Legality of shooting fox in yard

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  • RepublicOfFranklin

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 16, 2018
    1,137
    The ‘Dena - DPRM
    Seriously, throw down coyote piss in an area to scare the fox.

    My in laws have outdoor cats. When it’s fox season and the vixens start yowling they get to spend the night inside or she lives the with risk. Their big guy has had some tussles in the past but nothing that didn’t heal.

    My cats stay inside, safer for them and no risk of me doing something stupid and getting in trouble if something happened to them.

    No one ever got in trouble for spilling coyote pee on their own property.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     

    cww

    Active Member
    Jan 28, 2010
    539
    Fox is a fur-bearer game animal and therefore has a season for harvest under DNR rules and one needs a hunting license and a furbearer permit, outside of that the fox better be rabid and threatening you and loved ones and yes then there is the discharge of a weapon issue within city limits. I have heard of the through the window from inside and the 3S rule of thumb being applied to troublesome groundhogs.
     

    Dave

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 10, 2008
    4,296
    Gamber, Marylanistan
    Fox is a fur-bearer game animal and therefore has a season for harvest under DNR rules and one needs a hunting license and a furbearer permit, outside of that the fox better be rabid and threatening you and loved ones and yes then there is the discharge of a weapon issue within city limits. I have heard of the through the window from inside and the 3S rule of thumb being applied to troublesome groundhogs.

    Exactly. Not even taking the legality of discharging a firearm in city limits into account, you would still need to take it during the season after getting the furbearer stamp. There's nothing more annoying than a fox screeching at 3AM. Sometimes I wish I had a good night vision scope...
     

    Baccusboy

    Teecha, teecha
    Oct 10, 2010
    13,883
    Seoul
    This reminds me of a popular country song I once heard in Iowa, back in the early days of Elvis...

    "Oh, crossbows and pits.... crossbows and pits... If nobody knows, who can give a wit about crossbows and pits?

    Through the window or by the spit, it don matter where you sit,.. so long as you're ready with yur crossbow and yur pit..."
     

    erwos

    The Hebrew Hammer
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 25, 2009
    13,866
    Rockville, MD
    I live in moco outside of the "urban area". You are inside the urban area. So for you, firing a pellet gun outside in your yard is illegal and the same under the law as discharging a firearm.
    This guy just gave you the right answer. Shooting a BB gun in urban MoCo is the same as shooting an M16 in the eyes of the law. Utterly stupid, but there you go.

    That said, I feel for you, OP. There was a time when raccoons were ravaging our garbage cans so bad that I was seriously considering going after them with a suppressed 22lr, law or not.
     

    YerNotGood

    Active Member
    May 30, 2013
    128
    Baltimore
    Sorry this isnt going the direction you intended but you are in fact breaking several Montgomery County laws by leaving your cats out:

    Animal Trespass (Montgomery County Code, Sec. 5-203(a)(3)) ($100fine)

    Animal At Large ($100 fine)

    Probably: Animal Defecation (“pooper scooper” law) (Montgomery County Code, Sec. 5-203(a)(2)) - ($100 fine)

    You can reference this page for more information.

    TL;DR: Tell your wife to keep your cats inside, don't kill the fox.
     

    bwceng11

    Member
    MDS Supporter
    Nov 26, 2012
    41
    Towson
    FOX

    I cringe when my neighbors want to get rid of the fox that prowls around the neighborhood. The fox keeps the destructive rabbits under control. I am sorry for your cats, but like someone posted put a large predators urine around your yard and that should keep them at bay.

    Good luck
     

    remodeler1

    Active Member
    Jul 23, 2013
    837
    Frederick
    Am I reading this correctly? I'm not trying to get in your face but what the heck? You want to kill wild animals, so you can likely break the law and let your cats roam unmolested at night, is that right? For someone to kill wild animals just to protect their pets who shouldn't be left outside to begin with is rather belligerent. Foxes around my land at night don't cause problems, CATS DO! Foxes help control the rabbit population and other small problematic creatures, CATS DON’T!

    If you own pets, they are your responsibility, not ours. Pet owners have no right to impose their pet problems on others and to do so is inconsiderate, arrogant and highly provocative. There are about 80+ million owned cats and about 40+ million feral cats killing about 2.4 billion birds annually in America. When you let your cats out at night, what do you think they are doing? Be a good neighbor and citizen and keep your cats indoors as they are your pets, not the community’s.

    This, releasing non-native species that prey on native fauna is damaging to the ecology and irresponsible
     

    303_enfield

    Ultimate Member
    May 30, 2007
    4,651
    DelMarVa
    Eight pages of bitching about dumb cats. DNR will issue a free nuisance permit, you can kill foxes 365. Since you can't shoot them go buy a trap.

    As for outside cats, outside cats are dead cats. Sooner or later they roll the dice an lose.
     

    Schipperke

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 19, 2013
    18,544
    Install a cat door. There are some very good ones which will only open when your cats wish to go through, other cats/animals can not.
     

    BigSteve57

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 14, 2011
    3,245
    Eight pages of bitching about dumb cats. DNR will issue a free nuisance permit, you can kill foxes 365. Since you can't shoot them go buy a trap.

    As for outside cats, outside cats are dead cats. Sooner or later they roll the dice an lose.

    Agree. We like our Fox. She's workin' for me when it comes to mice, rabbits & squirrels. Hey I wonder if I can get free nuisance permits for cats? :innocent0
    "Our" hard working beautiful fox vixen:
    IMG_8094s.jpg
    In general, there are regulations on the type of trap you can use and where. It might be different if you get some kind of special permit.

    REF:
    http://www.eregulations.com/maryland/hunting/furbearers/
     
    Last edited:

    kyserthehun

    Active Member
    Jul 24, 2016
    113
    Trap the fox and bring it over to my house. I'm sick of my dogs eating rabbit shit in my back yard!
     

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