I let the chooks out just after I got up this morning, around 4:15am; I figured it was light enough, I hate the thought of them being awake and cooped up in the house. I went back into my house and left the doors onto the garden open, made a cuppa and sat on the bed reading.

Shortly after, I heard a commotion from outside, a chicken commotion, lots of clucking. Either they were having a nasty fight, or something was startling them. I knew pretty quickly that it had to be the fox, the one that I have been spraying my piss over everything to prevent it coming into the garden.

I know that the imagery ain’t great, but I was in my underpants, and I thought “I’ll get the little bastard, grabbed my bath robe and went to the doorway. I could see him about 50 metres away staring into the hen enclosure. I grunted something like “oh do go away you rotten toad” at him, and he heard, looked at me and did nothing. All the time, the hens are clucking like mad.

Now, for some reason, I didn’t put my bath robe on, I just sprinted at him barefoot down the garden in my underpants clutching the bath robe, and I covered the ground pretty fast, I’m quite proud. He soon moved.

Although the chickens were distressed at the time, they quickly calmed down and went on to lay an egg each and were more than happy to see me this evening when I got home. Hopefully these encounters will be few and far between, but if they aren’t, I think that they’ll get pretty desensitised to the fox knowing that he’s got his work cut out getting through or under almost a quarter of a ton of steel. Maybe in time, they’ll give him the birdie?

Anyway, I have CCTV on the enclosure, there’s two segments. The first is when he first appears, the second is where I get involved.

By posting this, I demonstrate that I have no pride and a sense of humour. May you find amusement in my embarrassment.