RED FOXES DOWN

... but the battle continues

BEAUTIFUL but deadly and a pest

 WHEN I first moved to the Borders it gave me great pleasure to tell the huntsman in charge of the Jed Forest Hounds to clear off my land.
 It's not that I was anti-fox hunting, it's just that I've always associated such hunts with the wealthy land owners and the boss class and there was no way I wanted to host a load of posh, upper class nobs charging by on their steeds,
 In addition, as the working class daughter of a coal miner it gave me great pleasure to tell the toffs to take a hike.
 Now, I'm afraid I've had to eat humble pie and recently went cap in hand to the local huntsman (thank goodness the one I originally told to clear off, quit last year) about my fox problem. However, I said while I'm happy to host the dogs I still didn't want the entire hunt charging through.
 I was desperate ... I've lost so much livestock over the last two years and the death toll is in excess of 40 birds ranging from geese, turkeys, peafowl, pheasants, quail, hens and doves - plus one of my farm cats is minus a tail.

LOOKING FOR A MATE: This is the breeding season for foxes

 I've had men with guns patrolling the land, legal traps have been set and I've even persuaded hubby and his pals to go pee around the boundaries of the land as I was told male human urine gives off a warning scent to deter predators.
 One of my blog readers even suggested I try and get some big game poo from a zoo as her uncle in Holland scattered it around his smallholding to deter foxes and she swears it worked. I wrote to Edinburgh Zoo offering money for sackfuls of tiger and lion manure but they were having none of it, despite my pleas for their 'big cat SH one T!' Apparently they burn it.
 On someone else's advice I even invested in a flock of Guineau Fowl - more on them later - to act as early warning sirens should a fox pass by.
 Sadly none of these desperate measures worked so you can see why I went to the local hunt begging for help.
 Anyway, the good news is the Jed Forest crew got two foxes earlier this month. I was delighted. The bad news is I got a call to say two more have been sighted in the area which blows a hole in the theory that foxes are lone predators with their own territory.
 We suspected two were at work because of the way in which the hens and doves were disappeared but I had no idea that four were hanging around - and even worse, it's the mating season so the damned animals are travelling for miles to hook up and mate!
 Here's hoping for more 'good' news soon ... watch this space.