Friday 15 August 2008

Another one bites the dust













Theres been another murder!

You might have thought it had gone quiet on the fox front but Foxy Loxy has been as busy as ever. Since Terrance the Turkey shuffled off his mortal coil the fox has had another Muscovy duck, six black rocks and Devil Hen our 8 year old bird.

No matter how hard we try we haven't been able to shoot or trap the scoundrel and tonight it has killed Bella our blue eyed Ebden Goose, a bird that was the most gentle goose ever. Obviously pet status had been achieved by Bella from the day she arrived at Rock HQ and we had hoped she would produce interesting goslings by pairing with Brandy the Brecon Buff Gander.

We have tried keeping the birds in while we are at work to stop the killing but its had little effect, except on egg production which is about half as the birds like the sunlight to promote laying. I have also taken to marking our territory like alpha males do in the wild, hoping it would deter foxes crossing the perimeter, no effect other than a few patches of dead nettles.

Today was a nice sunny day, Beth was home for half the day so I thought I had better let the birds out. Bella must have gone up to the stream and by the state of her when found was killed about an hour before we got home. She was still warm and only her head and neck were missing. My letting the magnificent seven out of the kennels must have scared the fox off. I found her after noticing that she wasn't with the rest of the geese.

This is Rocky exploring the murder scene a couple of hours ago.
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