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Fox vs cat, who wins ?

I have watched two of my barn cats face off with a fox and the fox turned tail.

Hehehehe!

Both cats were big and one of them was really tough. The other one, which I have now has simply no sense of self preservation:eek: He is big and tough looking and the fox was small.

If the cat turns tail then I think the cat would lose. A face off is different though–and interesting to watch.:lol:

Foxes are out and about during the day. They hunt both day and night. I’ve seen them walking the fence lines midday at some of the barns. We’ve never had a problem with them bothering barn cats where I’ve boarded at different barns. At one barn the dog fox brought his vixen and the 2 offspring up to eat each night with a guy who lived in a camper by the barn. The barn cats and canada geese just ignored them. Foxes will eat chickens and the baby geese though.

All my own cats are indoor only. The eagle population in coastal GA is increasing. Eagles have been seen killing cats in subdivisions right down the road from where I once boarded. I took the barn cat from that barn home.

Coyotes will kill and eat cats and small dogs. Eagles will kill and eat cats and small dogs. Foxes are members of the canid family so maybe some foxes in some areas do kill cats, but not here so far.

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Above Reported :rolleyes:
Geesh, Spammers!
At least try for context.:mad:

The thread was interesting reading though. Not a bad thing that it got brought back up. :slight_smile:

I honestly don’t think foxes in general kill adult cats. Not to say it’s never happened in the history of the world OR that in certain populations they might not decide “hey this is easy prey”.

Interesting thread to resurrect. I did not know that foxes would kill cats. Chickens and ducks, yes. :-(. And coyotes certainly will. But in all the years I had outdoor cats, I never worried about foxes. And I had a fox live in my feed room one horrible cold, icy winter and enjoy a cat food diet; but the barn cat was usually in the tack room overnight so somehow they worked it out.

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My one experience with a cat and a fox involved lots of shrieking, hissing, spitting, feline and vulpine swear words which would be highly inappropriate to share in public, and resulted in a truce dividing the barn, parking area, house and small arena (cat) and the machine shed, pastures, and big arena (vixen).

I heard the fight, and saw the aftermath of angry puffed up barn cat chasing the vixen across the parking area back to her hole under a fence line into the woods. I think Vixy tried to pounce on kitty, not realizing that small tabby had as much fight as a cougar and had sent much larger dogs packing with their tails between their legs.

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Perhaps it depends on where the foxes are living.

The suburban foxes where I lived killed cats very frequently, especially when they had families to feed.

In a country setting they may not to resort to killing cats, as easier prey is available.

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Red fox, fox wins. Not sure about Gray Fox.

If you contact your state wildlife resource commission , you will find out that it is very rare for cats to be killed by fox, coyote, owl, eagle, hawk. Of course, the anecdotal stories of them being killed by wildlife abound, but, wildlife prefers rodents and very small mammals , berries, persimmons, even grasshoppers over cats. of course, if you are worried about your cats, keep them inside. keep all food inside, especially at night. the leading cause of birds disappearing are Cats - and birds are declining fast.

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I think it depends upon where you live. I have witnessed cats being killed by foxes and a friend, who owns a tree service business, found a large bird’s nest containing 3 cat collars when cutting down and removing a large cottonwood tree from a clients property.

With both foxes and coyotes in the area, along with other dangers, this is why my barn cats get locked inside at night. During the day they are relatively safe since they hang around the farm with me or lounge in the barn for the most part. I’d really hate to lose a good barn cat.

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A few years ago, Mr IF and I were sitting just inside the barn door eating lunch. It was winter and we were catching the sunshine. Suddenly a large red fox dashes by the front door heading toward the field. Our heads snap back to see the orange tabby barn cat with her coat fully puffed out in hot pursuit. We go up and watched her run him to ground.

We have foxes but they never mess with the barn cat. I think the current barn cat is even more aggressive than the orange tabby who is now in our cat graveyard on the farm (she died of old age.)

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that is crazy! I know that Hawks can kill a cat, but maybe this was a crow’s nest? Collecting trinkets?

They believe it was an Owl. The lady who owned the property had some cats missing. :frowning:

The fox would win in a fight but unless there are unusual circumstances, a fox would do most anything to avoid a confrontation with a healthy adult cat. I have seen cats and foxes sitting side by side with their heads in a bowl of catfood. I have never seen a normal fox start something with an adult cat for no good reason. If they are starved or sick, of course, they do whatever they have to to survive. Kittens are easy pickings too. Not usually adult cats.

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