Foxes

[Pompey Monkey]

The culmination of my five month mission to build a back garden Obsy was due to come to fruition tonight: Months of back-breaking work, problem solving, internet searching and bank-balance reduction. I've got the pier, the platform, the rails, the roll-off shed. Today I installed the permanent PSU for the mount and the dedicated rig computer, I had the mount connected to ASCOM, the filter wheel turning on command, the QHY5 was talking to PHD and the SBIG drivers were installed, ready to fire up.....

What's that noise? Where's my <cough> "temporary" <cough> power supply cable disappearing off to? WHAT HAPPENED TO MY POWER???????

I leapt up just in time to see a fox dragging the cable through to next door's garden. I shouted, but it was too late, the cable was chewed through. That fox owes it's life to the humble 30mA RCD.

Next time I'm not installing a safety device at the house end of the cable*... Grrrrrrr!!!!!

* Of course I am.

[triton1]

That's why I use armoured cable inside an old plastic overflow pipe inside a old scaffold pipe running to my shed you would be surprised what critters find tempting to chew and surprisingly eat.Hope it all goes well.

[knobby]

Shocking

[Pompey Monkey]

Shocking

Alas not sufficiently so!

[laser_jock99]

Buried, armoured cable is the way forward. My main problem is badgers- I had to put chicken wire around the perimeter to keep them out. The foxes can quite easily jump the fences.

[Mak the Night]

I'm not sure it's the best way to cook a fox well lol. I live near a lot of woods and farmland and I see lots of foxes, owls and badgers. Occasionally, something really digs up my lawn during the night. I've never caught anything doing it, but it has all the hallmarks of fox activity. I doubt it's hedgehogs, the badgers have eaten them all.

[sheeprug]

Buried, armoured cable is the way forward. My main problem is badgers- I had to put chicken wire around the perimeter to keep them out. The foxes can quite easily jump the fences.

Yup - armoured or in an appropriate duct.    But as I understand it, under the infamous  Part 'P' of the building regs, garden wiring needs to be checked by an appropriately qualified person anyway - a load of hassle and probably unnecessary if you know what you're doing.   However, simply burying normal mains cable is potentially hair-raising to the next person who comes along with a spade! 

SR.

[Alfian]

A couple of years ago I took our camper for a service/MOT and mentioned to the guy at the garage that the brakes felt a bit spongy, but they would check them anyway. In the course of the work some brake pipes were replaced and when I picked it up I was shown the old ones and asked "what's caused that then?" The brake pipes had very obvious teeth marks on them. Rabbit teeth marks! I'm fortunate to live in a very open country area where from time to time rabbits breed like the proverbial and run riot. The camper is parked on a gravel drive opposite the house and no doubt the little devils hide underneath it and sharpen their teeth on anything suitable that is handy.

Myxomatosis wipes them out sporadically which is a horrible way to go, and the odd passing fox would be preferable but having said that, I don't think my hens would like that too much.

Enjoy your "Obsy" and good luck with your fox-proofing!

[Beulah]

I have heard that rodents and other wild critters are attracted to the electromagnetic fields that come from cables; hence one of the reasons why they chew them. Almost like scratching an itchy mosquito bite, you know you mustn't do it, but you have to..... 

[Alfian]

Excuses, excuses!

[kev]

Rabbits can bite through almost anything. Our have gone through a laptop cable twice, and what he's done to the bedside lamp doesn't bear describing. (Tiger sleeps next to the bed by my wife, he follows her everywhere!)

Sent from my iPhone so excuse the typos!

[Jonk]

I quite often see foxes trot along the road where I am in Portsmouth, they're getting more and more used to people and cars. Gosport has loads of badgers that wander about too.

Seen a fox asleep on my shed roof too.

No-one is safe!

[Beulah]

Rural foxes are still very timid.

[Pompey Monkey]

Yup - armoured or in an appropriate duct.    But as I understand it, under the infamous  Part 'P' of the building regs, garden wiring needs to be checked by an appropriately qualified person anyway - a load of hassle and probably unnecessary if you know what you're doing.   However, simply burying normal mains cable is potentially hair-raising to the next person who comes along with a spade! 

SR.

That's precisely why I'm doing a "temporary" instalation

I quite often see foxes trot along the road where I am in Portsmouth, they're getting more and more used to people and cars. Gosport has loads of badgers that wander about too.

Seen a fox asleep on my shed roof too.

No-one is safe!

I'm in Portchester - it seems to be getting worse here too!

[michael8554]

Used to live in Richmond Surrey near Richmond Park - loads of urban foxes, day and night.

Moved to darkest Wiltshire six years ago - never seen a live fox, some road kill, some noise at night.

Michael

[JamesF]

I'm not sure it's the best way to cook a fox well lol. I live near a lot of woods and farmland and I see lots of foxes, owls and badgers. Occasionally, something really digs up my lawn during the night. I've never caught anything doing it, but it has all the hallmarks of fox activity. I doubt it's hedgehogs, the badgers have eaten them all.

Often it can be badgers digging for ant, wasp or bumble bee nests.  I've seen a few dug out like that.

James

[JamesF]

Rural foxes are still very timid.

Not timid enough around here.  We've lost a few chickens this year   Recently I went out to let the chickens out in the morning and found toothmarks all around the roof of one of the houses where a fox had been trying to bite through the wood to get inside.  I therefore do my best to encourage them to be timid when I see them.

James

[Mak the Night]

Often it can be badgers digging for ant, wasp or bumble bee nests.  I've seen a few dug out like that.

James

I suspected badgers, there are a lot of them by me and I often see them in my street at night.  I've even suspected squirrels, but I can't understand how a big animal like a badger could actually physically get into my back garden. Foxes, with their agility, can. I've seen them. So I'm not so sure that it's badgers although I wouldn't rule them out. I'm fairly certain it isn't velociraptors.