Pest Control Diary: Protecting the Lambs

If you’re trying to get some ground you can call your own, think what you have to offer in exchange! It’s not just a case of roaming over some land with a rifle or shotgun, lambing time is always busy and an extra pair of hands will always be useful when the ewes are heavy in lamb they get themselves into all kinds of trouble. They are just like barrels on legs; once on their backs they struggle to get back up and if they stay there too long, the crows will and do peck out their eyes! You can prevent this just by rolling them back onto their feet. One thing you don’t want to do is to go running back to tell someone you’ve seen a ewe on its back- get stuck in do something about it!

OUT AND ABOUT

If, like me, you’re into foxing, then you will be out at all times during the night and not just trying to get the upper hand on old Charlie but keeping an eye on the place. After all, there’s a lot of farm equipment that gets stolen, all good reasons for allowing you on to pursue your sport. But don’t forget, your main role is to keep on top of the predators, and there’s nothing like newborn lambs to bring them out.

Last year’s cubs are a lot wiser after running the gauntlet and when they reappear, the ones that proved hard to get last year will be even harder to get this year, with or without NV. That was soon realised when I visited one farm I have been on a number of times and never even caught a glimpse of a fox. But, as they had just started lambing; well worth a visit. Consisting of only three flat fields, two high up and one in the valley, the rest of the ground is made up of dips, hollows, so not easy to shoot.

I made my way to a low part along a dry stone wall and flicked on the lamp, picking up a fox in the opposite field going through the sheep. But as soon as the beam hit, it hea ded to the valley at speed and you know when that happens, even if you pick it up again, it’s not going to stop! Normally, what they have always done in the past, is crossed the valley to put as much distance between us as possible and then take one last look back before disappearing.

UNDER MY FEET

Not this one, instead it must have pasted right under my feet out of sight, making use of the valley and all the cover it had to offer. Realising this, and knowing the ground, I headed to the end of the valley where it opens out to the field below, hoping to intercept it but nothing! Not one for giving up, I walked the edge, lamping down into the bottom field; if I could pick it up again at least I could work out its general direction and with a little luck, have another chance at intercepting it.

But this was one cute fox, using every bit of cover there was, it made it to the lambing shed before I picked up eye shine again, then disappeared for good. This was going to be a challenge and an obsession, as it had obviously run the gauntlet a few times and defiantly didn’t like the lamp; a pity as there’s nothing I like better than a night’s foxing with a lamp and rifle. But at this time of the year it’s not a sport; it’s predator control and I will use everything at my disposal to achieve my goal and if that means I have to set a few snares (though that would be my last resort as I am not a lover of them) then so be it but first I will try NV.

RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME?

The best place to wait, I thought, would be the bottom field facing the hillside, and if it showed, the contours of the hill wouldn’t save it, but I had another problem! Where I was standing I had an industrial estate behind me, giving off a lot of light even though it was some distance away; not good for my Maxi Kite Night Vision. It’s times like this I wish I had a Digital NV, as I have yet to try thermal imaging. But with my NV, the only chance I had was to stand at the far end of the field away from the light, with my back against a hedge covering the mouth of the valley. The very same path the fox used the previous night.

A good place to be but not covering as much of the hillside as I would like. With the magazine loaded but nothing in the chamber I could keep spying through the NV and hopefully quietly chamber a round if I saw old Freddy. Three nights passed with some close encounters, when it did appear it was on a mission, walking straight past and into the light given off by the Industrial estate. Normally I would give a squeak to stop it in its tracks, giving me the chance to shoot, but this fox was so switched on I feared that if I did it would bolt; probably having heard every call going.

ANOTHER NIGHT

Another night passed with nothing to show for my efforts, my feeling was that the fox was travelling from the top fields down the hillside (not the valley) passing me on its way to the lambing shed. But there was nothing I could do if I moved, the light from the Industrial estate would burn out my NV or at the very least shorten its life. So all I could do was to stay put, as there’s defiantly no point in wondering round looking, as there would be too much disturbance.

I’ve learned from experience it’s possible that some chances have been missed, as I could only spy through my NV every 10/15 minutes. But my luck was about to change when I received a call to deal with a delicate problem on a neighbouring farm that required my Brno 22 rimfire (problem solved). I took the opportunity to visit the landowner of the farm I had been staking out for the past week, so made my way to the lambing shed. On my approach I noticed something at the back of the shed, not sure what it was I walked through to the far end, 22 at the ready and walked right into a fox sniffing around a small tip. Rifle up, I waited for it to lift its head and one Ely 22 subsonic did the trick- looks like I had been waiting in the wrong place after all.