# New Use For Woodturning Shavings - Make A Bed



## Steve in VA (Oct 27, 2021)

When I went to grab the card out of my trail camera this afternoon, there was a fox bedded down on some cherry shavings from my turning. It was so windy he couldn't hear me, or was just crashed out, so I went back and got my camera. Got to within 10 feet of him and he never moved.

Reactions: Like 2 | EyeCandy! 2 | Way Cool 11


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## Tom Smart (Oct 27, 2021)

Very cool! We have them here too, Steve. I feed them squirrels.

Reactions: Like 1 | Funny 3


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## ripjack13 (Oct 27, 2021)

Wow. He looks in rough shape....

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Steve in VA (Oct 27, 2021)

He's not too bad compared to some of them. It's mange, and probably a third of them around here have it on some level. We've gotten the treatment and fed it to them in the past, but we went through a lot of chicken and never really knew if the ones with mange got it vs. the healthy ones getting a free meal.

Reactions: Sincere 1


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## T. Ben (Oct 28, 2021)

We shoot those around here.


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## Mike Hill (Oct 28, 2021)

There are three things around my part of "heaven" (cough, cough) that I know are present but have not seen alive - armadillos, fox, bobcat. I've seen roadkill of all three here in midtown, but not alive. I get to scratch one off the list as I saw an armadillo running across the road the other day - so I'm actually down to 2 now - fox and bobcat.


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## Herb G. (Oct 28, 2021)

That is definitely a sick fox. And I am far from an expert on the subject.
It might be rabid.
Just my personal opinion.
HTH.
God bless my friend.


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## Eric Rorabaugh (Oct 28, 2021)

Talking about wild animals...I got off about 6 last night and got called back out for a bobcat attack. Got home after midnight

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## sprucegum (Oct 28, 2021)

ripjack13 said:


> Wow. He looks in rough shape....


I was thinking he might have just been to sick to move.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## scootac (Oct 28, 2021)

I'm always leery when I see a nocturnal animal in the daytime.
Especially when not acting normal....ie not knowing you were that close to it. They don't sleep THAT hard!

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 3


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## Steve in VA (Oct 29, 2021)

Other than mange, he's not sick. We've seen this one for about three years, and he and two others come out just about every morning and sun themselves in almost the same spots. He's had mange for most of the year, as do a few others that we see most every day. It's not unusual at all to see them until about 11am, and then again starting after 3pm. 

There are 6 of them that we can clearly identify by name, and a handful of pups that we can't tell one from the other as they're still young. Fun to watch them all and, as @Tom Smart said, they definitely keep the squirrel population down.

Reactions: Like 2


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## Wildthings (Oct 29, 2021)

Eric Rorabaugh said:


> Talking about wild animals...I got off about 6 last night and got called back out for a* bobcat attack.* Got home after midnight


Do tell more!! @Eric Rorabaugh

Reactions: Agree 1 | Funny 1


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## Steve in VA (Oct 29, 2021)




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## Eric Rorabaugh (Oct 29, 2021)

Bobcat came after a lady and she pushed it away with a metal ridge cap she had in her hand and it ran off. 20 minutes later it came back and was going toward her. A guy grabbed it by the tail and was holding it up. It grabbed his pants leg and bit him badly and he fell while holding it. Another guy came over with a 2" limb and went to hit it. It scratched his hand and face. He smacked it in the head 3 times and thought they killed it. 15 minutes later while they were waiting on ambulance, lady saw it crawl off. Bite guy was flown out, other guy drove to closer hospital. I went and interviewed him while another officer went to look for cat. It was found dead the next morning. Health department sent it off for rabies testing but I'm sure thats what it was. Both guys were stitched up and released

Reactions: Sincere 5


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## sprucegum (Oct 29, 2021)

That's quite a story, we have had rabid fox, racoon, and skunks around but I don't recall any bobcat. I got chased into my garage once by what I assume was a rabid fox. He wandered off and I went to get a gun but never saw him again, my son shot a rabid skunk a few years ago. Game warden took it for testing. Our state does a rabies vaccine bait drop from small planes every year, I don't know how affective it is.


