Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
[Music]
Today we're off for a bit of urban fox fishing - We know how big the problem is, but let's
use it to our advantage. No rifle today. Roy has a Western Rivers fox call on test with
400 howls, screeches and love noises on it. So what works best?
Our first port of call is behind a housing estate in Maidstone, in the South-East of
England.
Roy puts the call up in a tree and he starts with a rodent distress - we don't want to
upset the neighbours - but it's the sexy *** that brings our fox out into the open.
The fox came walking out not more than 25 yards away giving us the perfect opportunity
of a shot with a shotgun or a rifle. They obviously wouldn't be using that here, but
I am pleased with that one. We will move on and see if we can find a big boy.
It's a good start but before it gets dark we want to try a bit of waste ground behind
more housing and a park near the hospital. There are no foxes but plenty of jackdaws
and crows. Remember you can't shoot crows on the call...so don't get any ideas.!!!
After a cuppa our summer evening entertainment commences with a golf course on the way back
into town. Our call might be a mashy, nibbling kind of a call, but the call is on top of
the car so we're a bit obvious.
So we started off with a territorial fox caller and we didn't get any call backs or any response
from that so I then went back to the *** that has been mated and all of a sudden we
got a response from way off and the fox came right back in towards us. But unfortunately
I think it picked up the reflection from the light from the camera on David's face. So
it saw something here that it didn't like and was watching for a little while and didn't
want to come any closer. Where it was it was probably 70, 80 yards away. So with a rifle,
in superb range for shooting. It just tucked off into the woods there because it could
see the light reflecting from the camera. But again working superbly.
This is all well and good but we need to turn up the heat a bit and get "proper urban".
To think like a fox we need to eat like a fox - a kebab calls and we settle down at
the back of the local leisure centre to enjoy our feast...
We know that foxes do predate very heavily on Doner kebabs in this area. So we thought
that the arom drifting through the car park along with the call would probably be a good
combination. Ssh need to be very quiet we are hunting foxes. Look, seriously ... I told
you it is this kebab. That is the scent of the kebab. You don't need a call, just a big
fat ... kebab. Oh man, how many foxes are there. On a serious note though. It really
does just go to show and highlight the problem of the urban fox. We have got so many around.
We are literally just sitting here talking about foxes and one walks straight in front
of the car. Right we will see if we can get limpy to come back. I am not talking about
me.
With our hunger satisfied we hang the call from a tree branch. Within two minutes the
clean *** call does the trick again. We have two inquisitive foxes.
We had the limpy fox which came out and went past from the smell of the Doner and then
we played the caller here and then these two foxes came in. So we had another pair of foxes
come in on the left hand side and with everything going on it is absolutely amazing how many
there are.
They both stick around for ages and only start moving on when some girls walk by.
Back on the streets we see more foxes in the headlights and we're now in double figures
for the night. If only we had that rifle - oh yes of course urban area. Our last stop but
one is the playground. We balance the call on the railings and settle back to see if
anything bites. Here the foxes come in from all directions. Some are bold, others more
cautious. Again, Roy runs a few of the calls. It is the softer ones that bring our most
confident customer in closest.
We had a fantastic response yet again. When you think that all the calls we have done
tonight are in probably within a range of about a mile. So we have hardly travelled
anywhere. We are just picking a few little spots so little kiddies play area, we have
had car parks and near the swimming baths as well. I knew there were a lot of foxes,
but what we are seeing tonight is extraordinary. By doing this we are learning so much about
the foxes behaviour. Whereas normally they start coming in we shoot them the job is done
and you don't get to witness the behaviours. With this it really is fascinating watching
exactly what is going on and you can see the individuality of the foxes. A couple, one
of the foxes came in, wasn't overly happy just sort of glancing back and forth in the
background. When others will just come in, sit down and just happily look around.
It's been an amazing three hours and the foxes are certainly plentiful in this town centre.
Our last stop is in a shopping centre car park. Without fail it generates interest.
This confused fox eventually heads off but then Roy brings it right back to us.
That is another limpy fox. Well that was an amazing couple of hours. Another one came
in behind us here you could see it searching around trying to figure out what was going
on looking at the call. So for a shooting tool if we were shooting in this environment
we would have accounted for every single one which came in. As I say I was expecting to
see a lot, but we have seen a lot more than I thought we were going to come across in
a very, very short space of time in a relatively small area.
So the urban fox is alive, well and prospering - and although a cold kebab will suffice - they
like the sound of the traditional dishes too.