Disturbing

[gatewaygirl]

I spilled fox urine on my hand. It's still mildly smelly after scrubbing with a nailbrush and geranium soap.

(If you're wondering why fox urine, I was warding the chicken yards from chipmunks who steal all the food from Stumpy, our toeless chicken.)

Comments

[winstonmom]

I was just wondering where do you get fox urine?

[gatewaygirl]

I get it at the Essex County Agricultural Co-Op, but IIRC, there are also places to get it mail-order. You can also get larger predator urine for keeping away larger pests.

[tamidon]

does it work and where do you get it?

[gatewaygirl]

It's worked in other cases; I'll let you know how it goes in this one. I get it at the Essex County Agricultural Co-Op in Topsfield. They also have bobcat, wolf, and puma, as I recall.

[alabastard]

Having been on many a drag fox hunt (no, not hunting foxes in drag!), I know that scent well, good luck getting it off!

[gatewaygirl]

It seems to have come off, finally. Mrs. Meyer's geranium soap is really wonderful stuff. It's the only thing I have that gets off the smell of fish tank algae off my hands, and I was terribly annoyed when I stopped being able to find the liquid version. (I know -- search online.)

I'm intrigued by the idea of hunting foxes in drag. Would the men need to ride sidesaddle? :-D In a cartoon, of course, the fox would be in drag, in a fetching feathered hat and sleek slit dress.

[alabastard]

Good to know, sometimes a snake we take in for rehab can musk out of fear and that smell is near impossible to get off as well.

hmmm, always been curious about sidesaddle, but riding in drag, ouch ;-)

[avalon13]

Do I want to know where you got the Fox Urine in the first place? D:

/delurk

[gatewaygirl]

In a plastic bottle at a farm supply store. The brand name is "Leg Up Enterprises." ;-) I'm not sure I want to know how they collect it -- caged foxes on a slanted floor, maybe? It's an organic means of discouraging mammals that are fox-prey (mice, chipmunks, etc.) from venturing into an area. If you want to discourage deer, you can buy wolf urine or mountain lion urine instead.

In the system that I have, you pour an ounce of the urine into a small bottle with a cotton ball at the bottom and perforations at the top, and then you hang it in the area. I did the classic bad move of placing the bottle on a flat surface and trying to pour into it, rather than holding it and pouring into it, which gives you better accuracy.

Okay, now three people have asked where I got fox urine, but no one has asked why I have a toeless chicken!

[avalon13]

I think that if Guns were capable of making urine that everyone would get scared at one whiff.

I know. I scare my friends too.

D: Hurray for accuracy?

I've seen a lot of weird things?

BTW, why do you have a toeless chicken? and how does he balance?

[gatewaygirl]

BTW, why do you have a toeless chicken?

See the next thread. In short, the poor thing was a rescue bird.

...how does he balance?

There's a large enough pad, even with the toes gone, for her to run around just fine. Basically, she has wedge-shaped feet. She can't perch though, because she has nothing to grip with.

(The bird in my icon has no such problems. She's a retired show chicken.)

[supplanter]

But how did it lose its toes D:

[gatewaygirl]

We got the hen from the MSPCA a week ago. She had been neglected, and among other things, had such bad leg mites that she had no blood reaching her feet, and all her toes died and fell off. She can't scratch, of course, or perch, but she runs around fine on just the pads. Still, she's still recovering and needs her nutrition, and every time I check on her, she's out of food. At first I thought she was just eating a lot, but then a couple of days ago, I surprised a little striped thief in the act of making off with cheeks full of layer pellets! Fox urine is our first defense attempt -- it's harmless, inexpensive, and only needs to be refreshed once a month.

[supplanter]

Is it related to your losing that other bird you had a little while ago?  Or are you just accustomed to having several animals around at a time?

Chipmunks are rare around here... I swear I've only seen one on-campus in the 4 years I've been going to school here; the (completely fearless) squirrels are much more common. ^^;;  Good luck with your pest problems!  Maybe I should suggest the fox-urine thing to my aunt and uncle; squirrels or something are always eating the tomatos and apples and whatever they have growing in their yard....

[gatewaygirl]

Ha! We're low on animals at the moment. We have four hens (the henhouse I built will comfortably house eight -- I don't want to think about how many would fit legally), four cats, and one mouse. My husband also has a half-lease on a horse, down the street.

Chipmunks were rare here, until the street got too busy and we started keeping the cats in. Now they're a pest -- a darling one, fortunately, but a pest. The problem is that they're hoarders, and will take far more food than they can possibly eat. We coat the poles for the bird feeders with vaseline when we think of it, because they'll empty both out in a day. Sliding chipmunks are entertaining. ;-)

I'd love to live further out in the country, so we could have a rooster -- so chicks! -- and other things.