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Our View
Gun play
Allowing gun hunting of foxes could
destroy a viable regional industry
Once again, changes in current law are being
considered in Richmond for areas of Northern
Virginia that make no sense, and ignore regional differences. But this time, we’re not talking about land use issues or the placement of communication towers on VDOT right-of-ways.
What is now under consideration is a proposal by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries that would allow gun-hunting of foxes in the eleven Virginia counties - ihcluding Rappahannock - where mounted foxhunting has been a part of the local culture since Colonial days.
An additional change in the regulations would rescind the closure on trapping foxes in Fauquier, Loudoun, Clarke, and Rappahannock counties.
Motivation for these changes seems to arise from a concern that the fox population has grown too large, and that foxes are now feeding on the game bird population, and otherwise becoming a nuisance.
While this might seem logical at face value, there is no hard proof to back this up. In fact, raccoons, opossums and flying predators like hawks and owls — that are protected by law — take a much larger toll on the sporting bird population than foxes, who feed mainly on mice, rabbits, and other small mammals.
And current regulations protecting foxes have not been a burden on landowners. All along, it has been legal to shoot or trap foxes on private property.
In the ecological sense, the perceived “problem” of foxes versus game birds is a bit more complicated.
Residential development and the lack of providing coverts and fence lines for the bird population have resulted in fewer game birds as well. Not foxes.
At this point, no one can say what effect the proposed changes in the gun-hunting and trapping laws will have on region. But many fear that the economic consequences on a special industry built on foxhunting — from animal feed and farriers, to hunt club races, to B&Bs and tourism would be dire, and irreversible.
The state game department board will meet on May 6 to adopt final regulations, and they have designated an individual to serve as the central point of public contact on this issue. Please write to:
Phillip Smith
Political Analyst and Regulation Coordinator
Department of Game and Inland Fisheries
4010 West Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23230,
or e-mail at dgifweb@dgif.state.va.us
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