[Paul Plots]

My daughter arrived back from Ireland complete with pet rabbit. 

New hutch bought (good old dad). Now I lay awake two floors up keeping an ear open for trouble. Two nights ago woken by heck of a banging sound!!!

Hutch has suspended marine-ply floor and Bunny was drumming like the 1812 overture.
Belted down-stairs (2 sets... heart rate up at my age  ) to discover.. no fox but next-door's cat appearing from under the draped cover.

I said some very rude words. Heaven help next-door if they complain about the thumping / banging noises from the rabbit! 

At least it wasn't the local crowd of foxes. 

[ANHBUC]

My daughter arrived back from Ireland complete with pet rabbit. 

New hutch bought (good old dad). Now I lay awake two floors up keeping an ear open for trouble. Two nights ago woken by heck of a banging sound!!!

Hutch has suspended marine-ply floor and Bunny was drumming like the 1812 overture.
Belted down-stairs (2 sets... heart rate up at my age  ) to discover.. no fox but next-door's cat appearing from under the draped cover.

I said some very rude words. Heaven help next-door if they complain about the thumping / banging noises from the rabbit! 

Great alarm system, I remember that tune from when our girls were young and had lop eared rabbits.   

At least it wasn't the local crowd of foxes. 

[Paul Plots]

My daughter arrived back from Ireland complete with pet rabbit. 

Great alarm system, I remember that tune from when our girls were young and had lop eared rabbits.   

To add insult to injury...(as it were)... the rabbit had a long sleep in the next morning while I wandered around feeling whacked having lost a couple of hours sleep. 

[evie2]

I know how you feel Learner, our rabbits belong to our daughter, she sleeps at the front of  the house, we sleep at the back and where are the rabbits? UNDER MY FLIPPIN WINDOW 4am this morning

Calm now

[Paul Plots]

I know how you feel Learner, our rabbits belong to our daughter, she sleeps at the front of  the house, we sleep at the back and where are the rabbits? UNDER MY FLIPPIN WINDOW 4am this morning

Calm now

Same here... were at the back 2 flights up while little-miss-rabbit-owner snores at the front (if you see what I mean)  :blink:

Foxes live opposite in a wonderfully wild & overgrown garden. Great 

Considering fixing up an outside light with PIR just above the hutch so I can look out of the window rather than have to get up and rush down every time "bunny" decides the create thunder. 

[DonnaM]

We have recently had our chickens taken in the daytime, they are locked up every night and yes it is the fox, we have seen it in the woods waiting for its chance and heard one being carried off at 11am    We have a humane fox trap and friends and neighbours with shotguns but as we have four cats I think it will be more of a cat trap than a fox trap really 
Thinking of getting the electric chicken fencing as we already have a mains unit but was wondering if anyone know how the netting does not earth it out as it touches the floor/ground/grass? And most importantly, does it work?

[hillfooter]

We have recently had our chickens taken in the daytime, they are locked up every night and yes it is the fox, we have seen it in the woods waiting for its chance and heard one being carried off at 11am    We have a humane fox trap and friends and neighbours with shotguns but as we have four cats I think it will be more of a cat trap than a fox trap really 
Thinking of getting the electric chicken fencing as we already have a mains unit but was wondering if anyone know how the netting does not earth it out as it touches the floor/ground/grass? And most importantly, does it work?

Yes it certainly works.  There's lots of advice on the site on how to install it just search the stickies area.  The key to not shorting it out is to ensure the sides are dead straight and the net taut.  Use treestakes as corner posts and guy rope the insulated posts off these.  Trying to use teh insulation posts guyed to the ground to keep the net taut doesn't work and it will sag but a well hammered in tree stake to guy to does the job.  a 1.22metre high fence is best bait it with abit of bacon wrapped round it and the fox will get a nice shock and after this he won'y come near again.

HF

[John]

We've foxes galore around here so everyone knows to be careful. However, the other day we had a dog problem. We get a lot of walkers coming by, many of them holidaymakers - which is fine - so suspect one of them as the locals know better in a sheep area. Blasted thing got into next door's field and killed the young rhea, the older birds fled onto the road. Further up the track it got a couple of hens and injured a lamb. We know it was a dog, rheas are too big for a fox.
The farmer who has the sheep on our field got the surviving rheas back into the field. If he sees the dog it will be a shotgun job. Sadly the law doesn't allow shooting the owner. I just can't understand the owner - don't they realise? 

[Paul Plots]

The owners ought to be held accountable - criminal damage! 

[John]

Today two young men went up the track with a lurcher, ignored the sign someone has put up about keeping dogs on a lead and the lurcher rushed off to chase some of the lambs up there.
They'd gone by the time the owner got down. I can see potential for a very nasty incident here. We don't know it was their dog the other day, but the suspicion is there. The owner of the rheas was away when it happened, she's devastated at losing her 'baby' The older birds are still very skitty so she was putting up electric fencing to stop them escaping.

[Paul Plots]

Did you see the people with the lurcher?

It sounds as if you need to have each others mobile numbers so everyone can keep an eye out.

Would the police help if they were called? Perhaps it would be worth letting the local bobbies know if this hasn't already been done.

[John]

We've got phone numbers, not sure if the police would respond to a call. Thing is most of the farmers around here seem to have shotguns.. Hence I think  it could get nasty.

[Paul Plots]

Anyone allowing their lurcher to chase sheep on someone else’s land (with or without a sign reminding them to keep dogs on leads) might anticipate their dog being shot at.

I can understand your concern - I'd not be relaxed seeing someone waving a shot-gun around but the circumstances make it explainable.

I do hope the local police are taking reports seriously, logging them and issuing crime numbers in the case of killed farm animals.
 

[joyfull]

Living in the countryside you find people have a different set of rules and for good reason. Shotguns are a necessity, my uncle is a game keeper at a stately home and park and has often had to shoot little fluffy fifi/rex etc because they were attacking the deer even though there are ample signs up stating that dogs must always be on a lead. The owners of said fifi then have the nerve to complain to the local papers and my uncle has to then explain and apologise simply because they ignore the warnings  .

[John]

Well I'm a townie and I know you keep your dog under control and you shut gates. It's pretty basic stuff! And when in doubt, play it safe. I wouldn't go in the field with the sheep to speak to the shepherd in case I spooked them until he beckoned me over.