fox trapping/releasing laws

[suitcasey]

Hey guys, in a bit of a dilemma here! My neighbour has a problem with a few foxes taking his chickens. He looses a couple a week, no matter what lengths he goes to to protect them.

He is buying a live-trap this week but does not want to harm the fox when it is caught. We wanted to take it far away and release it, but have been told it is illegal to release a fox once it has been caught?

Another option we have is for me to take it. I have an exotic animal rescue sanctuary and have been looking after wild and exotic mammals all my life. I have a few large half acre enclosures spare (with forests, streams, many different mini-habitats to explore and a fence that can not be climbed or dug out of). We are wondering what the legalities are of me giving the fox a home? (I'm not just some guy with a dream of having a pet fox... I would do this right and let the fox live as natural as possible, we have exotic species of fox here and know all about their care and behavioural needs - just not the laws of owning a native red fox!)

If anyone could help that would be great.

Thanks.

[Adam Cheeseman]

It is not illegal to release a fox once it has been caught/trapped/taken into care.

It is far better that you release it back into the wild than keep a healthy wild animal in captivity.

Cheers,

Adam

[Hedgehoggy]

I was of the understanding that as soon as you remove a fox from a territory, another will soon move in to take over the empty territory so your neighbour will continuously have this problem. Imho, he needs to review his current set-up to protect his chickens. What precautions does he currently have in place?

Also, foxes are highly territorial, so relocating a fox to an unknown area could result in the fox perishing miserably if that area is already occupied by foxes.

For alternative ways to deter foxes, have a read of this:

Wildlifeonline - Red Fox Deterrence

[Dogghound]

There are ways of fox proofing a chicken hut and its a lot more practical than either suggestion. Can you give us more detail on the hut and how/where he/she keeps the chickens?

[Lindsay-c]

Agree with Dogghound. Surely he hasn't tried everything to fox proof the coop. I'd suggest digging down a few feet to bury the bottom of fencing they may have to prevent foxes digging underneath and obviously high enough to prevent them jumping over. I'm sure you can also get a device which emits a sound that deters foxes from the area. Catching the fox and distressing it and moving it from an environment it is familiar with is uneccessary and you never know, the fox may be a female with cubs somehwere. Would be better to investigate other options first.

fox-a-gon.co.uk might prove useful.