GTA
General Discussion To Gateway To Airguns => Hunting Gate => : only1harry April 11, 2010, 09:39:56 AM
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Some of you may remember the fox I shot a few weeks ago with the Condor .25.
Well it turns out it was living off the remaining G-hogs in the neighborhood. The neighbor behind my house and I looked under his tool shed which I suspected the fox lived. We were talking and I mentioned that I think a fox lives under his shed and he then gave me permission to take a look (I didn't tell him the fox is dead, hehe). He built half he shed over the hill behind my house and supported it with 2x4's. I crawled under there and found a big hole in the ground (on the slope of the hill). This used to be a G-hog hole but the fox widened it and moved in after it ate the G-hog inside. About 15-20" from the entrance of the den was the front part of a G-hog's skull with the all familiar G-hog front (and big) upper teeth.
About an hour later I saw the neighbor across the street outside getting ready to mow his lawn and went over to talk to him because I know he has a G-hog den in the front of his house up against the foundation 1 or 2 in the back of the house because I have seen a large female G-hog with her 2 young feed in his backyard. I told him I was curious if the G-hogs are still in his backyard and asked him if I could go take a look at the burrows. He said no problem and I discovered the same thing. The entrance to the burrow in front of the foundation was about twice as big as a normal G-hog hole and it looked like it was all dug-up with some dirt around it. The fox probably digs until it can get down there and grab one. I then found one under his small tool shed in the back of his yard that looked like someone took a shovel and again doubled the width. This fox was working hard every night killing every G-hog it could get to. I have not seen the young (he was young last year) one that used to hang out in front of his house either yet this Spring but its hold in the front looks about the same size as last year.
I think this explains the very loud "chatter" that we thought was a screeching owl. It was not an owl and it was the fox making its victory sounds after a big kill. There are some audio clips of a fox after it has made a substantial kill. The last loud and erie chatter that had all the neighbors up at night was right behind the neighbor's house across the street where I explored the 2 G-hog burrows. The 1st time we heard that hair raising sound was on top of the hill by my other neighbor's tool shed where I found the remains of a G-hog skull. I think I have finally pieced the story together of all the loud and strange sounds in my backyard and around the neighborhood. I am now convinced more than ever that we are all better off without this predator around. I 'd rather shoot the G-hogs myself than have them become dinner to a fox, or worse, have some house cats fall prey to it as the one I saw on the tree with the fox circling the trunk under it. So far every neighbor I have spoken to this week has not seen a single G-hog. It's going to be a long summer for me. I will miss those critters dearly :(
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Good detective work Harry!
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Not to worry Harry old buddy :) more G-hogs will be showing up for you to shoot at.... trust me on this :)
Jeff
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very nice work harry a fox has done major damage to my friends chicken coop over the last 4 months . Its time is comming fun read about your sluth detective work
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Well there you have it the Fox was getting to the G-hog's before you bro. As Jeff mentioned though some new G-hog's will find their way into the area now that it's safe again. Ed
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Death to the fox!!!!!!!
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Harry I feel really bad for ya dude.. I know how much ya love shootin those little grounders all summer...
If ya need a shoulder ta cry on. You know your always welcome ta call me and vent...
I'm in the same boat with the rats.. Lets take some online game management coarses together... It could be fun and we could learn how to manage our prey a little better.. I have a feelin that killin everyone we see is probally not the correct procedure... Call me bro, we can grieve together...(http://../jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-cry.gif)
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That sound could have also been a distress call from the groundhogs. I'm not sure how it sounds, but I've downloaded a gazillion distress sounds for my predator hunting lately and they all have a raspy screaming sound. Glad you got the fox, sorry about the ground hogs :(
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wow, what a shame he got to them before you did. but im sure new ones will move in since the fox is gone. lets hope lol
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Once the food supply is gone, the fox will move on and the g-hogs will return.
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You may not be done yet Harry. Yotes dig up Chuck holes too. You may have a Yote in the area. Keep an eye out for dog-like foot prints that seem small for the length of the gate.
http://www.wildernesscollege.com/coyote-tracks.html
And, if there is no Yote, having gotten the Fox (if there was only one), it's just a matter of time before the Chucks come back. They liked the area before, they'll like it again.
Paul.