Pest controller Simon Grimmer is after rabbits and foxes at a livery yard in Surrey, close to the M25 motorway. The rabbits damage pasture and risk injuring the horses, while the foxes are creating a health hazard around the buildings. Simon is using two Sako rifles for the job: a .17HMR and a .223, both fitted with night vision. He shoots a few rabbits, then looks for a fox – and shoots one that’s retrieving one of his rabbits.
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We’re proud to promote enjoyment of fieldsports and the countryside. There are three guiding principles to everything we do on Fieldsports Channel:
▶ Shoot responsibly
▶ Respect the quarry
▶ Ensure a humane, clean and quick kill
Why shoot foxes?
The red fox is widespread across the whole of mainland Britain and Ireland. The best estimate of the current British fox population is 240,000 adults in spring, to which a production of 425,000 cubs is added annually. The fox has no natural predator and for the population to remain stable, 425,000 foxes must therefore die each year.
Fox numbers need to be managed and controlled to prevent the predation of lambs, piglets reared outdoors, free range and domestic poultry. Foxes can also have a significant impact on vulnerable species of ground nesting birds such as black grouse, partridge, lapwing and curlew (Bealey, Green, Robson, Taylor & Winspear, 1999). Overall, the direct cost to UK agriculture from fox predation has been estimated at £12 million annually (UK Government figures).
In order to protect livestock and vulnerable prey species while they are breeding, conservationists and gamekeepers aim to control fox numbers, particularly from late winter to early summer. Foxes are also controlled around pheasant and partridge rearing and release pens in late summer and autumn.
