1- I'd doubt that you're going to catch a fox in a have-a-hart trap. 2- How big are your dogs? I'm not sure that a fox could even eat one of them. I know that they'll eat rabbits, but that's about as big as it goes. Are your dogs smaller than a standard wild rabbit? Personally, I wouldn't be too concerned. Edit to add: I REALLY don't think a fox would eat a dog, unless the dog was very, very small- like guinea pig sized. I've googled the shit out of this and haven't found anything that remotely suggests that a fox will eat your dog. Maybe it's the redneck in me, but if one of your dogs gets et by a fox, it had it coming.
I highly doubt you'll get a fox to come close to one of those boxes. Raccoons, possums, skunks, ditch tigers- definitely yes, but a predator as intelligent as a fox should be smarter than that. You probably have the neighbor's cat sitting in your trap right now. You'll need to look into a jaw or possibly a conibear type trap for them. The best method really depends on where you are located, so maybe you could try talking to some local trappers and see what they do for foxes. Hell, some might even take care of it for you. Yeah I think it would need to be one of the "glorified squirrel" type dogs (yorkies, chihuahuas, etc) for a fox to be a threat. They would need to be quite desperate and out of rodents in the immediate area. In addition I think it'll be more of a threat later in the spring once foxes start having pups and need a bunch of easy meals. If you have coyotes, well, your dogs are screwed.
I would call your local game and fish (game warden) and ask them what you should do, you don't want to kill shit or trap shit out of season. They may want to relocate the animal or they may want to kill it themselves.
Yup, about like this full-grown: (not the actual dog, but close) In my defense, it's the fiance's dog, not mine. My dog is a rat terrier, and she's cool (and mean) as fuck. **edit** And if anyone cares, I've spotted it (assuming it's one) about 100 yards in a straight line from the house, and again last night about a quarter mile away. There are a few what look to be fox holes about another 200 yards past where I saw it last night, so I'm assuming it lives in the area.
Wait. What? You're seeing them 100 yards away and you own a rat terrier? Dude. I assumed you saw them IN your back yard along a fence or something. You have nothing to worry about, unless you plan on leaving your chihuahuahua out overnight. Even then, it's highly suspect that you'd have anything to worry about. Besides Rat Terriers are almost genetically pre-programmed to not like animals such as foxes. You're worried over nothing.
You're not going to get a fox with a conibear. If you think getting him to walk into a hav-a-heart trap is tough, imagine trying to funnel him to hit the trigger of a 220. Conis are mostly for muskrats and beavers because you can force them into smaller areas when they're going to their den. You're going to want to use a leg hold. Your best bet is to find his trails and put your set along one of them.
Fuck that. Do what normal people do. Get a case of beer, a .223 with a 25x scope, another case of beer, a few friends, and have some fun. Makes me miss shooting groundhogs.
I've fished freshwater for years and although I like deep sea fishing, I don't have the stomach for it. I was fishing off a Destin beach in the gulf a few weeks ago and was having a hard time with sinkers. Too little weight and the line caught the wind and didn't go anywhere. Too much, it dragged on the bottom and stripped my live bait (in this case shrimp). I've never had much luck fishing on beaches though. Anyone have experience?
.50 cal is fun and all, but I'll tell you, nothing is more fun than spending a day plinking groundhogs with a .223. Sure, the .50 is huge, and makes a loud "boom", but it's stupidly expensive to shoot, if you can even find rounds these days. The .223 is fast enough to really reach out and touch something, but still small enough to generate curiosity at the other end without turning everything into one giant crater. And you can get a box of ammo for $10. It is so funny and hard to keep from laughing your ass off when you take a shot, miss, and the groundhog goes over with a "hey, what was that?" look to investigate.
First, check to see if your county/state gives a shit if you kill pest, most don't. Two, if they do care BUT it's on your land, disregard their lame bureaucratic procedures and kill the fucking thing yourself. Like Nettdata said, hunting with a .223 is the shizznit.
And be aware of some fucked up rules, especially in Canada... a fur bearing animal, like a fox, or red squirrel, requires special licenses to hunt, even if they are being pests and destructive.
As predicted, the "have-a-heart" trap worked great, but it caught the wrong the wrong type animal. The raccoon this morning was actually quite polite and well-behaved while I released it. Didn't hiss, didn't freak out, watched me intently, and stayed away from the door until I opened it. Unfortunately, wrong fucking thing. I figured I'd still set it up along the deer trails (where I've seen the fox running away) and see what happens. Couldn't hurt. At my disposal is a .20 gauge shotgun, a .410, a .243 and a .22 rifle (both with scopes). The .22 is quite enough for me to get a few animals on a stakeout without scaring them off too bad, so I'm going to dial it in at 75, get the spot light and grab a case of beer for this weekend. Hopefully some fur will hit the ground. It's no longer about the damn animal anymore. It's about me proving I'm smarter than a fox.
I can't speak for the state you are in but killing shit on land you own out of season in my area carries the same penalty as any other land and can result in forfeiture of truck, guns and any other property used in the killing of said animal. It may be bullshit but I would strongly suggest following the lame bureaucratic procedures that are in place. If you are going to kill it anyway make sure you get it with the first shot and make it a kill shot, you don't want a wounded animal running around.
Depends on your comfort level of, the law. Of coarse you'll be much better if you live out of the way thus lessening the chances that some game warden will just be wondering through your land at the exact moment you kill the animal.
"Have-a-heart trap" Night Two Update: Clearly, I have located the fox. There is no other animal that I can think of that would be this much of a prick. It took the fucking can of cat food outside the trap (so it didn't set off the lever), then ate it. The lever requires very little pressure to activate, so the thing must have picked the can up with it's mouth and carefully backed out. I found an empty metal can of roast beef science diet (I prefer for my trapped animals to eat well) about eight feet away. Little shit. And for the purposes of anyone potentially this thread, I'm not going to kill it.
Does the trap have one door or two? If it's two door, tie the can to the trigger plate or glue it on there. If it's a one door trap, move the can to the back of the trap, past the trigger plate. The animal will most likely step on the plate at some point.
One door, and the can was about 2/3 of the way to the back already. So I pushed it back to the very back wall, pushed the trap even further underneath the surrounding cedar trees, then covered the top of the trap with nearby branches and things so it looks less obviously like a massive metal trap. Hopefully that will work. Next step involves wiring the can to the cage.