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## Steve in VA (Oct 29, 2021)

Isn't there a saying about grabbing a cat by it's tail

Reactions: Agree 1 | Funny 4 | Creative 1


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## sprucegum (Oct 29, 2021)

Steve in VA said:


> Isn't there a saying about grabbing a cat by it's tail
> Never thought grabbing any wild animal by it's tail could end well.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## DLJeffs (Oct 29, 2021)

or....

Reactions: Funny 3


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## scootac (Oct 29, 2021)

Eric Rorabaugh said:


> Bobcat came after a lady and she pushed it away with a metal ridge cap she had in her hand and it ran off. 20 minutes later it came back and was going toward her. A guy grabbed it by the tail and was holding it up. It grabbed his pants leg and bit him badly and he fell while holding it. Another guy came over with a 2" limb and went to hit it. It scratched his hand and face. He smacked it in the head 3 times and thought they killed it. 15 minutes later while they were waiting on ambulance, lady saw it crawl off. Bite guy was flown out, other guy drove to closer hospital. I went and interviewed him while another officer went to look for cat. It was found dead the next morning. Health department sent it off for rabies testing but I'm sure thats what it was. Both guys were stitched up and released


Grabbed a bobcat by the tail....and held it up????


How high/drunk/stupid was he???
That's the only 3 things to explain somebody doing that!!!

Reactions: Agree 3


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## sprucegum (Oct 29, 2021)

scootac said:


> Grabbed a bobcat by the tail....and held it up????
> 
> 
> How high/drunk/stupid was he???
> That's the only 3 things to explain somebody doing that!!


They have a pretty short tail. Maybe he had hold of something else  that could explain why he was so POed

Reactions: Funny 6 | Way Cool 1


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## Steve in VA (Oct 29, 2021)

I absolutely LOVE how a post about a fox bedding down on some wood shavings has led to a full on discussion about a drunk / stoned man who thought it was a good idea to grab a bobcat by his manlihood kept @Eric Rorabaugh out all night!

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 2 | Funny 7


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## Herb G. (Oct 29, 2021)

Steve in VA said:


> I absolutely LOVE how a post about a fox bedding down on some wood shavings has led to a full on discussion about a drunk / stoned man who thought it was a good idea to grab a bobcat by his manlihood kept @Eric Rorabaugh out all night!


How do you know for sure Eric didn't do it himself?

Reactions: Funny 4


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## Alan R McDaniel Jr (Oct 29, 2021)

A regular old housecat Tom will slice and dice a full growed man quicker than he can say "Holy Sh...."! There is a whole lot of Bobcat in that skinny little skin and I don't think there is any real good way to grab one.

I think, lacking a firearm, I would have at least started with the 2" branch approach and ended with the @ssholes and elbows retreat!

Oh, and the "Thought it was dead" thing... better to make sure...

Alan


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## Alan R McDaniel Jr (Oct 29, 2021)

I have a little gray fox that dug a burrow under my "air dry" pile. I see her periodically and she barks at me. I drop tree rats close to the burrow and she eats well. She must smell me on the tree rats and figure we're friends. Oh, and the feral cat problem has slowly decreased as well... Don't know if she's responsible, but I'm not complaining. I keep hoping she will develop a taste for roosters...

Alan

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Nature Man (Oct 29, 2021)

Alan R McDaniel Jr said:


> I have a little gray fox that dug a burrow under my "air dry" pile. I see her periodically and she barks at me. I drop tree rats close to the burrow and she eats well. She must smell me on the tree rats and figure we're friends. Oh, and the feral cat problem has slowly decreased as well... Don't know if she's responsible, but I'm not complaining. I keep hoping she will develop a taste for roosters...
> 
> Alan


Roosters… Now that is an interesting subject to ponder! Chuck


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## Mike1950 (Oct 29, 2021)

Steve in VA said:


> Other than mange, he's not sick. We've seen this one for about three years, and he and two others come out just about every morning and sun themselves in almost the same spots. He's had mange for most of the year, as do a few others that we see most every day. It's not unusual at all to see them until about 11am, and then again starting after 3pm.
> 
> There are 6 of them that we can clearly identify by name, and a handful of pups that we can't tell one from the other as they're still young. Fun to watch them all and, as @Tom Smart said, they definitely keep the squirrel population down.


