It’s 4:20 am. And I have blood on my hands.
I was sound asleep, as one is prone to be at 4 am, when I was woken by the sound of distressed chooks (that’s Orstrayan for chickens!). We’ve lost so many chooks and ducks over the years, that I always wondered what it was that was killing them, and this time, with a full blown rush of adrenaline, I threw some shorts on, snatched a torch, and ran down to my chickens’ enclosure only to find a fox and my rooster fighting it out over a hen lying on the ground! Your head goes into overdrive in such a situation… Never seen a fox up this close before, smaller than I expected too… but unfortunately for foxes, they have a long tail, and after wondering for one nano second whether foxes have ever bitten humans, I grabbed its tail, hurled it into the air and slammed it to the ground, killing it in one blow….. I can tell you, I’m even more amazed than you are!
Half dazed, I walked into the bedroom to show it to Glenda who said “don’t f*** with Mike’s chickens..”!
When I returned to the chook pen, I found the poor hen mortally wounded, and had to dispatch it as well, and now I have to process the poor traumatised bird so that at least all the work that went into raising it isn’t wasted.
I think I’m fully awake now….. life’s full of turns let me tell you…
And revenge is sweet. After a well deserved cup of strong coffee, I did a bit of research on foxes in Australia only to find they are an amazing problem everywhere.
Well done!! I had to perform a similar task for my chooks with 2 Jack Russells and a piece of hardwood fence paling. Sometimes you just have to show that your not impressed.
What, you killed a couple of Jack Russels?
Hey Mick, Good action on your part, the never ending war on foxes continues, but I have a certain sneaky admiration for them. They are undeniably beautiful, and very clever. That said, your rooster is a bit of a hero. I bet the chooks are falling over themselves to get to know him better!
Hi Rog… yes the rooster is the hero, but Glenda’s nursing him along at the moment, poor bugger is a bit the worse for wear… I don’t think I’m over the adrenaline rush yet…… feeling all edgy!
day 2
Rowley the rooster hero is doing well now, eating his organic wheetbix mash and drinking lots of water from the comfort of his cardboard box hideaway in the office. Still very wary but not gasping in shock every time he sees daylight as he was yesterday.
A large mouthful of feathers are missing from his neck and he has blood stains on his shoulder but he has been too traumatised for me to examine him more closely yet.
Nice one father.
WEll done Mike …. that’s more energy I have at that time… Jas
wow bet you felt big killing a poor helpless fox by slamming it into the ground, wonder what the authorities would say, foxes kill chickens, get used to it, your no better than the fox killing a terified animal, your disgusting
Actually, I felt dazed, and foxes are not helpless, and foxes are a declared pest in Australia and have a bounty on their heads for killing huge numbers of native wildlife, driving some to extinction……
Death is part of life, get over it.
Further to my last reply, you might like to know (or not as the case may be…) that “the authorities” came around today. They set up a trap to catch the bastards and have them put down!
I agree!
Mike,
This is what the foxes do when they’re back at their own place!
I left the comment in the wrong place……I agree with Gaz. Regardless of what the ‘authorities’ say……you who claim to swim against the stream……why is the chicken’s life more valuable than the foxes? I think killing any animal shows the stupidity of humans…….can’t get along with each other or animals and can only kill and destroy. Shame on you.
So then… HOW do you justify the fox’s life is more valuable than the twenty plus chickens and ducks they have now killed…?
You are probably American. Foxes here are a pest, they kill wildlife, rare endangered animals UNIQUE to this country….. bloody foxes now exist everywhere thanks to human stupidity…