Would a fox attack a cairn?

[jodi0553]

Hi All,

Wondering about pecking order in the wild world. We have a neighborhood fox that I saw take out a rather large rabbit and haul it away earlier this evening. I was wondering if anyone knows if a fox would attack my cairn if I have him tethered outside? He doesn't spend much time alone outside, but occasionally we let him out on the line at night to take care of business. The fox was pretty tall (significantly taller than a cairn) but slight, but I'd put him anywhere upward of 12 lbs and possibly as large as 20 lbs.

[bradl]

I sincerely doubt it. I think a rabbit is at the high end of what a fox will willingly take on. With the possible exception of the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog, I think Curry is more formidable than a rabbit.

[jodi0553]

Yeah, I did some more research after I posted and found that they *might* attack a dog to protect a den, but no other reason except if they are rabid. Unfortunately, we do not know where they are living and a number of neighbors have seen the fox in our yard. Add to that...we've been smelling something rotting by our shed for the past few days, so we can't eliminate the possibility that the den is in our yard, so I think we'll remain vigilant.

On a related note, Currey went completely ballistic when he saw the fox. It was like 10x the squirrel/rabbit freak out!!!

[Nikki]

not likely...at least not an adult cairn...young puppy maybe

but it is possible if the fox was rabid or a vixen was trying to protect her kits

[Cairnmania]

A fox will not attack an adult Cairn. I live in an area where foxes are very, very common so you don't need to worry about them. There are plenty of cats in my neighborhood too and the foxes leave them alone.

If you have foxes most likely you also have coyotes; although you are much less likely to see them. I would never leave any dog tethered with coyotes. They tend to hunt at dusk and at night, but a tethered small dog would be at risk any time IMO.

[BetsyNoodle]

My parents live in a small town where many people leave their dogs tethered without supervision. Needless to say, I have heard a few tragic stories. I read somewhere that if a Cairn is tethered he/she should never be left unsupervised, as it leaves him/her quite vulnerable to atacks from larger animals.

[Jetti]

Seagulls too are dangerous. My Cairn was about to be attacked by seagulls had I not gone after them

like a madwoman.

[rtherapy60]

I sincerely doubt it. I think a rabbit is at the high end of what a fox will willingly take on. With the possible exception of the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog, I think Curry is more formidable than a rabbit.

I don't know about that Brad, the rabbits around here wear skull caps and run around in gangs. All kidding aside, just a few minutes ago there was a large rabbit right in the front yard, just sitting there about 5ft away from the window and Cooper was having a screaming/barking fit at the window. The rabbit heard the noise but didn't know where it was comming from, so he just sat there intimidating poor Cooper.

Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog. One of my all time favorite movie characters. LOL Run Away, Run Away!

[rockindj]

I would not want to find out the hard way. I did not think my daughter

[pickles]

I was actually wondering the same thing the other day when I saw a fox in our neighborhood, but I read up on Cairn Terriers and they're more than capable of taking on a fox and even an otter. It was all part of their hunting origins... Something about them scaring animals out of the cairns of Scotland... Not really sure where otters come in though..

[bradl]

I believe the otters ate the delicious salmon. I believe the modus operandi was for the Cairns to corner an otter who was ashore on the rocks and drive it so mad with their barking that it would attempt to flee back to the sea, whereupon the hunters could ensnare it in a net, or more likely, shoot it.

We have a similar problem here in the Northwest US with sea lions dining on salmon during spawning runs.

[Cairnmania]

I would not want to find out the hard way. I did not think my daughter