Earl of Dalkeithasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his estimate of the number of lambs and sheep killed or injured by foxes in Scotland each year.
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§ Mr. RossIt is difficult to estimate accurately the number of stock killed annually by foxes. Attacks are rarely witnessed. In remote areas loss due to other causes may be attributed to foxes, and instances of predation by foxes may go undetected. In 1965–66 the farming and land owning organisations co-operated in a survey, of methods used in control of foxes and stock losses, which showed that during the year ended July, 1966, 2,187 lambs and 140 sheep were reported by farmers to have been killed by foxes.