Tom will add to this but he really feeds the foxes squirrels - the ones he shoots. @Tom Smart everyone needs updateded on why you shoot them.


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## Mike1950 (Oct 29, 2021)

I have seen wolves -cougar foxes mink weasels and martens but have never seen bobcat....


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## JerseyHighlander (Oct 29, 2021)

sprucegum said:


> They have a pretty short tail. Maybe he had hold of something else  that could explain why he was so POed

Reactions: Funny 1


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## JerseyHighlander (Oct 29, 2021)

Steve; that is an awesome shot and story. If you have any, try throwing some Black Walnut shavings/bark out there for them to sleep on, it'll take care of the mange right quick.

I have numerous fox around here practically every day. They're out day or night all the time, nothing to do with their health. Had one that came around every night to clean up all the chipmunks my outdoor cat killed but didn't eat. Then he started figuring out the cat's dinner schedule and she had to teach him a lesson when he tried to steal her chicken neck.

Bobcat is the only animal known to live in this area that I've never seen personally. Got in crawlspace with one once. Started seeing scat, running through my head what it might be, got in further & looking to a back corner/separated space & noticing cat carcasses... my mind starts comparing the scat to; what's badass enough to kill cats and drag them down here? "$#&*! Bobcat." Started weighing the options, crawled about three feet closer and started hearing growling. "I'm done!".
I get out and start telling the buyer I can't finish the crawlspace inspection, the realtor says "oh yah, they found a dead bobcat under there a few weeks ago" I looked at her and said, you couldn't have told me that before I went in there? There's another one still in there. Never saw it though so, doesn't count.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Tom Smart (Oct 30, 2021)

Mike1950 said:


> Tom will add to this but he really feeds the foxes squirrels - the ones he shoots. @Tom Smart everyone needs updateded on why you shoot them.


As @Mike1950 knows, squirrels acquired a taste for pieces of my vehicles. Had 4 instances of chewed through parts, wiring harness to truck’s tail lights, emission recovery hoses (x2) and even a fuel line. $700+ each time to drop the fuel tank to repair. Our lot is full of walnut trees so we will always have squirrels, especially this time of year with a bumper crop on the ground. I prefer to knock them out of the trees though, something very satisfying about the thud when they hit the ground. I used to place them in the same spot each time to see which night critter was dining using a trail camera. It was a race between the foxes and that big fat raccoon. Now I just leave em where they fall, gone in a few hours.

Reactions: Like 2


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## Alan R McDaniel Jr (Oct 30, 2021)

I don't give the tree rats time to get to the vehicles. The few that are left don't stick around very long when they see me coming. There were two out knocking acorns out of the trees and shredding pine cones over my truck. They wouldn't let me get in position where I wasn't shooting back toward houses (The neighbors get nervous when I do that). But, I'm patient. They will slip up one morning and the vixen will eat well that day.

Alan

Reactions: Agree 1


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## sprucegum (Oct 30, 2021)

Thought while we are talking about a mangy fox it might be a good time to tell my bobcat story.
When I was perhaps 10 we had a redbone coon hound. She was a great coon dog but also was more than happy to tree red squirrels for my friends and I. We spent hours in the spruce woods around the pastures, hunting them with the old dog and our daisy red riders. Sometimes they would hide well in the tree, so we would just pepper it with bb's to make them move. One day we were putting the bb's into a tree top to rought out a invisible squirrel and a bobcat jumped out, landed at our feet and hit the ground running. The old dog gave chase and went out of earshot, she was gone the rest of the day. Finally showed up about dark, tired, happy, and so proud of herself.

Reactions: Like 2


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## JerseyHighlander (Oct 30, 2021)

Damn squirrels are destructive critters. I use Conibear traps on them when I need to and then feed them to my cats.. 

