Can storms upset fox territories?

We had two really violent storms through here over the last two weeks.

I shot three dog foxes all full grown within three mile of each other today in broad day light. That is unusual for around here. Often you get the chance to shoot the young pups just coming off the bitch. But three dogs is unusual.

First one, I was heading out to cut up some of the trees left by the storm. Better half says about a mile out of town, that’s a fox out in that paddock and it was. About a 150 yards away just sitting in a paddock of just harvested barley.

Then, I was cutting up blow down trees and daughter says, there is a fox out in that paddock. A barley paddock just done. Another 200 yard shot.

After lunch, went out for one more load of wood from blow down trees. Had finished loading the trailer and opened a good beer and looked out in the paddock. Another fox. I shot him.

All three were older males. It is pretty unusal to shoot one old male in day light, let alone three. And all within a three mile radius.

Weird.

There must be a reason though.

Ross

Perhaps they were of the same litter and hadn't split up yet? OR there maybe enough tucker to support a high number of foxes. Perhaps the area is were some territorys overlap or come in close to each other.

GBB ,
As you are probably aware foxes are creatures of habit and normally follow pretty much the same path every day/night when hunting . If you don't disturb them it is common to see them in virtually the same spot at the same time each day . Possible that the storms have upset their routines and they haven't been able to hunt successfully for a few days. Alternatively the storms may have created a hunting opportunity during daylight eg. frogs or insects about ?

I guess too they must have been after food. Just strange, three in one day.

After the noise of the chainsaw, I would have thought the last thing I would ever see was a fox just looking our way.

And not agitated. He was moving about a bit. Not really toey.

I don't go spotlighting for foxes at this time of the year as the young fox pups are so easy to get. We shoot a fair few in winter and tan their pelts.

One day, I would like to get someone who knows what they are doing to sew some of the ones we have collected so far into a big doona.

I bought two books on Amazon.com by a guy called J. David Henry, one called " "Red Fox: The Catlike Canine" and the other, " Living on the Edge:Foxes". Now that bloke knows foxes!

He must spend his life studying them.

But that wouldn't be too bad a thing to do either.

Last post on this, I hope. As I still wonder about it.

All three foxes were definitely of breeding age so they would have been driven out of their original territory by the dominant male. All roughly the same age.

All out hunting in broad day light and not "educated" enough to know what human sounds mean.

Foxes are incredibly territorial in my experience and the books I have read, seem to back this up. If there is a dominant male fox in a territory, they will not tolerate another male in their area if he is capable of breeding. Young off spring vixens, yes, if there is food around but not males older than about six months.

From my experience back in the 70's when we were hunting them hard, you could gaurantee that a set of eyes in a paddock in a particular spot on one night, if you missed it you could be pretty sure the same fox or his vixen would be in the area the next night.

All interesting. I think the really bad storms we had (and are still having) are some way involved. big areas of trees torn up and crops blown about badly.

Its funny how you can bag young vixens in the same paddock in mid winter when the skins are worth tanning, but seldom two dogs, i think.

Anyway, the guy I mentioned above with his two books must live and (literally) breathe foxes, even if they are on another continent. their behaviour seems consistant to what I have seen.

Enough typing and thinking.

ross