Talkback: Garden foxes

we have foxes and badgers that come into the garden,they  are part of the wildlife around and do in our case take out a lot of the rat population ,you have to live with them to be part of the environment we live in ,annoying sometimes but so are humans.You cant choose what comes to visit or what you prefer,as to a deterrent and if you need one ,is an old folk one,urinate around the site you don't want them to be,

Like "flowering rose" we have foxes and badgers too.We have tried everything to deter them but to no avail. We have now learnt to accommodate them by using cloches(clear corrugated sheets are good. We also "plant" holly branches around vulnerable plants. Foxes DO keep the rats away. We had rats in our gardens a couple of years ago and saw foxes catching them in broad daylight! Now we leave blocks of lard overnight on the bird table  and it is still there on the morning.(We were told to use this trick as a test as ,if we still had rats it would have gone). Some neighbours have 6' fences but to no avail as they(foxes) jump over them effortlessly.

We have come to the conclusion that they are part of our enviroment and if we had not encroached on the woodlands etc. they would not be in our gardens.

roxy2 wrote (see)

Foxes are less annoying in the garden than children. They deserve our protection, I am so fed up with people moaning about wildlife.

If you have lost chickens to foxes as I have,had a dog caught mange from them as I have,a pet rabbit taken from a neighbours garden ,holes dug in lawns- then you might understand why I-and probably a lot of people- do not want foxes in their gardens

In an urban enviroment they are a pest.

Nothing to do with moaning about wildlife at all

we have chickens too and if you do you have lock them up securely at dusk and provide a strong enclosure ,and when they are out in the garden  we keep  a close eye on them,from cats as well even dogs,A friend had his chickens killed by a dog who the owner claimed was quite dog.anyhow a secure pen and locking up at dusk and rat avoidance lock all food in steel bin and clear up any scraps.

My neighbours  have kept chickens for years and have not lost any so far as they are well protected and their surroundings are kept clean and tidy. They still attract rats which are kept in check by the foxes.We often see the foxes in their garden during the day and they just ignore the chickens!

AEH wrote (see)

What fencing would work best to keep the foxes out? I was thinking of 6ft wire or metal mesh.

This might be of interest~~~~~

http://www.wildlifeonline.me.uk/fox_deterrence.html

-it is not just the height of the fence that needs to be considered-they will also dig underneath-would not like to say for certain whether your idea would stop them

I've seen urban foxes go over my 6 foot fences with consumate ease, so although I'm sure barriers are not a deterrent, I wish I knew what was.. 

I have a fox hole at the bottom of my garden, I have filled it with bricks and rubble several times and they just dig out again. Trouble is, its a large garden and the foxes den burrows under several adjoining gardens, so even if I did manage to block mine, they would just hop over a fence. I once caught a fox eyening up my Giant rabbit who was sitting by my dog, who was watching the foxes every move until they got to close then she chased it off and went back to protect the rabbit. My dog does as she's told so if she does bolt after a fox and I tell her to stop she will stop dead and just voice her opinion at them. Now she will come to me first if theres a fox so I can act before she does and let her know what I want her to do.. OOhh, and no cats either.. 

you need a fence that is 6 ft high but also bends outword like prison fence arches in.

aboloshing hunting hasnt improved the problem fox numbers were at least kept down before the ban

I'm not sure I agree with that muddy, fox hunting would have had to kull many many hundreds a year to make a difference. I am slightly inclined to believe that fox hunting created a natural preditor of the fox, where would you move if there was a natual preditor, away from it of course, in to the towns and cities where there are no preditors and your numbers can rise unchecked, until the point where you are the top natural preditor in that area and become brazen enough to come in to houses and try to take babies (dogs or cats would fight back). There is a constant source of food for foxes in cities. People think they are cute and let them walk up to their houses and after all, once a fox gets used to that whats the difference between that house and the one next door with an open entry to a fox? While I am neither for nor against foxes I am inclined to think that we need to teach them that towns and cities are not safe havens for them. After all, would we have the same discussion if they were wolves.?

There is a constant source of food for foxes in cities

Yes, this is a large part of the problem. A clean and rubbish-free environment would be much less appealing, and in specific areas where there are large groups of them being a nuisance (as opposed to the occasional sighting) it is already allowable for licensed killing.