I think a fox has got our rabbit

[Raddy]

Just that really. He was pretty old (6). He had a 'wife' until recently but she died. We felt he was too old to get him a new mate.

He had his own large enclosed garden with but yesterday there was no sign of him apart from some fur .

He had a massive burrow which we have explored, but no sign.

We are very, very rural so urban foxes have never been an issue, but dh saw a fox at the front of the house recently.

I hope he didn't suffer.

Oh I hate foxes and I'm always very wary of them because they are fearless.
I sometimes throw things at our wooden fence but they just blink even though it's really noisy.

You'll be able to have a proper search tomorrow when it's light, but it sounds like he's been 'got'

I hate them too.

My kids are desperate to get chickens and we have lots of room for them, but this has put me off.

I've seen 'fox-proof' hutches online and those Eglu houses (sp) but TBH I wouldn't trust anything.

My Guinea-Pig got dug up twice by foxes and he was in the border buried in a hole, filled in, and two heavy full flowerpots on top. (And he was in a zip up plastic bag)

They dug under the pots.He had a stone slab on him now.

My guinea boys are in a Fort Knox style shed but I still worry.

Chickens - I'd be terrified in case a fox got in. (ButI 'm sure there's lots of good advice on Chicken Keepers)

blimey poor bunny, it sounds like he had a lovely home and space to live in

i have spotted a fox watching my rabbits once or twice, not sure how i can discourage him, though i did get ds (20) to wee around the garden

They don't like an electric fence. Your chickens should be perfectly safe in enough chicken wire and electric wire over the top and round the edges. You need to put an electric wire around the pen, not touching it obviously, but close enough so a fox can't get in between. Then sit back and watch Mr Foxy come sniffing round, get a belt off the fence and run away with his tail between his legs.

Did your GP survive?

To confirm fox situation, my dog has just been out in the garden and has obviously rolled in something extremely stinky which I bet is fox poo. He loves a bit of smelly.

When we were first married, we had 10 quails for a couple of years. They were in the most secure, 6ft high enclosure with the fencing dug right into the surrounding ground and a roof.

Something (maybe a rat I thought?) got in and bit them all on the back of the head, killing them, but left them all there. I don't know if it intended to go back to them.

Now I have a nature mad son, he tells me that foxes will kill everything and take them off to eat one at a time.

I just feel really bad that our lovely bun was a sitting target, although his burrow was at least 6 ft long and he would fly into it when worried - again my ds says a fox could have got in there as they are small enough.

Yes a fox can squeeze into some ridiculously small spaces and they will kill everything and leave it for later. They like to leave a larder that they can come back to and help themselves from whenever they feel peckish.

If you are unfortunate enough to lose your birds to a fox, if you can stomach it leave them where they are and get someone in with a gun. They can wait till the fox comes sniffing round and dispatch it.

No point in shooting your fox. Another will just move into the territory. Make sure your animals are properly secure and check this regularly, and consider feeding the fox.

So sorry to hear about your rabbit. Poor boy. I'm sure he didn't suffer but it's such a shock for you.

Consider feeding the fox

Do you feed rats and magpies too?

If you have livestock fox will try and kill.
Feed fox, livestock will be too much bother.
Rats/magpies don't eat pets.

Rats and magpies both eat eggs and small baby birds. If they can get in, they will eat them. I have had small ducks killed by rats. I do not encourage vermin. The bastards come anyway.

And a weasel can get in the tiniest of holes and will quite easily kill a rabbit.

Never thought of weasels, I have seen them here. And mink and rats (we have a river). The rabbit had a adventure involving a stoat about a year ago too, long story but he survived.

Our baby ducks every year rarely make it.

I am not going to be feeding or encouraging foxes, we live in the sticks - they're must be enough wild stuff for them. Plus my dog will roll in the scat every time he goes into the garden.