Kerry sheep farmer won’t be outfoxed: ‘These people are keyboard warriors’

A FARMER in Kerry has said he won’t be deterred from killing foxes despite a barrage of online criticism over concerns around animal welfare.

Glyn Egan hails from the scenic surrounds of Kilgarvan in South Kerry and is currently working at the peak of the lambing season while dealing with hungry foxes on the prowl for lambs.

He runs an Instagram page dedicated to his farming called ‘sheep_shepherd’ but when Glyn recently posted videos showing dead foxes, he received a backlash from people who felt it was cruel.

Since the condemnation, Glyn and his father, John, now feel two separate worlds are colliding: the harsh realities of protecting one’s flock with how people on social media interpret this way of life.

“Some of these people have never seen a sheep in their life and they’re telling me what to do. They are just keyboard warriors,” Glyn said.

“The fox causes damage. One morning we went out and there was three lambs gone, and the next morning another two were gone. We have neighbours that have been cleaned out. We called out shooters from Tralee and they shot the foxes. When a lamb is born, the fox will smell it straight away. What really took the piss is when we had one lamb born very soft at birth. We put in hours hand-raising him and when we put him back in the field, the fox took him,” he added.

Glyn feels that much of the online criticism comes from people who are not impacted by what a fox does to survive.

“It’s easy for those people looking in from the outside because they are not farming and it’s not affecting their pocket. I can tell you if they were put farming on the side of a mountain for a year they’d know about it. If a fox was taking a few lambs every night you wouldn’t have bob left. If these people were farmers, they would understand this. But they are not with it,” said Glyn.

He explains that 30 to 40 years ago people were paid by government to cull foxes, with tails often sold for an additional fee. Glyn said forestry is also providing added cover for foxes which is encouraging higher numbers to breed. In the vicinity of the Egan farm alone there are over 140 acres of mature forestry.

“The last few years we’ve noticed fox numbers have gone absolutely mental. All the forestry planting is offering homes for them. If you think that over 30 years ago there was hardly any forestry. What these people need to understand is that sheep farming is our business and livelihood. When a lamb goes missing, or is taken by a fox, it is money out of our pocket,” he said.