruiting year for example and on a drought it's vice versa. Large population then small. Fox numbers will follow suit.

Nature has this balanced out though and overall there is an ecosystem that maintains itself.

So when humans provide the fox's with a glut of easily available food all year round every year. Be it prey from livestock or food waste it's natural the fox population will rise and rise and need controlling. It's not their fault. It's ours. It does mean we have to do the population balancing now to maintain things.

That is for sure.
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I have no opinion on the Fox population control on the golf course BUT here are some interesting facts about Wolf reintroduction into the Rocky Mountains that may surprise some folks.

https://www.rockymountainwolfproject.org/importance-of-wolf-reintroduction-explained/
 
Bluesboydave said:
So what bit don't you understand? The wildlife gets it's environment taken away so that people can play golf. and businesses make money from it.
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I think you find golf courses help with wildlife
Most will have large ponds or lakes , some sort of woods , hedges and of course grass which some of it is left untouched
 
karlt said:
I am sure I have heard of urban foxes starving to death after they had been released into the countryside.
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It can happen as they have no hunting instinct plus they are too tame in a lot of cases and expect to be fed by the food people leave out or from food wasted that is dumped on the streets or from bins . They also have been known to hang around and not move about so if there is not food they will starve .

Like the Lynx's that were let loose illegally up this way . Some of them would have starved if they had no hunting instinct.
 
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Bluesboydave said:
Not to mention the pesticides and water consumption required to maintain it
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Not for a bit, but used to be a fairly avid golfer ( nowt like adding a modicum of frustration to a pleasant walk)👍Golf courses attract a variety of critters to admire, sure nuff... I'm sure however, resident fox, like resident coyotes, soon become the bane of domestically kept critters. Cats, small dogs, chickens...you gotta keep predatory "course walkers " in check, that's a fact. Courses here use " blue" ( reclaimed) water & provide habitat beyond that for folks in garish garb. Wild predators though, used to humans, will become a problem, left unchecked... So too, with plaid trousers & polyester shirts left to shopping malls & pubs...scary shit!
 
brian747 said:
Townies should leave Country matters to the people that
know, Us country bumpkins know about wildlife ,
and the balance of nature, we live here i have all my life
i know where to find different pests etc ,etc.
atb brian
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True that, brother Brian !👍
 
My state Govt has been paying a bounty on fox scalps for years.

This year it was $14AUD per scalp. :)
 
chouchin66 said:
True that, brother Brian !👍
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Right on Chris, i was born on a farm, shooting a springer from 8yrs
in the early 1950,s in deepest rural Suffolk, we even had a village policeman that
knew everybody, very little anti social behaviour in those days,
if he caught you you got a clout from his big leather gloves
he wore while riding his Velo noddy motorbike,
and when you got home your Mum would give you another as well,
no bad behaviour in my home my Dad, an ex- RSM in the army his stare could melt rocks
and voice would root grown men to the the spot was never beaten in my life but knew
where the red lines were ,so got on with life, in those days there were100,000 of rabbits around
till mixy was brought in that wiped out by 95% very cruel way of pest control.
atb brian
 
brian747 said:
Right on Chris, i was born on a farm, shooting a springer from 8yrs
in the early 1950,s in deepest rural Suffolk, we even had a village policeman that
knew everybody, very little anti social behaviour in those days,
if he caught you you got a clout from his big leather gloves
he wore while riding his Velo noddy motorbike,
and when you got home your Mum would give you another as well,
no bad behaviour in my home my Dad, an ex- RSM in the army his stare could melt rocks
and voice would root grown men to the the spot was never beaten in my life but knew
where the red lines were ,so got on with life, in those days there were100,000 of rabbits around
till mixy was brought in that wiped out by 95% very cruel way of pest control.
atb brian
Click to expand...
Had a " Green" neighbor, left food out at night, consequently, gained a few " tame" coyotes. One mornin' early, heard a cry from my Lexi ( my beloved Border Collie pup)...rat packed by 3 coyotes that were " tamed up" ...two 7mm Remmy rounds cured that shit ! # 3 made it. You gotta keep a check on wild stuff in domestic settings.👍 My ol ' man too, would kick your ass if you were out of line, but protect home turf at all costs.
 
Bluesboydave said:
So what bit don't you understand? The wildlife gets it's environment taken away so that people can play golf. and businesses make money from it.
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But they dont get their environment taken away..... it actually preserves it in the face of the march of an urban sprawl........maybe you don't understand?

A golf course 200 acres of open land on the edge of a major conurbation is a haven for wildlife......and it's continued existence means they have that.....yes a more natural landscape would be preferable.....but that's not realistic so close to London.

What you do have though is a protected area for insects, pollinators, birds (and yes, even foxes), and other mammals and reptiles to utilise.......

With your previous statements on 'monstrous high rise housing estates', I'd thought you would welcome an area that stops/inhibits the growth.......it's not a perfect world....and I'd rather have 200 acres for people to knock a small ball into holes with a stick, and see rabbits, birds, bees, deer and foxes using it than be lost to a shopping centre or new housing estate?
 
brian747 said:
Townies should leave Country matters to the people that
know, Us country bumpkins know about wildlife ,
and the balance of nature, we live here i have all my life
i know where to find different pests etc ,etc.
atb brian
Click to expand...
I agree with you brian747, a lot of people would soon have a different view if the pest species was effecting their lives. All too easy to sit in judgement from afar 👍
 
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