Squeaking in foxes

[STYRBJORN]

In a post a while back I referred to squeaking in a fox over my hand. This means putting your lips in a kissy shape on the back of your hand and sucking in air to make a high-pitched squeak. The fox "thinks" that it is the sound of a small animal in distress and will come in to see if it can get an easy meal.
A better method is to use a chunk of expanded polystyrene packaging and a small piece of glass. I use one of those little glass bottles that meat paste comes in. Wet the glass or lick the straight edge of the polystyrene and rub the plastic against the glass in a motion like striking a match. (remember matches?). Just a couple of brief squeaks to start with, repeating at intervals. If Charley turns up, probably some distance off, a couple more brief squeaks should bring him in closer. He will usually keep 25-30yds away but I have had one run up to the gun muzzle.
This is probably of most interest to photographers, but if you like lurking in the woods at night it's well worth the effort of getting in a bit of practice and carrying the kit with you. You can get a surprising range of sounds. Don't overdo it, cos Charley is a cute critter and if he gets leary he will be long gone John.
A hunter's tip for observers and a neat example of recycling as well! I expect it would work even better with urban foxes.

Ric

I have heard that it works with hares but i've never tried it.

[Cowgirl]

Good tip Styrbjorn, although from reading some of the posts on here, making a sound like a tin of cat food being opened would work just as well on urban foxes

[Tobyh]

I may well try this on my garden foxes while under my bag hide just to see if I can peak their curiosity.

TobyH

[STYRBJORN]

I should have added that this technique should not be taught to mischievous 5 year-old sprogs. My daughter used to drive local cats and dogs to distraction with a bit of plaggy and her Mum's make up mirror. It works!

Ric

[Jonathan]

Originally Posted by STYRBJORN

In a post a while back I referred to squeaking in a fox over my hand. This means putting your lips in a kissy shape on the back of your hand and sucking in air to make a high-pitched squeak. The fox "thinks" that it is the sound of a small animal in distress and will come in to see if it can get an easy meal.
A better method is to use a chunk of expanded polystyrene packaging and a small piece of glass. I use one of those little glass bottles that meat paste comes in. Wet the glass or lick the straight edge of the polystyrene and rub the plastic against the glass in a motion like striking a match. (remember matches?). Just a couple of brief squeaks to start with, repeating at intervals. If Charley turns up, probably some distance off, a couple more brief squeaks should bring him in closer. He will usually keep 25-30yds away but I have had one run up to the gun muzzle.
This is probably of most interest to photographers, but if you like lurking in the woods at night it's well worth the effort of getting in a bit of practice and carrying the kit with you. You can get a surprising range of sounds. Don't overdo it, cos Charley is a cute critter and if he gets leary he will be long gone John.
A hunter's tip for observers and a neat example of recycling as well! I expect it would work even better with urban foxes.

Ric

I have heard that it works with hares but i've never tried it.

'Kissing' the back of one's hand gives little opportunity to vary the pitch, it's far better to suck on the palm of the hand. That way you can move the hand to vary the pitch, it's possible to create the raucous distress call of a hare right down to the quiet squeak of a mouse. Polystyrene on glass, a small mirror or even the windscreen is of limited use in my opinion as one can't vary the pitch enough (though it can be good for very quiet mouse calls that will bring wary foxes in those extra few yards) and it isn't loud enough to attract more distant foxes on a windy night (which are usually the best nights for lamping). I've been calling foxes for thirty years and have used, or seen used, just about every conceivable call one can imagine. Apart from mechanical calls I've used tape lures of lambs, chicks, pheasant poults, roe fawn and even distressed fox and coyotee cubs. All will work on occasion but none work as consistently well as a rabbit distress call I make myself.

Apart from foxes I've called in wildcat, feral cat and pine marten at night and, of course, weasel, stoat and mink during the day - it worked superbly on an otter on one occasion. It works for hares in late winter/spring, at other times they will run away or approach to the edge of the beam then stay at that distance. Rabbits, during the day, can react amazingly at times. I regularly call them out of cover, I can only imagine it's their curiosity. Corvids will come in if you're well hidden. When I was shooting a lot of deer it was a useful to bring them out into the open, I shot a lot of deer under license at night for a short period and it worked very well on sika, which are perhaps our most curious deer. It's better than 'pishing' for bringing those hard-to-see warblers out into the open, sends tit flocks crazy and I've even seen it work (accidentally when calling something else) on bizzare things like curlew and common sands!

Cheers
Jonathan

[Words]

Originally Posted by Cowgirl

Good tip Styrbjorn, although from reading some of the posts on here, making a sound like a tin of cat food being opened would work just as well on urban foxes

LOL!!! Not wrong though.

[STYRBJORN]

Jonathon, I agree with every word you say, or indeed squeak. I just wanted to pass on a method that folk might not know about which might help them in their observation of critters. A guy I know in Az calls in coyotes from 400 yards!

Ric