"Shoot, Shovel And Shut Up"
A fellow blogger left this in the comments after my post about the Fox on Thursday, saying that it's the rule of the modern rural life and unfortunately it's becoming true.
To many of my friends around here I'm an oddity, someone who follows the old country ways as if they're instinct, but I fear I'm a dying breed.
Luckily seeing the majority of the comments on my blog over the last few days, I'm pleased to see that many share my views and, although I might have been courting controversy by even posting that post, I'm pleased that I can show a true picture of what I do here. To do anything else wouldn't be honest.
I may have lost some readers in the process, or then again I might have gained a few that respect that I have nothing to hide in what I do.
I thought you had stuck your head above the parapet there Kev, but respect to you!
ReplyDeleteLots of talk of chickens being lost to the fox. I have lost lambs to the little blighters. One night when lambing in the field a fox was pulling at a lamb as it was being born and the mother was frantic. I lambed inside after that!
Gillx
Yep, here we call it the SSS rule. Shoot, shovel, silence. We have sheep and dog owners get a couple of warnings, then their dogs disappear. Keep your dogs at home at night.
ReplyDeleteOh this bugs me no end, if you know there are sheep around why the hell would you let your dog off near them? The sheep.will be frightened and run off the dog will think "what fun! Its running away, I must chase it!" Its incredibly sad that the dog gets shot on account of the owners stupidity but if it means you potentially losing your livestock and good amount of money replacing them then it has to be done.
DeleteKev - you've always had my respect for the way you go about your business. taking care of a predator in a quick and humane manner only ups the respect i have for you. keep up the good work, kev! we all know what a good man, husband and father you are!
ReplyDeletesending much love! your friend,
kymber
I agree. It's much more humane than using a trap and having the animal suffer.
DeleteKev, you might think that you're an oddity now...but it didn't used to be...people used to have and use common sense. These days, most things are turning upside down...not even comprehensible...what more could I say?!
ReplyDeleteExactly, I echo this comment.
DeleteNo your the normal one its the others that are oddities, I lost some followers over killing a rat and got some back lash, for goodness sake, its time people woke up to the idea that to put the food on there table along the way lives have been lost its part of life.
ReplyDeleteYou write "To many of my friends around here I'm an oddity, someone who follows the old country ways as if they're extinct, but I fear I'm a dying breed." Well, we can say exactly the same, Kev. There is no one we know who can understand why we do what we do......except fellow bloggers, and thank goodness for them, otherwise we would feel very isolated.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is so many townies move to the country and then want to change our ways. Be yourself Kev and do what you believe in. Our countryside is beautiful and most of the animals are not sweet and furry.
ReplyDeleteI give them their shots and release them back into the food chain.
ReplyDeleteMy view? OK, maybe it isn't very nice to see a dead creature. BUT the reality is if there wasn't a dead fox there would be a dead chicken instead.
ReplyDeleteIts not a nice thing to do, to have to make that decision ,but ultimately it's one you have to make.
If you'd posted it and said " well look at me, I shot this fox, I am a big hard man and I got to kill a fox just so I could use my gun and kill for the fun of it" then I'd have been pissed off. Because there was no purpose to it. Simply because you decided you wanted to use your gun and kill something that that fox lost it's life.
Does that make sense?
But because the fox was a potential threat to your livestock, as their owner you have a duty to protect them any way you can. So I can understand.
This is a subject that always will divide opinion Kev. I commend you for being open and honest about how you have dealt with your perceived threat to your flock but I also wonder have you investigated other ways in which to deter foxes from taking your hens? Showing a picture of what some may perceive of a trophy kill was bound to encourage negative comments but also the killing of a vixen that may well have had cubs will cause concern amongst some folk.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that the 'positive' comments were coming from a lot of similar minded folk as yourself who grow and raise their own food, the fact that they outweigh' negative' comments may partly be down to the fact that blogs with a similar theme attract followers with similar interests?
I did notice the subject of a fox killing all the hens in a pen 'for pleasure' cropping up but I wonder if it is indeed for pleasure or something deeper linked for survival? For interest here is a quote taken from a one wildlife website....