@Tom Smart any chance that vehicle is a Toyota or Honda? I know for several years they were having issues with rodent destruction because they started making the plastic wire insulation out of a new Soy based eco-plastic. Don't know about hoses though.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Tom Smart (Oct 30, 2021)

JerseyHighlander said:


> Damn squirrels are destructive critters. I use Conibear traps on them when I need to and then feed them to my cats..
> 
> @Tom Smart any chance that vehicle is a Toyota or Honda? I know for several years they were having issues with rodent destruction because they started making the plastic wire insulation out of a new Soy based eco-plastic. Don't know about hoses though.


I had heard that about those vehicles, but these were a Chevy Trailblazer and a Dodge Dakota. I can’t imagine the fuel line tasted very good. It wasn’t even Premium.

Reactions: Funny 4


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## Mike Hill (Oct 30, 2021)

Alan R McDaniel Jr said:


> I keep hoping she will develop a taste for roosters.



 "This boy's more mixed up than a feather in a whirlwind"


“Pay attention to me boy! ...


“Now who’s, I say who’s responsible for this unwarranted attack on my person!”
The immortal words of Foghorn Leghorn!

Reactions: Like 3 | Funny 4


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## Alan R McDaniel Jr (Oct 30, 2021)

A rooster lives next door. He has three hens at his disposal, not nearly enough for a man of his prowess. He crows every 15 seconds throughout most of any given 24 hour period. No kidding, by the clock.... I have offered numerous suggestions as to how to minimize his vocalisms, I have offered to buy him, all to no avail. My only hope is the young mother fox. I've thought of dragging a chicken on a rope across the yard to a hole in the fence. 

Alan

Reactions: Like 1 | Funny 3


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## DLJeffs (Oct 31, 2021)

Alan R McDaniel Jr said:


> I don't give the tree rats time to get to the vehicles. The few that are left don't stick around very long when they see me coming. There were two out knocking acorns out of the trees and shredding pine cones over my truck. They wouldn't let me get in position where I wasn't shooting back toward houses (The neighbors get nervous when I do that). But, I'm patient. They will slip up one morning and the vixen will eat well that day.
> 
> Alan


We never had a problem with wood rats ... and he worked for belly rubs.

Reactions: Like 2 | Funny 1 | Way Cool 2


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## Mike Hill (Oct 31, 2021)

I'd pay him lots more if he'd agree to come to Tennessee and get tree rats, voles, and moles. Gots lots of those - not seen a wood rat.


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## Karl_TN (Nov 1, 2021)

Eric Rorabaugh said:


> Bobcat came after a lady and she pushed it away with a metal ridge cap she had in her hand and it ran off. 20 minutes later it came back and was going toward her. A guy grabbed it by the tail and was holding it up. It grabbed his pants leg and bit him badly and he fell while holding it. Another guy came over with a 2" limb and went to hit it. It scratched his hand and face. He smacked it in the head 3 times and thought they killed it. 15 minutes later while they were waiting on ambulance, lady saw it crawl off. Bite guy was flown out, other guy drove to closer hospital. I went and interviewed him while another officer went to look for cat. It was found dead the next morning. Health department sent it off for rabies testing but I'm sure thats what it was. Both guys were stitched up and released


Did I miss the part explaining why the bite guy was ‘flown‘ out? Was there that much blood loss an ambulance couldn’t handle it?


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## DLJeffs (Nov 1, 2021)

"Are they home? I'm sure we can get in there if they aren't home." Had three of these guys chasing each other around my deck handrail, checking out the hummingbird feeder, and peeking in the kitchen window.


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## Mike Hill (Nov 1, 2021)

I think the moderators must ban all photos of tree rats - unless they are on their back with the legs sticking up in the air!

Reactions: Agree 2 | Funny 1


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## Eric Rorabaugh (Nov 1, 2021)

Karl_TN said:


> Did I miss the part explaining why the bite guy was ‘flown‘ out? Was there that much blood loss an ambulance couldn’t handle it?



Don't know how much blood loss but they said you could see bone, tendons and what-not. The local hospital couldn't handle it so they flew him out. He's out and okay as far as I know. Found out that the cat came back positive for rabies. Not a shocker there

Reactions: Like 1


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