Varmint Population in (Northern) California

[RIFLEMAN]

Hi All,

There was a time in the not-too-distant past when most everyone you ran into in the woods of California were bear hunters; hunters running only fox and cat were few and far between. These days, it seems that there are a lot more varmint hunters out there, and varmints seem harder to come by.

Given this, the typically cyclical nature of cat populations, and the prohibition against the use of steel traps (one of the most effective means of controlling coyotes), I am curious about how healthy the cat and fox populations are in your area. Are their numbers holding steady? on the increase? going down? Are you finding them in the timber? brush? rolling foothills?

I hunt rolling foothills at the 2000-foot elevation level with a mixture of oaks, pine, manzanita, and chamise. Fox numbers seem to be on the decline, with cat numbers holding steady to slightly decreasing in the past few years.

While I wonder if others in Northern California are experiencing the same observations as I am, I'd be interested in knowing if you varmint hunters in Central and Southern California are faring differently.

[Everlast]

Cat and fox populations seem to be stable and in good numbers here in central ca. However, there was a time back in the mid 90's where on 2 differen't occasions (years) the fox got "sick" and were devastated in some areas around here and on the central coast.

Odd thing about that was the winters prior to those disease years were some of the best ever. fox running across the road in front of you in all hours day and night, treeing 2-3 fox in a morning sometimes.

Some people seem to think that they got over populated and got sick as a natural way to thin down the population. Mother Nature stepped in?

It was weird when that sickness hit. You would be driving sometimes (day or night it wouldn't matter) and you would see a fox in the road, and it was so sick that it couldn't run from the truck. It would just sit there and look at you drive by. you would see dead fox carcasses along the roads. Really, really weird.

It took 2-3 years for the populations to get back somewhat stable. Haven't seen it happen since.

Cats were never affected as far as I know............

[RIFLEMAN]

Funny you mention that, Everlast, because I saw the same thing with a few fox in El Dorado County a few years back. The fox looked and acted very sickly right off the side of the road.