"Red Foxes cache (store) food and tend to Scatter Cache, rather than Larder Cache, uneaten food (i.e. they tend to spread their food around, rather than putting it all in a single hole). Caching is a behaviour often observed during periods of high food abundance and, in some species, can be associated with a phenomenon called “Surplus Killing”. Surplus killing, as the name suggests, is the practice of killing more than you can obviously consume at the time – a good example of this is the damage a fox can do in a chicken pen. If a fox gets into a chicken pen, it will frequently kill all accessible fowl, and appear to leave them lying around – part of the reason many livestock holders despise foxes. There have been several theories put forward to explain why foxes do this. One of the most oft cited ideas is that the fox stumbles across a bountiful food source -- in the wild predators rarely know where the next meal is coming from -- and it decides to best exploit this reserve. As such, the fox kills all the chickens and then begins the task of removing and burying them. The fox can only carry one chicken at a time, making the caching process slow. In many cases, the farmer comes out to investigate the commotion before the fox has had chance to clear the hen house."
the full piece may be found here and makes interesting reading.... http://www.wildlifeonline.me.uk/red_fox.html
I am not knocking you or your actions Kev, indeed they may be the only options to protect your investment but I am always open to other ways of living with and understanding nature.
But again take you for such an honest post that many would sweep under the carpet but instead you have opened the door to healthy debate.
John
Thanks for this well balanced view.
DeleteWe have lost 3 hens in the past year. A fox ? A stray dog ? We don't know. Our priority and responsibility is keeping our chickens safe with appropriate fencing and any other means before killing an animal that just wants to feed itself or their offspring.
So, in effect I don't agree with killing a fox because they get to the chickens. But it won't stop me from reading and enjoying this blog.
Heh I used to keep a score card of the vermin I killed on the blog. Skunks, possum, rabbits, fox, raccoons, coyotes. Let one of them Bald Eagles come after my lambs and see if I don't anti-aircraft their bird of prey feathered butts too. National bird or not. Contrary to a few of your detractors the local wild life can and do learn where they are not to go. I have coyotes come up in the pasture all the time but if they see a monkey with a stick they disappear like smoke.
ReplyDeleteMan as a shepherd is a part of the natural order of things like any other predator. Usually when an animal begins preying on livestock they are due for a culling anyway and man fills that niche. It's an important rung in the ladder actually and allows for a better life for the other wild predators and healthier over all population.
I had a fox that lived under my loafing shed for years. Birthed many a kit under there and knew she went and hunted away from the house and barn. Living in harmony with the local wildlife has rules and the predators understand them and know they will be hunted when they are broken.
Our society is going to become extinct if we don't get back to living more naturally, taking back self-responsibility, re-learning how to grow our own (non-poisoned) food, living with nature rather than trying to change it, exhibiting common sense. So many folks are so far away from doing so that they don't even realize what is happening. Count me as another person who is behind you all the way, Kev.
ReplyDeleteI don't get what all the controversy is about. It just goes to show how far from reality folks have gone. I bet the ones complaining the loudest buy their boneless, skinless chicken breast in neat amorphous plastic wrapped Styrofoam trays and never have to deal with the reality of how it gets there. Life and death are the realities of feeding yourself and being self sufficient. Post all the dead vermin you want Kev, its time to reacquaint some with what it takes to provide for yourself.
ReplyDelete+1,000 to M. Silvius!
DeleteI still think that people who find killing farm predators "disgusting" or "barbaric" should be made to pay at least 2ce as much for eggs, vegs or meat at a store. After all, they seem to feel a reduction of food shouldn't be any fault of their denial of how things work. Everything alive eats other life. Period. Nobody is eating rocks, y'know.
ReplyDeletefrom Canada...saw the fox heading the other day and wondered 'alive or dead? oh yes, he has animals, dead of course, and that was before I read it! Thought the term 'shoot, shovel and shut up' was a Canadian saying actually, made quite popular by a now deceased Prairie Premier!
ReplyDeleteI lost a load of american followers a while ago by slagging off the US gunlaws....
ReplyDeleteSo be it
Lose followers? Fuck em!
Good on you Kev.
ReplyDeleteI didn't think the comments were too bad; and only one total nutter about Fox hunting. They live in a parallel world.
ReplyDeletecalling someone a nutter does your point of view harm not them
DeleteWe have a friend who was leasing his field to a rancher for cattle grazing. Our friend's dog decided one day to chase the cattle and bite, ripping one cows leg. Our friend shot his dog. His wife was beside herself, not understanding. She was raised in town. He told her when a dog gets the taste for blood, he won't stop. This is the way things are handled in the farming ranching communities here in the western US.
ReplyDeleteYour hens are now safe from a predator who would not have stopped.
Why people take humans out of the circle of life is beyond me. We need to eat and we are smart enough to protect our food sources.